Partnership marks Vignette’s foray into cross-platform content

Vignette is partnering with a couple of well-known mobile partners on a framework designed to manage and deliver content to both PCs and mobile phones.
The Austin, Texas-based developer this week plans to unveil its Digital Services Hub, a multichannel offering that optimizes content across devices. The solution includes digital rights management and a settlement feature, allowing media companies and other content owners to sell movies and other protected digital content through a single platform.
The move marks an aggressive step for Vignette, which has gained traction as a developer of software for Internet sites, digital data and physical goods. Volantis, which makes mobile content rendering software, and digital transaction technology company Valista are teaming with Vignette on the new offering.
“Traditionally, Vignette has had huge success in helping companies sell a sweater online,” said Jennifer Wachtel, senior product marketing manager at Vignette. “Now it’s those intangible items that have a dollar sign attached to them. . Our platform allows us to separate the content from the presentation. We can really manage objects as digital objects vs. digital pages.”
The wireless world has seen no shortage of players jumping into the mobile content management pool in the past year. Motricity Inc., Crisp Wireless, Qpass-which last year was purchased by Amdocs for $275 million-and Valista itself are just a handful of competitors looking to help carriers and content owners deliver and monetize ringtones and other mobile wares.
But Vignette is among the first with an offering that treats wireless as an extension of Internet-based content, as opposed to its own partitioned realm. The company is targeting telecommunications, media and entertainment outfits with its multichannel technology, and hopes the software not only helps firms sell digital content but also manage data, increase brand awareness and generate advertising revenue.
“The content is becoming much more complex, moving beyond ringtones and wallpaper, and the business models are becoming more complex, including ad-supported and subscription-based (services),” Wachtel said. “This solution is able to provide automated processes to support that.”