InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

Version control. Rollback. Bug tracking. Check-in, check-out. Sound familiar? These are all techniques that have been used to manage traditional software projects for years; it's now dawning on developers that they're just as necessary for managing Web content.

"A graphics and editing tool does not help you manage the problem of dozens of people trying to create and publish content on the same Web site at the same time," says Tim Nelson, chief technical officer for ITConsult .com, a Web-development consulting firm in Irvine, Calif.

"It's kind of amusing to watch that realization take place," says Bob Peterson, VP of enterprise systems for CarsDirect.com Inc., an online auto reseller in Culver City, Calif. When CarsDirect.com launched in May 1999, it had no real bug-tracking or code- management process. "Some people were tracking defects in an Excel spreadsheet," Peterson says. "It's not unusual for startups to do whatever they need to do to get a product up and worry about bugs later."

CarsDirect.com used a suite of tools from StarBase to manage the development for a site relaunch in January. The new site has been far more stable, says Peterson. "The quality of our Web site has improved exponentially, and instituting tools and processes that are best characterized as traditional software-development methodologies have been a significant reason," Peterson says.

To date, the term "Web content- management tools" has usually been applied to products that help manage collaborative Web development and publishing, handling functions such as version control and defect tracking of all the files that make up a Web site. Increasingly, though, content management is also being extended to include tools for content delivery and personalization, document life-cycle management, Web authoring, and tools that merge content with E-business applications.

The need for these tools has exploded as companies' Web sites have evolved from static brochureware into complex sites containing a broad range of frequently changing content. "A year ago, if you asked IT folks what their priorities are as it relates to E-business, content management might have been on the list, but way down," says John Van Siclen, VP of corporate development for Interwoven Inc., a supplier of content-management software. Now, "it's up there with customer service. People know they need it and they know why they need it."

Analyst firm Meta Group predicts the market for content-management tools will grow from $800 million in 1999 to a whopping $10 billion by 2004. Supplying the surging demand are some 30 or 40 vendors spread among different areas of core competence in a fragmented market, with more entering the market seemingly every week, says Andy Warzecha, senior program director of the Electronic Business Strategies group at Meta.

Warzecha says the way businesses are buying the tools mirrors the fragmented market, with many choosing to acquire the functionality they need piece by piece. "Many larger companies we work with are looking at this technology as more of a phased approach," he says. "They may scope it out and look at a total solution, but they will buy and implement it in parts. They may start with Interwoven, then add BroadVision for content personalization later, and move down the chain."

This approach also makes the technology more affordable-no small consideration for many companies, Warzecha says. "We're looking at the average deal being around $400,000 just for software, and services push it into the million-dollar range. For a dot-com startup, only the necessary components are going into their systems because of the cost." Warzecha says customers can often talk prices down, particularly if multiple suppliers are competing for their business. "This is a very negotiated pricing model," he adds.

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