Keeping content current

With few resources available to manage, screen and produce the content that is -- or should be -- posted, the market for Web content management software is set to explode. According to the Gartner Group, what is now a $400 million market, will total $2.5 billion in 2002, and by some estimates will hit $13 billion by 2003.

To address these issues, organizations frequently turn to outside developers to handle Web site management. However, internal staff must still make most content decisions, with the highly paid developer doing little more than posting. Once the initial work of building a site has been done, routine maintenance and content editing tasks are often neglected.

Ideally, the solution comes from a well-planned site that offers the ability to be updated directly by individual content experts -- i.e. anyone in an organization.

NCompass Labs offers one such solution. Once initial authorization and approval workflows are created, intranet, extranet or Web content can be posted by hundreds of different users.

Resolution is a Web content management system for Internet, intranet and extranet sites. The software allows non-technical content experts to create, manage and publish their information directly to the Web with no need to learn HTML. Web page content can be pasted from common desktop tools such as Microsoft Word and Excel. Resolution automatically converts the information to HTML, with layout and formatting intact.

Direct posting by content providers ensures that data stays current, even on a site that contains thousands of documents.

GTE Communications Corporation has used the Resolution product to create and maintain ActiveStat.com, a GTE extranet. GTE staff members use the site to provide employees and partners with information about ongoing projects.

"Many of our customers are implementing Resolution in support of e-commerce or e-relationship management objectives," said Dr. Gerri Sinclair, CEO of NCompass. "GTE's deployment as a project management tool illustrates the power of Resolution and its importance as a cornerstone technology for collaboration on the Web."

The key to successful content management Sinclair said, is the ability for individual authors to add their personal value to that content