Vignette really got ‘web 1.0’ buzzing with the idea of engaging with customers via the web through content. The problem was that for large enterprises in particular ‘content’ equated mostly to traditional documents – and vast numbers of them too. It was really a wake up call for just what a mess these companies were in with electronic information management, hence the resurgence of organisations like Documentum that had been kicking around since the 80s and early 90s.

Unfortunately I think the WCM pioneers like Vignette and Interwoven got distracted by this as they saw the many millions of dollars big enterprises were prepared to shell out on heavyweight documents management and wanted a piece of that action – hence round upon round of acquisitions to shift from WCM to ECM which, as commentary shows, did not achieve those ambitions and no doubt meant they took their eye off the ball.

The problem now of course is that the Web 2.0 innovation wave and growth of Social Media has left those WCM pioneers looking like over-engineered dinosaurs, as enterprises look to shift from web broadcasting to engagement. I think the Open Text acquisition is an attempt to differentiate and gain more relevance in the WCM space but given the very wayward path Vignette has travelled in recent years whether it will deliver this is questionable. As CMS Watch rightly observe though – it’s a good move for shareholders.

And you can’t get away without saying something about the RedDot/Vignette -> Immediacy/Morello comparisons flying around ? My thoughts are here:

http://jonontech.com/2009/05/10/will-vignette-give-open-text-food-poisoning/

What do you think the main differences are? We’d love to hear from you.

Jon