One on One with Yogesh Gupta of FatWire

Yogesh Gupta is the president and CEO at web content management vendor, FatWire [1]. He has more than 20 years of experience with software companies, and is also an author, speaker and expert in emerging technology and trends. We asked Gupta about what it was like to be an independent vendor at a time of consolidation and about future trends in the space.

FCM: With so many large companies absorbing independent web content management vendors, how important is it to you to maintain your independence?

YG: The acquisition of legacy WCM vendors is a reflection of their inability to keep up with the changing needs of the market. The independent WCM vendors are thriving because they are more agile in their ability to help customers address their current and future needs. FatWire has been leading this charge and gained tremendous market share over the past couple of years, and we will stay focused on delivering what the market needs to stay ahead of the competition.

FCM: One of the advantages of building social networking and collaboration tools into your product is that they are integrated, measurable and searchable within the CMS, but Kathleen Reidy [2] of the 451 Group has said the flip side of this is that sometimes people see it as being bolted onto the existing CMS. How do you answer customers who might have this concern?

YG: Social networking and collaboration tools have to be integrated with the CMS, but should also be available as a standalone offering. That is the FatWire approach. Our social networking and collaboration product, FatWire TeamUp, is a standalone product that can be used by organizations that also have FatWire Content Server, as well as by those that do not. FatWire TeamUp is tightly integrated with FatWire Content Server, and it also integrates with other CMSs using open standards. That is one of the reasons why we are very active in the CMIS efforts.

FCM: You have a soup to nuts solution including analytics, marketing tools and so forth. How do you work with other tools if customers just want the core CMS and continue to use their own analytics vendor, for instance?

YG: We offer our customers the choice of using third-party tools or our tools. For example, many FatWire Content Server customers use Omniture [3], WebTrends [4] or Google Analytics [5], and in some cases in addition to, FatWire Analytics. We partner and integrate with a variety of third-party offerings and have further expanded our partner program this year.

FCM: CMIS looks it could be ready in Q1. How are you planning on using this?

YG: We see CMIS as a very important step in helping customers leverage content that is stored in multiple repositories. FatWire CTO Dmitri Tcherevik was one of the original authors of IECM, the standard that was the precursor to CMIS and FatWire Content Integration Platform was built around CMIS principles. We’re excited to see the progress on CMIS and the we will support it in our products once it is approved.

FCM: We've seen the rise of analytics and, more recently, social media. What do you see as the next big activity in web content management in 2010?

YG: The new web is all about engagement--that is the reason why rich media, social networking, targeting and personalization have seen tremendous interest. However, integration of tools is the biggest challenge that users face today. Every step of the process must be integrated--from creative design and collaboration, to authoring, publishing, targeting, personalization, campaigns, participation, mobility, analytics, and the use of the analytics to affect change--and this integration is extremely hard for customers to achieve. That is why integration between each step of the entire process of managing a web presence to delivering the ultimate web experience will be the next big thing.