Vignette and Its “Enterprise WCM Vendor Meme.” Really?

Announced on Vignette’s Facebook fan page and by Jules, here’s yet another CMS vendor meme. They call it the Enterprise Web Content Management (WCM) Vendor Meme. And this is exactly where I have a problem with it (OK, several):

1. I know the lines are blurry between ECM vs.  WCM (vs. micro CMS). Some call themselves “enterprise-ready” WCM. What is enterprise WCM? Enterprise CMS or Web CMS? Decisions, decisions…
2. Why can’t you put up a corporate blog using your latest VCA release instead of using Facebook, where I have to become a fan to leave a comment or otherwise participate?
3. What happened to the “traditional” ECM attributes like DAM, document and records management, eDiscovery, retention, ODR, workflow, BPM, IM, KM, etc., etc.? None of which are mentioned in the questions list.
4. The question list seems to be tailored specifically around Vignette’s products (keywords: portal-like, financial and government deployments, see #6, etc.)
5. Hence, no need to answer the questions — just do the tagging bit?
6. “We provide a one-stop shop for enterprise Web Experience (VIGN keyword — see #4) needs, offering a full range of capabilities including at least 6 of these 7 commonly requested enterprise functionalities:
   1. Web Content Management” — Doh!

Maybe, I am just completely and utterly confused, but I don’t get this. No offense, I applaud the effort to engage further with the community, but this one is me meme not. Or, like others said:

[updated April 4] Alfresco’s @LuisSala offered his opinion on Vignette’s ECM meme effort. Very detailed, with many examples, which should not come as a surprise given that Sala is a former VIGN employee. One of the quotes I found interesting:

…these are instantly recognizable as a thinly veiled and highly biased checklist highlighting Vignette’s self-perceived “strengths”.

My take-away: some things are better to be vendor-neutral, not vendor-authored. Another reason why we have organizations like @cmswatch.

FirstSpirit 4.2 CMS Continues to Focus on Ease of Use

Continuing in the spirit of making content management as simple as possible, e-Spirit launched FirstSpirit 4.2.

Having done some research, e-Spirit is reporting that content volumes are growing, and more effort is needed to keep content from snowballing out of control with efficient content management systems and practices.

In the spirit of CMS Vendor Meme kicked off by Day Software and inspired by CMS Watch’s Kas Thomas, I’d be curious to see how e-Spirit would do.  I couldn’t even find any mentions of FirstSpirit 4.2 on the company site. They say they’re in the process of “migrating our own Website.”

Full story on CMSWire: FirstSpirit 4.2 Aims to Prevent Content Snowballing Out of Control

You’ve Been Tagged in CMS Vendor Meme

This morning (to my sheer amusement), I’ve picked up on Twitter that @daysoftware has challenged several CMS vendors to participate in what they call CMS Vendor Meme.

Twitter Morning

It went like this. LOLs are the best part of any morning 😉

daysoftware: Introducing the CMS Vendor Meme http://tinyurl.com/cbocwf

irina_guseva: lol RT @daysoftware: Introducing the CMS Vendor Meme http://tinyurl.com/cbocwf

adriaanbloem: @kasthomas LOL, seen this? RT @irina_guseva: lol RT @daysoftware: Introducing the CMS Vendor Meme http://tinyurl.com/cbocwf

Inspired by CMSWatch’s Kas Tomas’ Reality Check for Vendors, the challenge is to (honestly) answer 15 product-related questions. Day Software started off with a slew of screenshots and a score of 40/45.

Day tagged “OpenText, Coremedia, Interwoven, Vignette (where’s your blog?), Fatwire (where’s your blog?), Nuxeo, Magnolia and Tridion (where’s your blog?).” By the end of day (haha), only one (+one more not tagged by Day) vendor responded.

Magnolia CMS Plays In

Magnolia was the first to respond. Score: 42/45. Tagged: Jahia, Alfresco, OpenCMS, Hippo, EZ, Core Media, dotCMS

2. Installing or uninstalling our software does not require a reboot of your machine – Yes

No restart required. Why are you asking?

9. We run our entire company website using the latest version of our own WCMproducts – Sort of

Nearly. Unlike Day, we did not have three years time to release our latest generation of software…

13. Our licensing model is simple enough for a 5-year-old to understand – Yes

You can get one version for free. You get a better, supported version for 12k $ per server per year. Simple enough for a five year old.

Alfresco’s Turn

Alfresco followed. Score 40/45. Tagged: Documentum, Oracle/Stellent and Acquia/Drupal

10. Our salespeople understand how our products work.

Inasmuch as a non-technical/non-web-development savvy person can, yes. But that’s why we have a stellar team of Solution Engineers ready to lend prospects, customers and community members a helping hand.

11. Our software does what we say it does.

Yup… That’s the whole idea, ain’t it? Download it and see!

14. We have one price sheet for all customers.

There is indeed only one price-sheet…

At the End of the Day

adriaanbloem:  CMS vendors reminding me why CMS Watch doesn’t treat comparison as a horse race. Day gives itself 40/45, Magnolia 42/45, Alfresco 41/45…

Thanks, Day, for a good laugh 🙂

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