Archive for the ‘Presenting Content’ Category

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Content Management — There’s an app for that!!

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

I have been working in Content Management for over 10 years and been involved in over 30 content management projects.  Sadly, I have never found a customer that was truly happy with their Content Management System (CMS).  Most customers figure out how to work with the system they have and adjust their processes accordingly.  Content Management should not be that painful.

There is a better way to manage content.  Why not replace your content management systems with a series of small, purpose-built applications?

  • Need to add a new product to your website… There’s an app for that.
  • Need to create a new marketing web page on your site using a word document… There’s an app for that.
  • Need to convert your web page to Spanish… There’s an app for that.
  • Need to create a new promotion through your website and e-mail… There’s an app for that as well.

Many of the content management problems I have encountered could be solved with a series of simple applications built on a common content platform.  One client we are working with is doing this today with great success.  It is much less expensive than you think.

The key to a successful content application model is finding a platform that allows for rapid content application development.  The platform should serve as a central repository for all content and it should have built in features like versioning, metadata management and publishing.

With the proper platform in place, applications can be developed quickly.  IT works with each department or content contributor to understand their specific needs and process flow.  Applications can be built in weeks (rather than months) because the platform allows it.  As additional applications are built, new features are added to the system that can be shared with other departments.  The result is a delegated content management process that empowers the content owners.

The client that is having success building content apps uses MarkLogic as their content platform.  They are meeting their content contributors needs and developing apps at a fraction of the cost of their previous large content management implementation.

I would love to hear more about how others are building content apps.  Please share your stories as comments.  If you want to learn more about how our clients are building these Content Management Apps send an e-mail to  info@avalonconsult.com.

Posted in ECM & Portals, Presenting Content | 2 Comments »

Taxonomies, Content Management and Governance

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Good governance is on everyone’s minds these days.  It’s a concern that extends well beyond the Washington Beltway.  As applied to managing your enterprise content, including taxonomies, it is not just an abstraction.

Good governance drives the overall performance of your content program, including:

–How easy it is for users to find information
–How users look for information
–How users store and retrieve information
–How to clean up redundant content
–What metadata is available
–What templates are used
The need for a well-planned and well-run governance program will only increase.  The growth of unstructured information, demands for greater efficiency and cost savings, and privacy concerns are all motivations.

Are you wondering how to set up a governance program?  Are you questioning whether your existing content governance is right?  Avalon and our partner PPC are sponsoring a free webinar series that will help you Cultivate Content Management Success through Planned, Managed, and Implemented Taxonomies. For more information and to register, click here.

Posted in ECM & Portals, Generic, Presenting Content, Search | No Comments »

How to explain MarkLogic to a business user

Monday, June 13th, 2011

It is no secret we here at Avalon are enamored with MarkLogic technology. Our consultants have regular discussions that involve topics like the best way to use Java code with XQuery or how to integrate HTML5 with WebSockets to create a multi-publisher capability for MarkLogic (and no, we do not use pocket-protectors or wear hats with propellers). Now I understand these are important topics that yield very cool applications but they don’t really resonate with a business user. The typical business user (IMHO) who is being introduced to MarkLogic sometimes has a hard time wrapping his or her head around what the heck it is. When I encounter this confusion I point them to a simple analogy:

I do love old-school SNL.

So how is this analogous to MarkLogic?… very simple. Business users typically understand technology on a 1 to 1 basis. They understand that the search engine is used for searching documents and the content management system is used to change content on their web site and the database is used to store, well… data. MarkLogic simply does not fit the 1 to 1 model in the way most business users have been trained to understand technology, it is a “disruptive technology”. MarkLogic is really a platform to build countless applications to leverage any unstructured content. So what does that mean? Think about all the content/”stuff” you have that is valuable but would not naturally be a fit to be managed in a spreadsheet/database (e.g. it would probably not make sense to put your meeting notes, videos, mp3s, family photos, or this blog into a spreadsheet/database). So lets take a look at some practical MarkLogic use case examples:

Publishing - This is clearly MarkLogic’s sweet spot. After all… who has more unstructured content than a publisher? Now publishers not only have a good way to store and manage their books/magazines/journals/etc. but they can now easily create content “mashups”. What is a content mashup? Think of a student being able to buy individual chapters (or paragraphs for that matter) across multiple books instead of wasting money on content that he/she doesn’t need.

The “S” word - If you go to the MarkLogic website, you will not (at least at the time of this blog post) see Search as one of the categories under their solutions tab. This is really too bad as MarkLogic is an extremely powerful search engine. For instance, we were engaged by a large Association recently that was already using MarkLogic for publishing. This Association realized the power of MarkLogic’s search capabilities and asked us to develop a roadmap for replacing their Lucene/Solr search implementation with MarkLogic (I called it Lucene bypass surgery). They not only saw the value of using MarkLogic for search but how they could reduce costs from collapsing a layer of infrastructure, reducing support and training costs, and eliminating risk from an overly complex system. If MarkLogic ever takes on the other search vendors head to head – watch out Endeca, Autonomy, Fast, etc., etc.

Web Content Management (WCM) - WCM on MarkLogic is simply a natural extension of how to leverage your content and software investment. Avalon has been working with MarkLogic on developing a simple WCM interface to abstract all of the technical mumbo jumbo and put a straight-forward WYSIWYG interface to manage a web site with content stored in MarkLogic. More info here: http://avalonconsult.com/solutions/tools/wcm_for_marklogic

If I told you I would have to kill you - Life would be much more simple for our security agencies if al-Queda and the Mexican drug cartels would establish data centers, we could just hack into them and know what they were up to. It seems the bad guys tend to shy away from structured data (can’t imagine why). Now I don’t claim to know the exact use case(s) of how the US “three letter agencies” use MarkLogic but it is obviously valuable to be able to manage and analyze a ton of unstructured “intel”.

This is just a small sample of the applications MarkLogic can power. Geospatial, mobile, and metadata applications are just a few others that deserve attention for a MarkLogic solution.

So for all you business users out there. Don’t stress when someone in your organization comes up to you and says “I have an idea for a product that will serve our (insert your unstructured content need here) and it might also work as a (insert your other unstructured content need here). MarkLogic is the “New Shimmer” of technology… it simply works well for multiple applications.

Posted in Generic, mobile, Presenting Content, Search, Semantic Web | No Comments »

Taxonomies and Content Management

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

My formal introduction to Vignette Content Management began with this statement:  ”Vignette has three hierarchical organizations for content.”   Put another way, you need three taxonomies to make Vignette work its best.

So what does that mean?  One definition of taxonomy is: “A defined hierarchy of categories; a tree-like structure of terminology that defines how categories relate to one another. Taxonomy provides a conceptual framework for discussion, analysis, or information retrieval.”

Vignette uses taxonomic structures for organizing where content is stored and managed, how it is navigated on websites, and  how it is categorized or classified for a variety of uses.   Other content platforms leverage taxonomies.  The facets in a faceted search experience are another example of a taxonomy.

A taxonomy is a powerful model for organizing information.  In the vast sea of information found inside every enterprise, the correct use of taxonomies can make content findable and ultimately help you, your employees, partners, and customers become more productive.

Interested in learning more?  Avalon and our partner PPC are sponsoring a free webinar series that will help you Cultivate Content Management Success through Planned, Managed, and Implemented Taxonomies. For more information and to register, click here.

Posted in ECM & Portals, Generic, Presenting Content | No Comments »

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