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Focus On: Publishing |
Top business challenge: To expand into new channels of electronic delivery
Solution: To diversify content offerings, streamline workflow and reuse existing assets
How IT can help: By implementing content management tools; by expanding into multimedia, user-generated content and search technologies; and by building SOA
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As the Internet permeates the publishing industry, some companies dismiss the notion that they're even in the publishing business much the way a Democrat might reject being called a liberal. "We're not a publishing company; we're a media organization," says C.J. Rayhill, CIO at technology publisher O'Reilly Media Inc. in Sebastopol, Calif. In 2004 the company even changed its name from O'Reilly Associates. "It's critical to be seen as more than a publishing entity," Rayhill says.
Critical indeed. The traditional publishing model has been turned on its side as revenue from print advertising continues to decline. To compete with not-so-traditional online entities and meet the demands of an increasingly tech-savvy audience, publishers are exploiting the Internet, transforming from pure-play print companies to diverse content producers. As publishers look to new forms of value creation through these channels, they are redefining how content is generated and delivered.
O'Reilly has focused on delivering ideas through multiple channels. In addition to publishing print textbooks, the company has digitized its print library (known as Safari Books Online, the electronic archive is the company's fastest-growing product, with annual growth of between 30% and 50%) and launched blogs on topics like Linux. It also hosts conferences on emerging technology. "Any media company has to have these elements to get attention share," Rayhill says.
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