Content Management Over The Horizon

I'm on the board of a non-profit that was in need of some software. The organization functions both as an alumni and and independent booster group for a youth camp. Recently the non-profit decided to re-invigorate its membership structure. For that, we needed software. We wanted something that could manage membership, handle our simple accounting needs (or easily integrate with affordable, online accounting software), and manage communication with members and prospective members. If we were lucky, it would also come with an event management system.

One other criteria was that the solution needed to be a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. The reasons were several. With many (and changing) volunteers running the system, it needed to be accessible for all from their homes via technology they're likely to have: a decent Internet connection, a computer of any sort and a browser. We don't have much in the way of IT support, so we wanted someone else on the hook for maintaining servers, upgrading software, conducting backups and waking up in the middle of the night to fix any problems that arise. Our budget is low, but it would be worth paying for these “convenience” features.

Research Results

The research took quite a bit of work, so I thought I'd share the results here in case they are helpful to others. Four solutions emerged as possible fits for our organization (though others are available – and more expensive). Here's what I learned.

• Membership software won't handle accounting. But most will export to QuickBooks, and one even does a sync with QuickBooks (including the online version).
• They'll all handle payments, but you do have to arrange for a third-party payment processor.
• Most are really feature-rich; some even include the ability to handle a capital campaign.

Integrating Membership Management Software with a CMS

Sometimes Granite Horizon gets asked about handling a membership management system in the eZ Publish content management system (CMS). Depending on the organization's needs sometimes we customize eZ Publish to accomplish that task, but other times we wish we had an easy integration to software which specializes in membership management.

Of the four systems above, three have some way of connecting to a CMS. Neon generates RSS feeds, so some data from the membership management system can be output into the website through the CMS. This might be helpful for showing upcoming events, for example. Wild Apricot goes further, offering all kinds of its functionality as widgets which can be planted in the CMS. This affords quite a bit of flexibility. Both Neon and Wild Apricot are planning to build API's, which would allow a programmer to connect behind the scenes to the membership management system, perhaps to add new members or check out a member's status so the CMS could display content based on who the member is. We very much look forward to the implementation of this feature.

At present only Membee allows for single sign on (SSO) through its software, however. This means a user could log in on either Membee or the CMS-powered website, be authenticated through Membee, and then be shown CMS content based on their membership status. For example, there could be a set of member-only pages on the website which are hidden entirely from public view, until the user logs in as a member. Nice going, Membee!

Conclusion

For the purposes of the small non-profit I work with, either Neon or Wild Apricot would serve us well. Allowing members the option of automatically renewing their membership each year is key to that decision. Neon has additional capabilities which could prove useful (though there's a charge for additional modules). For integration with eZ Publish, Membee seem the best fit (as SSO would be essential in most cases).

Service is also an important feature. Neon and Membee have delivered excellent customer service so far. At various times with both I found myself talking with the company president without having asked. Wild Apricot and Club Runner both provided good service by phone.

In conclusion, some advice: When you select your own membership software, first determine your own core needs. It may be that a more expensive system is warranted, or that you want to try an open source solution you could install yourself. The factors we considered were important for my organization, but may not be for yours. You'll certainly want to sit in on a demo (live or recorded) of the systems on your short list. If you end up trying one or the other I've mentioned, please share the story of your experience here.

There’s a great scene in the movie Jaws where Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss compare the various scars they’ve collected over the years. It’s a classic scene as they continue to one-up one another until Quint, played by Robert Shaw, “wins” the contest by pointing out that he was on the USS Indianapolis. I won’t spoil it. You can see it here.

Sometimes it feels as if we digital marketers can do the same thing with our Web exploits. We all have our scars. From failed technology projects, Websites that went nowhere and campaigns that just exploded in our face. And, it feels like today, we face sharper “teeth” than ever. With decreased budgets, and the pace of marketing change coming faster and faster – sometimes it feels like it’s more “dangerous” than it’s ever been. But, on the other hand, just like Richard Dreyfus’ new-fangled tools gave the trio in Jaws a better chance - we also now have the opportunity to be more creative and flexible than ever before. And the tools to power that creativity and flexibility are more plentiful than we’ve ever previously enjoyed.

Open Source & Cloud Based Tools Are Paving The Way

Ten years ago – the number of online marketing tools available as Open Source and/or through Software-as-a-Service were few and far between. Analytics tools were there, of course – and some email campaign management systems were often delivered this way. But things like Web content management for site management, blogging and landing page creation – or campaign management tools – were just non-existent. Five years ago – it felt very “bleeding edge” to have these kinds of “cloud” or “Open Source” based software services running in the marketing organization. Well, today – things have changed.

Almost exactly a year ago – I conducted a research study of marketers and how they were utilizing cloud based software for marketing purposes. Maybe it’s a sign of the times – but 100% of those surveyed were using at least one software-as-a-service based software tool as part of their day to day operations. Now, I don’t know this for sure but I would bet that with the explosive growth of blogging, and social media, the same holds true for Open Source.

It’s no secret that digital marketing has become much more of a “social conversation” that we’re having and online content management tools are really becoming “online conversation” tools. Content coming into the organization is sometimes as (or more) important than content going out. Couple that with the struggling economics of most of our marketing budgets (doesn’t it seem like we’re always struggling) and the fact that we have to measure so much more – and you’ve got the recipe for a daunting challenge.

As marketers, when we’re trying so hard to put as much money into “marketing” – we’re constantly trying to determine what the right balance of software, services and internal team effort should be given our limited budgets. We’re constantly asking the questions of:

• What solutions do I need to manage my online content marketing efforts?
• How will those solutions work together?
• Do I need to bring in technology consultants to make it work together?
• How much software, hardware and technology do I really need to reach my marketing goals?

So, if you’re like most – you’re typically turning to your IT organization, or technology agency for the answers to those questions. That inevitably ends up in RFP’s and internal quotes and delays – and many times we find our marketing department transformed into a software development shop – hacking together packaged software and writing custom integrations to make our tools meet our demands.

An Opportunity For Increased Success

From a content management perspective – both Open Source and cloud based solutions have the opportunity to help with this. Notice – I didn’t say “guarantee”. Deploying any tool – whether it’s open source, proprietary, installed or cloud based doesn’t inherently provide a better model. But, what Open Source and cloud based web content management do is provide for the opportunity for marketers to save money and get out of the software development business – and more easily tie their other solutions together. In this way marketers can get back into the business of successful marketing – and maybe avoid some of those nasty scars.

So, if you’re considering Web content management, or really any online marketing tool delivered in an Open Source and/or SaaS based method, consider these five key principles that can help deliver success:

1. Partners should know the word “service”. The most important part of working with either an Open Source or a SaaS vendor is the service. This includes promises like guarantees on uptime and response time for ongoing services (as opposed to software), support contracts and the ability to work with people who will come to know your business. Your goal as a marketer should be to market your company’s product or service -- not manage technology.
2. Match the solution with the tool. Once you’ve developed a content and marketing process THEN it’s time to look at tools. The software systems should align with the tactics you expect to use on an ongoing basis. A web content management tool, for example, can manage assets across websites, online ad landing pages, banner campaigns, rich media email, affiliate marketing, digital asset distribution, online street teams and electronic press kit distribution. If these tactics figure into your online plans, a content management system that publishes and manages these assets for you and your partners can make tremendous financial sense.
3. Align costs with the effort. Marketers will also need to figure internal personnel costs to manage these vendors and assets. Look for Open Source and Software Services that have the ability to integrate with other systems and guide your personnel to be vendor managers, rather than technology managers.
4. Leverage the tools – adoption is imperative. Making your internal team comfortable with online marketing tools and how they work is key. Whether you pick a best-of-breed strategy, or a marketing suite, consider customized (and regular) end-user training for all of the tools you’re using; and not just general training – but training on your specific implementation and technology suite.

It goes without saying that any online marketing strategy should always correspond with existing communications, branding and business strategy. When contemplating the integration of a new set of tools, do not allow sophisticated features or complex technology to distract from overall marketing goals. A marketing department’s technology needs are unique and often misunderstood, so a vendor with experience in providing marketing-related technology tools will empower the organization to implement solutions that are faster, easier to customize and better equipped to meet the organization’s evolving needs.

Best-of-Breed vs. Suites

Now that we’ve reached that “tipping point” of Open Source and Software as a Service – convergence of feature sets is upon the many vendors who play in this space. But as digital marketers look for open source or hosted solutions, the choice will quickly come down to this: Should I choose one “suite” that offers all (or most) of the solutions I need, or should I choose a “best-of-breed” approach and integrate individual solutions together?

For some, the “suite” model will surely be compelling as providers tout the “singular interface” and the “one-stop-shop” approach. But also consider the scars we’ve got from our IT history and how difficult it was to “unbundle” an under-performing solution. By taking a “best-of-breed” approach marketers can plug and unplug solutions as needed to continually evaluate ROI. 

For example, if the email campaign management vendor’s customer service fails to deliver on its SLA (Service Level Agreement), or if a more robust feature set is found in a competing product, the digital marketer can simply unplug the existing vendor and plug in another. And, as time goes by, the integration between those products will become further standardized – making the re-integration process fairly painless, or at least less painful than trying to unbundle an integrated suite from a singular company. Again, this is where an Open Source and/or SaaS solution can be extraordinarily helpful.

With the right set of tools in place, and some solid design for online marketing efforts, any organization can take advantage of the metrics, consistency and ROI that digital marketing affords. These benefits, in turn, will provide a significant boost to the brand as well as the bottom line. And keep the online marketer free of scars. And one thing’s for sure looking at Open Source and SaaS – you definitely WON’T need a bigger boat.

While a web content management system is a worthy cornerstone of web marketing, its effectiveness is multiplied when some key connections are made.

Marketing Automation

When visitors navigate your site, you can learn about each individual's interests. This, in turn, allows you to customize the experience for them, personalizing key elements of the site to fit their needs. You can even help them complete forms by pre-filling fields you already have information on, making the trip to the submit button a shorter one. Tie your CMS into a service like Pardot or Eloqua to automate your marketing.

Email Marketing

Prospects can opt-in to your regular email newsletters, subscribing to any number of email lists you manage, with the help of an email marketing provider. Take the integration a step farther and you can push content from your site through the email marketing provider (who monitors bounce rates, increases delivery rates, and helps ensure compliance with anti-spam regulations) for email campaigns. Think Streamsend, Constant Contact, and ExactTarget.

Customer Relationship Manager

When you collect information about someone, whether in a subscription form, a contact form, or a form needed to download a whitepaper, you can store it centrally in a CRM. There you can schedule and track your interactions with the person, and use sophisticated workflows to ensure each one gets the attention they deserve. Salesforce.com is the big one, but there are others.

E-commerce

Many CMS's have their own web shop, so you can evaluate whether it meets your needs or whether it would be better to integrate a separate platform like Magento. Remember to tie your checkout form to your CRM as well.

Recommendation Engine

Similar to marketing automation systems, a recommendation engine provides content specifically tailored to each user. But a "recommender" uses complex algorithms to determine what products (or news articles, or whatever) may be of most interest to the visitor. I'll provide a blog post exploring these tools soon. An example engine would be YOOCHOOSE.

Adding some (or all) of these tools can greatly improve the effectiveness of your CMS marketing efforts. Just be careful that the introduction of new features all are done with an eye toward continuously improving site usability as well and do not detract from your visitors' overall experience.

Using a content management system (CMS) for web content management brings a variety of efficiencies for cost savings and higher return on investment (ROI). This post is meant to help those already using a CMS to verify that they are making the most of it, and to help those considering a switch to a CMS to know what kind of savings they might expect.

#1. Save in the Editorial Process

A CMS will enable you to use workflows to automate your business processes. Here's an example of a simple workflow: Whenever a contributor finishes a new content for the website rather than posting it to the website directly, it first goes to an editor who may approve it or deny it (and send it back with comments). If approved, the content appears immediately on the site.

A CMS with a good workflow system will not require you to use its “standard” workflows, but rather allows creation of custom workflows that exactly match your existing business processes. The savings comes in time: everyone's content is easy to find as it's all in one place, the CMS handles the passing of the content through the editorial process (so contributors don't have to), and the consistency of the process reduces guessing and mistakes.

Similarly, a CMS makes project collaboration easier. Take translation for instance. : Once a contributor has created something in the CMS, translators can enter into a translation interface so they can see, field by field, the content in the original language and create copy in the new one. Or the CMS can integrate with translation automation assistance, like SDL Trados. Since the content starts and ends in the CMS, we you again save on time spent moving versions from one system to another, correcting errors, keeping things up-to-date, and communicating about status.

#2. Save by Sending Your Content Everywhere

Unless your organization is an intelligence agency, your content is probably meant to be shared. Your CMS should make this easy. In addition to allowing non-programmers to update your website, the CMS should allow re-use of content: in multiple locations and ways on the site, on other sites, via mobile apps, through RSS feeds, to social media, in print (e.g. exporting to Microsoft Word, PDF, Adobe InDesign, or Quark), via email (perhaps through your favorite email marketing provider), and much more. When all the content originates from one system delivery is more efficient and copying errors are eliminated.

#3. Save on IT

When you select an enterprise CMS, one which is a complete and extensible content management framework, it can serve as the hub of all your content activity. Multiple web properties can be managed from the same system, and as noted above content delivery can be provided through many channels. The savings here comes from reducing the number of software packages which must be supported. New IT infrastructure decisions may now be minor additions rather than major systems. And overall, your organization's time can be spent on communicating its message rather than getting systems to communicate.

Conclusion

A strong CMS can realize quick savings on all your web content marketing and communication activities through efficiencies in the editorial, distribution and IT support areas. Well deployed, it can produce an attractive return on your company's investment, freeing funds for other uses. In an upcoming blog we'll discuss how to best deploy for CMS success.

 #1. Do it once.

Take steps to ensure this big project does not blow up, but serves you well for years to come. Get it right the first time by choosing an existing, highly-reputable, well-supported content management system. (“Building your own” always adds substantial additional risk and is rarely the best answer.)

Implementing a seemingly less-expensive content management system (CMS) only to find that it won't really do what you need creates all kinds of new expenses: buying the right one, migrating data (again), and wasting enormous amounts of staff time.

# 2. Don't do it again next year. (See #1.)

There is no reason to settle for a CMS that you aren't positive is capable of taking your organization where it needs to grow five or even ten years out. Most CMS's will tout that they are extensible, scalable, etc. For future-proofing, though, choose one that is a content management framework as well as an actual CMS. The framework will provide the flexibility you need to add extensions or customizations as the years go by. And it will be the worthy hub of all your content delivery channels.

(A quick hint: if the CMS has “blocks” within which you must build your HTML - or if your designer has to learn the constraints of the CMS before they can design – your site isn't about to be powered by a content management framework.)

# 3. Use people who know what they are doing.

Heavy-duty CMS frameworks take months or more to master. While someone could start working in the CMS in a shorter period of time, they may need more time to become efficient, and to learn “best practices.” Using “best practices” is especially important in the initial setup of a CMS, as the software and data architecture developed then become the foundation for the system for years to come.

Be sure you have at least some high-level expertise in your selected CMS on your development team. You'll find lower overall expenses and the higher effectiveness and stability of the end product.

Don't be afraid to lean on outside expertise to back up your own team, or outsource development entirely if that fits your organization best. Watch out, though: using a team or consultant who doesn't know how to finish the complex parts of your job is a way to get over budget fast. Bring these external folks in early in the process, and be sure they are well steeped in your business goals, so they can provide advice along the the to increase return on investment (ROI).

# 4. Test early.

If you are rolling out a new design, it's easy to start usability testing sooner than you might imagine. Your designer should be able to provide you with a set of wireframes available over the Web with live links.

Select several random users uninvolved with the project. See if they can accomplish the tasks you give to them within your target time and number of clicks. Get their feedback, revise the wireframes and test again. Try two or three rounds of testing, with a different set of five or ten subjects each time. Testing can make a big difference is your site's final usability. Starting it early – at the wireframe stage – will help focus your later usability testing (with the completed designs implemented). Fewer surprises means fewer expensive changes just prior to launch.

# 5. Standardize.

It's often the case that multiple CMS's are used across an organization's web properties. Yet most organizations who employ use a strong CMS framework for one property do find efficiency over time by migrating data from the other CMS's to their new, core solution. This means their developers can be more focused on being expert in one system (versus many), and their editors likewise have transferable skills as they work on the various sites.

Start saving!

Implementing a new CMS is always a lot of work. With some good decisions early in the process you can keep your costs under control.

I recently had the honor of doing a webinar with Scott Liewehr and CM Pros. The focus was how to choose between a CMS supplied in a traditional manner and a SaaS ("Software as a Service") CMS.

A traditional (sometimes called "on-site," "on-premise," or "installed") CMS is delivered in the way we have been used to having our software. You buy the license to it, and have it installed on a server you select. In the SaaS CMS model, you don't buy the software. The vendor provides its functionality to you as a subscription, using servers you don't have to worry about. Here are some of the key differences.

Expertise

Traditional CMS's require expertise. Your company will need either on staff or in your circle of consultants someone who understands how to install, customize, and administer the CMS. This is not true for the SaaS CMS, as the vendor provides all those services.

Web Governance

Most organizations find that marketing and IT are the main departments involved in the CMS. Organizations differ in what the optimal balance between the two would be. Traditional CMS's will need the help of the IT department on an ongoing basis. If the organization chooses to go SaaS, the IT department is mainly needed at the beginning to help evaluate the vendor.

Psychology

Similarly, the marketing department in particular should evaluate in realistic terms its need for control and, conversely, its desire to be free of dealing with technicalities. If you own the CMS installation ("traditional"), you have the ability to decide exactly who touches the CMS, its server, and its network. You can select the exact hardware used, make decisions about the architecture, and be involved in low-level meetings to solve problems and troubleshoot bugs. Some people need that level of control. For others, it is a distraction. These people would rather such things be the concern of someone else, so a higher percentage of their time is spent in the creative space of marketing. For these, the SaaS model fits well.

Time to Launch

Most often CMS projects have a tight deadline, or at least a strong preference for a quick launch. A SaaS CMS would generally be a faster option, as the infrastructure is already in place, the software is ready to go, and the vendor already has a skilled team of people ready to provide customization and training. If the time horizon is longer, this point is moot.

Budget Type

The overall expense of a traditional CMS is often highest right at the beginning, which is a nice fit for a capital budget. SaaS CMS's tend to have lower initial expenses, so their costs tend to be steadier and fit  more into an operational budget model. Be sure to consider lifetime costs as well.

Both SaaS and traditional CMS models are important options. When you weigh these five factors for your organization, which choice rises to the top?

What is the cloud, and what does it have to do with web content management (WCM)? The term “cloud” actually refers to the Internet; the great granddaddy of networks, on which we now communicate immensely: telephone (voice over IP), email, tweets, Facebook, Googling, Skype, television, control of your smart home, financial transactions, etc. All this takes place in the cloud. It is a “cloud” because it is “out there”, away from our worries about how the thing works and where the server we're connected to actually exists. We know it's distant from us and we can't see what's going on inside it (and generally don't need or even care to), hence the likeness to a cloud.

CMS Out of the Cloud

Content managers have two levels main levels of cloud possibilities available to them. But first let's see what it means to not be in the cloud. A high profile national manufacturer recently asked us to train their IT team and assist them in developing a series of new websites. Each day of the training I walked past their server room on the way to their IT conference room. The server room contained the machines on which the new websites would run. So they were not accessing their content management system (CMS) in the cloud; it was on their local network. (For customers, however, accessing web pages of any sort is indeed reaching into the cloud.)

Cloud Option 1: Your Cloud, Still Your Headache

We service a non-profit which improves air quality by encouraging alternative transportation. They have a few websites hosted by a third party hosting company. Essentially they rent a computer in the hosting company's data center. The server is in the cloud, because they (and their visitors) access it through the Internet. Many hosting companies (e.g. Amazon and Rackspace) offer a variant which they label “cloud servers” or the like; these make use of a technique called “cloud computing”, which for the customer essentially means you can make your server bigger or smaller, or even add more servers, at any time, without worrying about year-long leases. But in both cases, the responsibility for the website running still lies with the client. The hosting company makes sure there's a working server, powered, cooled, and connected to the Internet; but whether the website software itself is up or down is beyond their control and responsibility.

Cloud Option 2: SaaS CMS in the Cloud

Web content managers do not have to buy web content management software. The alternative, which outsources not only hosting but also the headaches of upgrades, security patches, bug fixes, and monitoring, is a well-established business model called “Software as a Service”, or “SaaS”. The website is purchased on a subscription basis which includes use of the CMS and perhaps other support services. The client no longer needs to specialize in high availability web servers and the content management software; that responsibility is transferred to the vendor, who performs this precise role as their core business focus. Low-end SaaS CMS vendors may offer their CMS on a “cloud computing” basis, allowing users to start and stop their website at a moment's notice, but are limited in how much customization is available. Enterprise SaaS CMS vendors, with products like our own Granite Horizon In The Cloud, are able to provide the same kinds of customization available when the purchased without the SaaS model. Marketing and communications professionals often prefer this method because costs are generally more operational than capital, there is less dependence on other departments for infrastructure maintenance, and the worry of maintaining servers and software is left to those who make that their profession.

Microsoft may be $8.5 billion poorer, but its acquisition of Skype yields interesting possibilities. Since Microsoft has a large share of the browser market and now also owns a widely-used internet telephony and videophone service, lots of possibilities exist for a marriage of the two. If I were in charge, my first priority would be adding some new media to web pages. Transform the way we interact with company representatives by placing the reps directly on the website, ready for clients to communicate with over Skype. Allow users to make use of all Skype's capabilities within their web experience on the organizations website.

Browse to a retailer's website, click on a product, and then click to chat (or voice call, or video call, at my option) a customer service rep in that product department to learn more about it. Perhaps if I video call them, and they're in call center on another continent, being able to see their eyes may help me overlook the cultural disconnect.

On a non-profit website, Skype could provide a "Discuss a Donation" button, which would invite a chat/call/video call with a staff member. There's no dialing required, and a chat window is available for me right away. If the user chose the voice (or much more importantly video) option, they now have a personal connection with a person at the non-profit, which is essential for keeping donors for the long-term.

A university website could allow this kind of direct connection for admissions and student services, but also for facilitating faculty office hours, helping student organizations to have virtual meetings, creating ad-hoc study groups, etc. The possibilities for innovation in the microcosm of the academic community are endless, and its potential for accelerating the interchange of ideas is exciting.

To enable this functionality, Microsoft would simply provide a widget for website owners to drop on to their site. The code would be standards-compliant, and run well on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and other browsers. Mobile devices would be able to use it too, as it's simply JavaScript on a web page, and a small screen version would be included for mobile devices. The code can be different for different parts of the website, so the correct department is contacted on each call. And at the company level, some basic call center routing would enable delivery of the call to an available representative.

So welcome to the era of talking through website, conversing through browsers. And as devices other than laptops (game consoles, TV's) become Internet browsers as well, the possibility for an extremely rich media experience with organizations' websites becomes quite real and accessible.

What would you do if you owned Microsoft and Skype?

Steve Wozniak, co-founder (with Steve Jobs) of Apple Computer, spoke to a local gathering of technology leaders a few days ago. He's an engineer's engineer, and proud of it. But what impressed me most about him was his drive for excellence in creativity.

Building things, making new things--this is what makes Steve tick. But it's not assembly line work he cherishes--it's the inventive process. Perhaps his most valuable asset is that he's an idea person. To keep new ideas flowing, he avoided taking positions which would be more administrative than creative, and kept a leery eye on bureaucratic process meant to add efficiency to engineering departments but which had the effect of dousing the creative fire.

Creativity as Differentiator

For Apple, having a great idea and delivering it well has meant huge success. And for those of us who job is to leverage the Internet for more effective communication, generating innovative ideas and implementing them well is equally essential. In an age when knowledge is available via an Internet search and everyone can buy the same software, the playing field is much more level than in prior times. What differentiates one organization from another is which comes up with and executes well the best ideas. So serious business success hinges on creativity.

Those responsible for web content management need to be creative individuals. Certainly, they need to know the basics of content management and the systems and integrations commonly used today. But since anything can integrate with anything else today, the big challenge is to be creative in using content and information systems to provide valuable new resources for customers.

Creative Discipline

Great ideas aren't always hard to come by, but it takes three disciplines to build a culture of creativity.

• Read about content management/web marketing, and nose into some topics which are tangentially related. Follow your fascination.
• Sit down with people outside your organization whose insight you admire. Do this face to face, at conferences, over lunch or coffee, etc. Discuss your fields freely.
• Leave your normal work building once in awhile for a few hours at a different location--even if it's on a park bench or in a cafe. But don't use home or any of your normal haunts. Be in a different place, do a little reading, and start brainstorming freely ideas related to your field.

Thinking together in brainstorming sessions is great, but they can get much further if those involved read other people's ideas, discuss relevant topics with a diverse group of people, and spend some time thinking creatively on their own. Then your team will be in a much better position to innovate.

Wasting Creativity is a Huge Risk

The Web is young and there are many stones yet unturned. New models like cloud computing, mobile delivery of websites, and mobile apps are so new that companies serious about their creative culture have vast and thrilling possibilities before them. Have the courage to inspire your team to think creatively, and insist that they build time for the three disciplines above into their work routines. It doesn't take a large quantity of time to get the mind's wheels turning, and there's no telling what you will think of next!

On February 9^th, 2011 I interviewed Luke Barton, Managing Director of eZ Systems Americas, about the 2011 eZ Winter Conference in Nice, France.

GH: What was the high point of the conference?

LB: There are many. I think one was the discussion from the partners: their input on how we should position our products. That showed a level of interest from both parties to make sure we're positioning eZ correctly and make sure what we offer is what is demanded by customers. On the developer side of things, there was a facilitated break-out group about the product road map. People could choose a group to join for 15-30 minutes and discuss with that engineer their hopes and dreams for the product in a certain category. A lot of energy came out of that. The overall theme for both was that you had a direct connection with eZ.

GH: How was the new CEO Gabriele Viebach received? What direction was she moving eZ in?

LB: Gabriele was framing her tenure as a new chapter in the history of eZ. Her approach is that the E in CEO is really “Execution”. So she is a strategist who rolls up her sleeves and gets tactical and gets things done. The board members, including Aleksander Farstad, when interviewed by the audience, made the joke over and over again in a very respectful way that Gabriele is demanding and they are very excited about having someone like that.

GH: Were there new announcements about eZ Systems?

LB: The marketplace is new. eZ Systems is creating a marketplace whereby partners and developers can resell their code through eZ and make money off their code. So their extensions are not only a community-type thing, but a for-profit endeavor. A provider licenses his code to be sold by eZ to premium customers, and the provider is responsible for supporting it and gets year-over-year revenue.

GH: What's in the pipeline for eZ Publish?

LB: From a product perspective, several new things in the roadmap bear mentioning. One will be a recommendations engine for personalized web content. We're going to integrate, as opposed to build our own, so the user experience driven by an eZ Publish installation will be enriched by a recommendation engine.

Second, there is a laser-sharp focus on the kernel, to properly abstract from it API's at a lower level so there are more hooks into the system with the overall mantra: “You don't need to know eZ to build applications based on eZ. You just need to know the API.” So what that means is the REST interface is going to be getting a lot of work done to it.

From the partner program side, we're also looking at value-added relationships in our program, to provide to those who buy into the program. That's yet to be defined in total, but a good example is Kapow [editor's note: Kapow makes software which facilitates the migration of content from one system to another]. We're looking for ways to make margins to make profitable relationships for Kapow, partners, and eZ to make Kapow-driven migrations, and to save the customer money all at the same time.