February 2009 Archives

We've started using Twitter in multiple ways, and while our use of it will certainly evolve, I thought it would be helpful to point how what we are doing with it. (I'll save thoughts about how it could or should be used for another time.)

• We are a business, so we have a company handle that any of us here can use to tweet or retweet information about us or the industry and topics we cover. http://twitter.com/gilbane.
• We also have a Twitter handle associated with our "NewsShark" industry news blog and email newsletter. http://twitter.com/NewsShark - just one more channel to choose from for news updates.
• We have a handle for our San Francisco conference that our conference group will use for conference updates. http://twitter.com/gilbanesf (we'll also be using #gilbanesf as a hashtag).
• A number of us have twitter handles. Mine is http://twitter.com/fgilbane. Our most active twitterers are Bill Trippe http://twitter.com/billtrippe, and Leonor Ciarlone http://twitter.com/Lciarlone.

Any suggestions on how else we might use Twitter?

We'll start posting the full program and speakers next week, but the program schedule is now available at: http://gilbanesf.com/conference-schedule.html.

The pre-conference workshop schedule, descriptions and instructors are also now live at:
http://gilbanesf.com/workshops.html.

Please join me on a webinar sponsored by Mark Logic on Wednesday 2/18/09 at 2pm EST. I'll be covering my five top predictions for 2009 (and beyond). The predictions come largely from a forthcoming research study "Digital Platforms and Technologies for Book Publishers: Implementations Beyond eBook," that Bill Trippe and I are writing. Here are the predictions:

1. The Domain Strikes Back - Traditional publishers leverage their domain expertise to create premium, authoritative digital products that trump free and informed internet content.
2. Discoverability Overcomes Paranoia - Publishers realize the value in being discovered online, as research shows that readers do buy whole books and subscriptions based on excerpts and previews.
3. Custom, Custom, Custom - XML technology enables publishers to cost-effectively create custom products, a trend that has rapidly accelerated in the last six to nine months, especially in the educational textbook segment.
4. Communities Count - and will exert greater influence on digital publishing strategies, as providers engage readers to help build not only their brands but also their products.
5. Print on Demand - increases in production quality and cost-effectiveness, leading to larger runs, more short-run custom products and deeper backlists.

I look forward to your questions and comments! Register today at http://bit.ly/WApEW

Most buyers of content technologies understand the key differences between acquiring a content solution as a service and licensing software for installation on servers behind their firewall. Less well understood, however, is the impact of those differences on the acquisition process. With SaaS, you're not "buying" technology, as with licensed software; you're entering a services agreement to access a business solution that includes software, applications, and infrastructure. The value proposition is very different, as is the basis for evaluating its fit with the organization's needs.

The current worldwide economic situation is causing many organizations to take a serious look at SaaS offers as a strategy for continuing to move forward with critical business initiatives. Our latest Gilbane Beacon was developed to help companies evaluate SaaS fairly, with the goal of helping our readers find the best solution, regardless of technology delivery model. Communicating SaaS WCM Value: A Guide to Understanding the Business Case for Software-as-a-Service Solutions for Web Content Management explains why SaaS and licensed software are apples and oranges. The paper identifies the issues that matter--and those that don't--when considering SaaS solutions for web content management. Available for download on our site.

We've added a 6th pre-conference workshop:

F: Making the Business Case for Content Globalization
Instructor: Andrew Draheim, Principal, Kidd & Draheim