Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (90546)	4/5/2001 8:40:11 AM
From: JHP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

Vignette CEO Has 1-Year Timetable For Market Dominance By ANNE BRADY Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- For Vignette Corp. (VIGN) Chief Executive Greg Peters, everything comes down to the next 12 months. It's make or break time. Within one year, he predicts, one company will emerge as the winner in what he calls the "sell-side" electronic-business solution space. All his efforts are focused on Vignette being that company, Peters told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview from the Forrester Research business-to-business technology forum at the Phoenician Resort here. "There is one company that will become a standard in the customer-facing world," Peters said, invoking another label he uses to identify the business of providing companies with ways to electronically sell opportunities to their customers and manage Web-based interactive customer relationships and content. "In one year, the category winner will emerge. My focus is on that, on becoming that (company)." This winner will have at least twice the market share of its closest competitor and will collect 80% of the category's profits, he said. "It's not (going to be) a photo finish." The main competitor of Austin, Texas-based Vignette is BroadVision Inc. (BVSN) of Redwood City, Calif. To beat BroadVision, Vignette will need to capitalize effectively on its strong cash position and customer base to increase its market share and revenues and turn a profit, said Peters. Analysts expect Vignette to post profits beginning in the second quarter ending in June. Last year, the company broke even. On Jan. 17, the company warned that it wouldn't bring in as much revenue as expected in 2001 and projected earnings per share for the year of 9 cents. BroadVision, meanwhile, which was profitable last year, warned Monday that it will post a first-quarter loss of 14 cents to 16 cents per share. Vignette is scheduled to announce quarterly earnings later this month, and the mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call is for a loss of 2 cents per share. Continued sales growth at Vignette, said Peters, will depend not only on providing the best strategic products, but on hiring and training the best salespeople to deliver a simplified message about those products. Among those key hires, he said, is Vignette's new president Tom Hogan, who came from Siebel Systems Inc. (SEBL), and who joined Vignette Monday. Peters pointed to Siebel as a rapidly growing, emerging leader in the systems-management e-business software space, and he has said he hopes Hogan will help Vignette better manage its own growth. Peters was among several speakers at the Forrester Research event this week who said demand continues to grow for e-business solutions, even in the declining economy. "E-business is here, and it's here to stay, and it's going to fundamentally change the way we do business," said Earnest Deavenport, chief executive of Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN). "We're really just scratching the surface." He compared e-business to the three-point shot in basketball: it's something companies need to incorporate to achieve consistent success, while still continuing to focus on the inside game of core competencies. More than half of 700 forum participants polled by Forrester Research said the slowdown of the economy wasn't causing them to delay e-business initiatives. -Anne Brady, Dow Jones Newswires, 602-258-2003; anne.brady@dowjones.com