NetObjects UK-bound, adding groupware to Fusion

The two-year-old Redwood City, California-based vendor, whose Fusion product is acknowledged as a breakthrough package, has yet to select a city for its European headquarters but said it will be in this country. Satellite offices will also operate in Paris and Munich. NetObjects' European sales and marketing director is Ken Parkinson, who has recently held senior positions at Traveling Software and Stream International. Forrester Research predicts the market for site construction software will be worth $1.2 billion by 1999.

Separately, NetObjects has announced TeamFusion, a tool that allows collaborative Web site design. The software allows privileges and roles to be set up so that non-technical users can submit content through a Java-based browser while professional site designers use the full Fusion client. TeamFusion is slated for availability by end of year with pricing to be announced.

NetObjects claims the approach allows Webmasters superior control of disparate site development efforts, and claims that its research found content contributors typically outnumber Web site construction specialists by about 50 to one.