On 16 February 2010, EMC and FatWire announced a nonexclusive partnership to create joint offerings primarily for marketing executives. EMC will replace its own Web content management (WCM) capabilities with FatWire technology, and FatWire has added EMC's digital asset management (DAM) to its offering. EMC has taken an undisclosed, noncontrolling equity stake in FatWire.

This deal can benefit both vendors if they overcome some hurdles. It gives EMC more compelling WCM capabilities and fills functional gaps in EMC's WCM offering. FatWire will get a big distribution channel — 600 EMC representatives will now sell FatWire technology. However, EMC's sales force has traditionally not given highest priority to WCM and must learn how to articulate the value proposition from the FatWire technology. The equity investment will accelerate FatWire's development efforts, which will benefit both vendors. Gartner believes this deal is nonexclusive so as not to complicate other deals for FatWire, but EMC will likely offer only FatWire for WCM from now on.

The joint offering will target marketing buyers, particularly for interactive marketing. This use case requires a larger set of functions than traditional WCM, and FatWire's Web Experience Management offering can support these activities. However, EMC's past effort to deliver solutions based on its WCM with DAM technologies met with limited market enthusiasm, and EMC till now has shown limited vision in addressing customers' Web needs. Though FatWire tends to sell to marketing leaders, EMC's strongest sales stem from IT or compliance initiatives focused on risk. FatWire must create and deliver a value-added message for the bigger platform now beneath it.

The partners must execute for the deal to achieve its goals. The vendors have worked together since 2007, and in 2008 EMC consulting began implementing FatWire in Europe and North America. They already offer a connector that puts documents from EMC's content management system into FatWire. However, the vendors have yet to provide two-way integration, which Gartner believes will appear in mid-2010. EMC's delay in announcing the end of life of Web Publisher will likely confuse the market in the short term. EMC can allay these concerns by offering Web Publisher customers a road map for WCM, including end-of-life announcements for its existing technology.

• If you use Documentum Web Publisher, ask your account representative for details about upgrading to the FatWire technology, the next version of EMC's WCM product. If you need bidirectional capabilities with other EMC components, such as DAM, factor planned release dates for them into your planning.
• FatWire customers do not have to do anything, but should put EMC's DAM offering on their shortlist if they plan to include rich media in their Web presence and are evaluating vendors.

• "Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management"— In more than 80% of inquiries Gartner received about WCM in the past year, the focus was on efforts to derive higher business value from an existing or planned Web presence. By Mick MacComascaigh, Toby Bell and Mark Gilbert
• "Q&A on How to Get More Value From Web Content Management"— Most clients upgrading or replacing their WCM systems automatically begin by gathering a list of requirements; a better approach is to start from the business goals the enterprise is trying to achieve. By Mick MacComascaigh

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