2 posts tagged “ecm”
Given the recent growth in DOM parsing capabilities of modern web applications such as Dapper, it's great to see this UI metaphor entering mainstream content management. We all know UI experts wax and wane over the benefits of certain approaches to building accessible yet efficient interfaces for content, but lets consider the realization that most approaches are variations of the same core scenario or workflow. For example, there's really only been 2 classes of content entry (perhaps even data entry?) worth mentioning in the last decade of web content management.
- Entry via forms, or structured authoring
- WYSIWYG authoring, or unstructured authoring
- Hybrid models of the former
It sill surprises me that 90% of enterprise vendors do not offer hybrid authoring; that is, the ability to demarcate certain placeholders or elements on a page as "editable" along side other unstructured, free form elements. MOSS 2007 barely does this, IBM WCM doesn't. Blogs? Don't get me started, they come up short.
That aside, I think that the folks at TypeRoom may have stumbled upon an entirely new paradigm not just for content entry. More specifically, I think that whereas it's obvious that this type of DOM-directed content authoring has it's merits, there's clearly areas in which the best practices or even the applicability is not proven, such as:
- How to handle content creation, not just editing of existing items
- Controlling security, permission and workflow upon page elements, not just entire pages
- How to map the underlying storage / data model underneath robust, reusable templates
While it's obvious that TypeRoom is using it's TypeRoom Lite offering as an online demo for the IP they've created in their WYSIWYG editor, it's understanding the final point about reusable templates which is key. Their tool allows authors to make changes without conforming to templates - you can just modify the end result, the DOM, without interrogating or otherwise being coupled to the underlying template from which it was cast. This alone has great uses - portability of the solution, abstraction from a server side language, etc. But ironically enough, I think the most value derived from such a codebase is not from its use as an authoring tool, but as a templating tool.
CMS experts will agree with me that if TypeRoom can use their DOM inspecting codebase as a mechanism for creating CMS template definitions (the process for turning an HTML design into an author accessible template with editable elements and placeholders) then they stand to become a strong aquisition target for existing ECM providers, or other SaaS-centric vendors looking for a solution to their "templating for non-techies" quagmire. Because after all, it's all about empowering the non-technical business users, and who says that they can't create templates as well as edit pages?
Ok, more flag waiving, I know. I'll stop eventually, but for now, I have to admit that we're all really proud about the accolades RedDot has been receiving. RedDot's first appearance on the KMWorld list was back in 2000 when the industry-rocking WYSIWYG editing environment was dropped on the scene.
Red dots to edit the web page? You mean I click the red ... aaahh, ok, got it. Sold.
Now that RedDot has been acquired thrice in the last 9 months, our return to the list was not motivated purely by technological gains, but more as a result of the market validating our strategic positioning of ECM for the mid-market. This sector is slated to have a substantial compound annual growth rate of 19% in the next 5 years as organizations seek to reap in the benefits of tried and true, low cost solutions being that they are the peak, or "middle of the bell curve" in the product adoption lifecycle. This, of course, is the period in the lifecycle with the most volume under the curve, and hence, the most sales.
This has gained traction with both Forresters and Gartner, as they dubbed RedDot "the leader in mid-market ECM." Not to liken Google to the state of collective conscience around the globe, but see for yourself what the search keywords "mid market ECM" yield.
Throughout all of the bids for RedDot, we have shone as the jewel of the parent organization: not unlike a humble yet exuberant Gretzky in his rookie year. Ever since the Hummingbird aquisition, RedDot has been a key differentiator in Hummingbird's sales cycle, and as mentioned in my previous post, was a strong motivator for Hummingbird's own aquisition by OpenText.
Given the recent M&A spree in ECM (high-noted by IBM's bid for FileNet), I would not be surprised if an even larger player such as HP or EMC acquired OpenText to round out their battle chest.
