Ong saw a huge need for such a system to do Web site management, for both work flow and configuration. We positioned the company to provide content management for the enterprise Web. URLs look very much like a file system. Databases have been built to store things for Web sites, and the site sits on top of the database only. But the structure of the information does not match.
Databases look like rows and columns, but a Web site is a network.
Clearly there was a need for storage methodology that reflected the information architecture of the Web, as opposed to just trying to squeeze the information architecture of the Web onto a relational database. Information has a natural structure, and the storage system should reflect that structure. We don't force users to change the structure of their information, which is one reason we've been so successful. Interwoven uses a file system approach, and one of the technical barriers to entry is that it is not easy to build a file system, let alone one that can keep different versions of your Web site. Interwoven targets big Web sites because they are exponentially more complicated.