AUSTIN, Texas: IBM and software maker Vignette Corp. said on Monday they have
joined together to offer businesses a package containing all the hardware and
applications needed to transfer operations onto the Web.
Blue Pack, as the package is called, will be composed of hardware and
software by International Business Machines Corp., as well a Vignettes' software
used to manage and store the thousands of Web pages a business creates.
Vignette said the arrangement will allow customers to get the whole package
of hardware and applications for one price from a single vendor, instead of
negotiating with the different partners. "Blue Pack is another important
step in terms of the deepening of our strategic relationship with IBM,"
Greg Peters, Vignette chairman and chief executive, told Reuters.
Shares of Vignette were up about 10 cents to $6.49 in afternoon trading on
the Nasdaq. Both IBM and Vignette will sell the Blue Pack, which will come in
two bundled packages: one for small- to medium-sized Web sites and another for
more advanced, complex, high-volume sites.
The Blue Pack includes servers, IBM middleware, including WebSphere
application server, and DB2 Universal Data Base Enterprise Edition. It also
includes technical and financial services from IBM.
Vignette's new Content Suite V6 software, which enables Web content
management and personalization will run on top of that. The V6 also can target
marketing campaigns, integrate easily with other applications, such as customers
relationship management software as well as pull information from other Web
sites.
"IBM and Vignette have packaged the key components to deliver a complete
e-business infrastructure for rapid deployment of Vignette solutions at a lower
cost of ownership." said Per Larsen, IBM vice president, eServer Solutions.
(C) Reuters Limited.