A content-management repository can store information in a structured format that helps employees find what they need faster and more easily. This helps employees to be more productive and allows them to leverage the knowledge stored in various places in a company and do their own jobs better.

A content-management system also provides role-based security that prevents unauthorized portal users from gaining access to sensitive information.

Content management across an enterprise will provide companies with distinct competitive advantages and help them to lower support costs and realize accelerated decision-making and business cycles. Ultimately, better content means more money for E-businesses.

Some content-management systems work with recommendation engines such as one s from Epiphany Inc. and Net Perceptions Inc., which provide added personalization along with targeted marketing.

Better control of the content on Web sites helps improve companies' brand-management capabilities. By controlling the quality of the content that appears on its Web sites, a company can protect its image and reputation, and further expand its brand awareness.

The marketing staff can use content-management workflow capabilities to collaborate on brand strategies and marketing events, and publicize those events quickly and efficiently using the automated publishing capabilities of the content-management system. A content-management system also makes it easier to quickly publish brand-related information because the templates standardize presentation.

When thinking about investing in a content-management system, companies should carefully define content system requirements based on their needs, and break the requirements into "mandatory" and "nice-to-have" features. Each vendor should be evaluated against the same criteria in order to avoid inappropriate comparisons.

Products such as Computer Associates' Raveler and Vignette Corp.'s V/5 are typically used by large installations with lots of content and multiple servers. IntraNet Solutions Inc.'s Xpedio product is aimed at midsize installations and is somewhat simpler to install and administer. There are also products that target specific vertical markets such as Enigma Inc.'s product suite, which is designed to connect original equipment manufacturers and operators in an information supply chain with aftermarket parts manufacturers.

The products also range widely in how they store and process content. Documentum Inc., whose roots lie in the document-management business, uses a combination of ob-ject technology and file systems, while IntraNet Solutions uses a library-based system for cataloging native (e.g., Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat) format files, which are then "Webified" for publication. Tools such as Vignette's V/5 store information in an Extensible Markup Language-based repository format, instead of IntraNet's native file format.

While workflow features are common in most of these tools, the approach to workflow and approval processes vary. Vignette and IntraNet use an E-mail approach to approval and forwarding, while Raveler uses its own internal repository method.

By 2003, 95% of the Global 2000 will deploy XML-based content-management infrastructures. These tools and techniques may include integrating document management, media asset management, imaging, and electronic output-management functions. They will likely support anonymous authoring, application publishing, and dynamic virtual folders.

The latter category consists of capabilities such as data extraction, dynamic assembly, process automation, format translation, repository services, rights management, and fed-erated searches across the Internet.

Meta Group predicts that the content-management system market will reach $10 billion by 2004. By that time, much consolidation will have taken place in the market with fewer choices of vendors but more feature-rich products. We'll likely begin to see interesting combinations of features as this market consolidation takes place and different vendors' products get merged into well-integrated product suites.

Meta Group advises users to be aware of the likely pending consolidation during the next 12 to 18 months and to view vendors in terms of their viability and likely business partners.

Content-management products must also be evaluated against the rapidly evolving E-commerce environment and how well the tools can facilitate a company's future E-commerce initiatives.

Charles Trepper is the CEO of the Trepper Group, a Minneapolis consulting firm that specializes in E-commerce. He can be reached at chtrepper@trepper.com.