Open Text Corp. has updated its Web Experience Management suite in an effort to simplify the way content producers and IT administrators upload and format rich media on their Web pages.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based said the revamped release, which formerly was part of the Vignette Content Management suite, contains features that will help content producers, site designers and administrators optimize sites for tablet and smart phone content consumption. The company said that as corporate Web pages integrate more video and interactive digital media, enterprises need to update the tools they give their content contributors and marketing teams.
One of the highlights of the update is a new Web Media Management module which will allow users the ability to choose between a variety of different formatting types when posting a videos, images or podcasts. The system will also allow content producers to easily choose rendering options for the videos they post.
“This is important when you are posting for mobile devices versus posting to a regular Web browser,” said Marci Maddox, product marketing director at Open Text.
Every uploaded media file will be displayed as a thumbnail as opposed to the more traditional file structure format.
Maddox added that IT managers will be interested in the update and this automatic formatting feature because it allows non-technical content authors and editors more freedom to make changes themselves. The feature is designed to let content producers make technical changes to rich media that they might not have been able to in the past, she said.
The tool’s timeline feature has been changed as well to better facilitate the process of cueing up content updates to Web sites or social networks, said Maddox.
The updated release also comes with some analytics features geared toward letting content producers optimize search metadata and make semantic connections to other articles. This feature incorporates aspects of Open Text’s Web Recommendations and Semantic Navigation products.
Rounding out the new features is a built-in Web traffic and social media activity tool.
According to Gartner Research Inc., the market for WCM tools will grow at a compound annual rate of 14 per cent from 2009 to 2014. The research firm pegged the industry at US$890 during recession-impacted 2009.
“The growth of the online channel for businesses is growing exponentially,” said Toby Bell, research vice-president with Gartner. “I think we’re just beginning to understand the potential of the Web, both for commerce and for community.”
While most organizations have historically viewed their websites as places to post static content about their business, such organizations are increasingly considering their online presence as the chief conduit to potential customers and investors.
The updated Web Experience Management release is now available as an on-premise or cloud-based solution.
– With files from Joab Jackson, IDG News Service (New York Bureau)
