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 | | http://www.contentmanager.net/magazine/article_66_content_syndication_as_platform_of_content.html |
With the content syndication there is a new, forward-looking business approach within the context of content management, at which contents existing offline or online in the web are sold to third parties, who want to enhance their own web presentation. In this context, a content management system offers the basis for such a content exchange.
During the last months the online brokerage of web content has developed into a significant market. An online broker sells his own content and the content of somebody else to customer websites, which have only little (or no) own content and want to complete their offer. Thus, the broker builds the interface between the creators of the contents and the customer websites.
Illustration: content brokerage functions
The marketing chain reaches from the creator of the contents over online publishers, brokers and possibly a web agency to the customer website. Of course, it is conceivable that individual functions are performed by one company. For example, Bertelsmann covers the whole process chain of content brokerage, because contents are self-created and published, however, also a syndication to third parties, which are company external and company internal, can be carried out.
To fulfil the content brokerage a technological platform has to be provided, which allows a customer-specific syndication. This platform receives content (substances and metadata) by the suppliers and stores them in a database. After that new utilization channels can be applied by designing content packages or generating products "on demand" in a personalized form. In addition to this, also rights of use can be negotiated through such a platform. The central aim, however, is the growing business of online syndication, at which contents existing online and also offline in the web are marketed to third parties.
It seems to be clear that a consistent and sound CM is a prerequisite for a successful content syndication. Only if substances and metadata are stored and administrated in a media-neutral way, the combination with new products and the operation of new utilization channels is possible in a fast and efficient way.
Outlook
Content management has become an important key word in the area of information technology. Meanwhile a great number of suppliers can be found on the market, which is therefore very confusing. Often there is no clear distinction between backend and web-content management systems, but an all-round service is already promised through small web CM products. If further channels like print-on-demand, music-on-demand, PDA's, WAP-telephones are added and the re-utilization of content becomes a central aspect for the optimisation of the CM core process, existing web-CMS come up against limiting factors. A lot of systems, also in the backend field, have emerged from already existing applications and still reflect the technology and sector focus of their origin. Currently there is no standard product which completely fulfils all requirements of a content management system.
Against this background it is indispensable to find out the today's but also the medium-term requirements before introducing a content management system. Within this context, also future developments like the convergence of web- and backend- CMS, the increasing importance of metadata standards or XML as data exchange and memory format are to be considered. Afterwards a selection of a system can be made. Possibly functionalities of several systems are to be combined with each other. In any case an essential customizing demand has to be assumed.
However, content management not only opens up an optimisation potential for the CM core process, but also facilitates new businesses. An outstanding example is the syndication of content to third parties, whose foundation is ideally a CM-platform, with which content of all media types can be administrated and combined to new product packages.
It can be seen that a lot of companies have been using the increase in efficiency, which results from content management, only to a small extent until now. As soon as standard technologies have established on the market, which not only cover the whole content life cycle, but which are also integrated in the surrounding systems, a disproportionately large growth of the market for content management systems can be assumed.
Published: 03/2004
Author: Dr. Sabine Baumann
| Dr. Sabine Baumann is the manager of the Content Management Centre (CMSS) of the arvato systems GmbH in Gütersloh. |
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