Global customer experience, content multi-purposing key drivers of next-generation XML business applications

September 30, Cambridge, MA – Outsell’s Gilbane Group, the analyst and consulting organization dedicated to content technologies, today announced the release of its latest study, Smart Content in the Enterprise: How Next Generation XML Applications Deliver New Value to Multiple Stakeholders.

Smart Content in the Enterprise offers a unique perspective on the XML market. Rather than focus on why companies adopt XML in the first place, the research examines the factors that contribute to broader adoption across an organization. “XML has delivered business value for more than a decade, but almost always at the departmental level within a single application. We wanted to know why organizations have struggled to move beyond the first silo of success and deploy XML in other areas where it can also deliver benefits, such as customer support,” comments Geoffrey Bock, study director and senior analyst with Gilbane.

The research underlying the study revealed that when organizations are successful with broad and valuable deployment, their XML content exhibits a set of common characteristics that make it “smart” in addition to structured. Smart content, as described in the study, is granular at the appropriate level, semantically rich, useful across applications, and meaningful for collaborative interaction.

Dale Waldt, senior analyst with Gilbane and co-author of the report, notes an important shift enabled by smart content. “We’re moving from repurposing to multi-purposing,” says Waldt. “Defining various uses of content leads to robust data models and enrichment processes that support multiple purposes for the content, allowing it to meet a broader range of business objectives. This is how new value for new stakeholders becomes the payoff for investments in smart content.”

Smart Content in the Enterprise identifies a pervasive emphasis on global customer experience as a key driver for smart content. The study explores the implications of smart content for business applications and defines the smart content technology landscape. It also provides guidance for companies who are ready to move beyond a single XML application silo and suggests a framework for developing a smart content roadmap. Case studies on smart content at Citrix, IBM, NetApp, Symitar, and Warrior Gateway round out the report.

Smart Content in the Enterprise draws on in-depth interviews with business and technologies leaders within organizations that have deployed XML, combined with Gilbane’s implementation expertise and deep knowledge of XML markets and technologies. The research will be valuable to managers of XML-based solutions who see a broader opportunity for XML within their organizations. The study will help them learn from the success of others, communicate value, build business cases, and constitute cross-functional teams. The report will also be useful for managers who are in the process of implementing XML and want to ensure that they are designing and building their applications to align squarely with contemporary user and content requirements. The study will also help technology and services providers develop offerings that enable smart content applications, address key issues and challenges, and market and position their products in ways to make their value propositions clear to buyers.

Smart Content in the Enterprise is available as a free download from the Gilbane Group website. The report is also available from study sponsors IBM, JustSystems, MarkLogic, MindTouch, Ovitas, Quark, and SDL. Additional insights and advice are provided on Gilbane’s XML analyst blog and through Gilbane’s XML and smart content consulting services.

About Outsell’s Gilbane Group

Outsell’s Gilbane Group provides analyst and consulting services dedicated to content strategies, practices, and technologies and their application to high-value business solutions. We have delivered quality market education and insight to global enterprises, governments, non-profits, publishers, and information providers since 1987. Outsell’s Gilbane Group analysts and consultants work with the entire community of stakeholders including investors, business and content professionals, enterprise buyers of IT, technology suppliers, and other consultant and analyst firms. We have organized over 70 educational conferences in North America and Europe, and our next event is Gilbane Boston 2010, November 30 through December 2. Information about our widely read newsletter, reports, white papers, case studies and analyst blogs is available at http://gilbane.com/. Outsell’s Gilbane Group is a part of Outsell, Inc., the only research and advisory firm focused on advancing the publishing and information industries.

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Contact:
Mary Laplante Vice President and Lead Analyst
617.497.9443 ext 212