Irish mobile software company Valista has joined forces with, among others, Sun Microsystems and content management company Vignette to create a digital commerce service for telcos and TV stations that transcends mobile, broadband and digital TV networks.
Valista joins with: Vignette, a next-generation web solutions provider; Volantis, a provider of mobile device rendering and recognition software; Sun Microsystems, a global provider of hardware, software and services; and SafeNet, a specialist in digital rights management.
The initial offering targets telecommunications, media and entertainment companies that depend on differentiated content such as movies, video, IPTV and advertisements to attract and retain customers.
The deal will see Valista’s digital commerce engine technology deployed as part of a digital media framework for managing and delivering all types of media content, services and applications to mobile devices, set-top boxes, the internet and other media.
Valista’s digital commerce engine will be deployed as a key component of Vignette’s Digital Services Hub technology, which provides telecom firms and TV providers with a unified system to deliver revenue generating content to any device and analyse and track the content.
The alliance has established partnerships with system integrators across the world including Tata Consulting, Diagonal, DPCI, Hyperlink, iFactory, Informatica El Corte Ingles, Sapient, Stefanini, Tallence and Virtusa.
Valista’s head of marketing Evanna Kearins told siliconrepublic.com: “The Digital Services Hub is intended to be a one stop solution supplying all the key components a telecoms company would need for digital commerce over any platform.
“Consumers are demanding that their media experience gets richer and richer and this creates a major opportunity for media and entertainment companies as well as telcos. It will help companies in traditional areas move into new spaces.
“The advantage for the various members of the alliance is that it increases each company’s exposure to markets that they are currently not active in. For example, we are active in markets like Europe, Asia and South America and that will be a vital calling card for other members in the alliance.
“Our piece in the service – the revenue and payment settlement – is really critical to the success of these new wave services.”
Kearins explained that Valista’s engineering team has been working with Vignette for over a year.
“We already have some customers in this space, having just signed a major deal in the UK. As well as this companies like BSkyB would be customers of Vignette.”
Kearins said that the average deal-size for Valista in the mobile and digital media would be around €1m and higher.
“Mobile operators are trying to find new revenues and ringtones and wallpaper don’t cut it. Consumers want video and IPTV. But where the Digital Services Hub comes in is in helping companies build a platform and derive a revenue stream from it,” said Kearins.
By John Kennedy
