Content management for the future

There are many reasons why a strong content would be an important thing for companies making foray into the electronic information age. For one thing, a website will be the first point of contact with its web-based customers. It is probably the easiest point of contact for many customers. Also, for a large organization spanning several geographical regions, it is a efficient platform for enterprise-wide communication.

Managing content, however, is not an easy task. First, there are the sources from which content is being generated and produced. These have to be collected, checked and organized. The content is then converted and integrated into web-enabled content. Lastly, the graphics department adds the final touches of web lay-out.

At a press meet earlier this month, Michael Moppert, CEO and chairman of the board formally launched Day Corporation's Asian operation with the opening of an office in Singapore.

Bringing with it to its contention for the Asian market is Day's Communique 2, an e-business solution that the company calls "an application server with integrated, sophisticated content management."

Really, at the core of Communique 2 is a powerful content management system (CMS) that allows an administrator to by pass many steps of web-posting that is described above.

From Communique 2's administrative environment, content from various sources can be collected and checked by the administrator who can decide and post immediately without having to go through the process of conversion and integration. Better yet, a separate function of the system generates and integrates graphics base on user instructions and configuration.

That's not all Communique 2 can do, according to Day. The system is also fully capable of integrating seamlessly with a company's existing IT infrastructure, any data-base and third party application. And through modular expansion, Communique 2 is supposed to be able to offer clients e-commerce capabilities as well.

The security seems a bit thin, however, offering only user and password, and SSL as safeguards.

However, Day's existing clients, which include a number of financial institutions, seem at ease with the security arrangement and have not raise it as an issue with the company.

Founded in 1993, Day is listed at SWX New Market Zurich with a market cap of $S 580.8 million as of August 18, 2000. Its client list includes the likes of Sony and IBM. A 30% of Day's customers come from the financial services sector.