Taming the Content Tiger
Make Your Organization Competitive

Since the dawn of the World Wide Web in the early ‘90s, organizations large and small have both benefited and been challenged by Web technology. A great deal has been written about various types of Websites, from on-line "brochure-ware" to robust e-commerce platforms, along with the difficulties encountered when evolving from one type to the next. In the early days of the Web, such evolution often required the development of net-new software technologies such as "shopping carts," version control systems, even Web content authoring tools.

Organizations today have the benefit of Web tools whose lineage can be traced back to the "one-off" solutions of earlier pioneers. Such solutions provided the inspiration for future generations of software developers, resulting in off-the-shelf software solutions that run the gamut of Web technologies, from Web application servers to Web portals, Web commerce servers, electronic forms and more. Perhaps the most valuable solutions available are those focused on Web content management (WCM).

Why Web Content Management?
Anyone who’s ever used a computer has personally experienced challenges relative to content; challenges such as "Where did I save that document?" "What email folder did I store that note in?" "Is this the most current version?" or "How can I get five other people to review this before tomorrow?" Yes, we’ve all been there, so it’s easy to imagine how such challenges increase when the topic changes to an organization’s website. Even small websites can still include hundreds of pages, with the websites of larger enterprises made up of thousands, even tens of thousands of pages. Creating a website is the first of many challenges. Content must be kept current going forward. Approval processes are needed to prevent the publication of inappropriate content. New rich media such as animations and sound are becoming more ubiquitous. Talk about your management nightmares!

Which is why WCM systems are becoming so invaluable. WCMs address the many challenges of maintaining website content, primarily by empowering content-owners. Instead of the old paradigm where a webmaster from IT authored and published all Web pages, WCMs allow everyday users and content owners to author and publish their own pages. WCMs also support workflows, ensuring that content is appropriately reviewed and approved prior to Web publication. By enabling content owners to self-manage content, WCMs help organizations large and small keep their content current, and their websites competitive.

It’s all about the customer experience... Now that we’ve discussed the fundamental benefits of WCMs, let’s examine a more important consideration... the customer experience. Competitive pressures are ever-present, and are especially pressing in more challenging economic times. A Web presence has long been the rule, not the exception, and with all the many recent advances in Web technology—including Web 2.0 technologies such as REST services and Ajax that enable richly interactive Web experiences—companies today must exceed expectations if they expect to acquire (or even retain) customers.

WCM software can help companies gain the competitive edge they need. For example, IBM customer Healthways used Lotus Web Content Management software to easily deliver a personalized experience to members in a highly scalable, "plug and play" environment. As a result, Healthways streamline and simplify document management, improving staff efficiency.

...Especially in an ever-changing market. The needs of yesterday’s customers aren’t the needs of tomorrow’s, any more than yesterday’s business model will continue to suffice. New opportunities arise at Internet speed, and can pass you by just as quickly if you’re not prepared. While WCMs can help, organizations that choose to deploy WCM in conjunction with a Web portal gain many advantages that Web portals deliver, such as the ability to provide customers with content personalized to their preferences or past behavior and, role-based access to content and applications. Required as well in today’s rapid Web proliferation is scalability and robustness to support hundreds of thousands of users anytime, anywhere.

For these reasons and more, IBM customer Augsburger Aktienbank AG chose a combined Lotus WCM/IBM WebSphere Portal solution, allowing them to:

• Relaunch the corporate Web site to provide a fresh, modern face to its customers and partners and implement a Web content management solution to enable efficient content creation and management;
• Implement a full-scope Internet banking and brokerage solution for customers and partners to replace current PC banking solution;
• Increase number of customers doing business online;
• Grow customer base;
• Enable provision of Web services topartners; and
• Streamline business processes.

But how do you get there? Organizations have been on the Web for some time now. As robust Web tools such as modern WCMs weren’t always available, many organizations have their own "home grown" solutions. Other organizations, who could benefit from the capabilities of a combined WCM/portal solution, installed less open or scalable solutions that are currently limiting growth or inhibiting flexibility to respond to emerging business opportunities. Such situations can seem daunting, but aren’t insurmountable. In the case of IBM customer Cement Australia, the solution involved migrating to a Lotus Web Content Management solution that delivered significant benefits, as exemplified by the following customer quote: "We wanted to leverage the existing SAP master data to ensure we maintained a single data repository," said Ian Norvock, collaboration and development manager for Cement Australia. "One of the prime requirements from the HR department was for an intuitive and user-friendly solution—a dynamic website. It made sense to use proven technologies to build a solution that we had full control over, that was affordable and scalable," said Norvock.