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The Road to Network Publishing. David R Worlock MarkLogic Digital Publishing Summit New York, December 2009. “Network”. Content in the context of re-useability Customer/user is in the lead Application is semantic in some sense. What are the components of value in the content businesses?.
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The Road to Network Publishing David R Worlock MarkLogic Digital Publishing Summit New York, December 2009
“Network” • Content in the context of re-useability • Customer/user is in the lead • Application is semantic in some sense
Where are we now – in the aftermath of Web 2.0 ? • Community – in full flood • Workflow – proving more difficult than we thought ? • Vertical Search – vital , but did we fully understand the implications ? • Somewhere we forgot the drivers – productivity , improved decision-making,cheaper costs of compliance , better risk management – but our users did NOT
The Legacy of Recession • Recession is when service change goes faster • Competitive leapfrogging becomes commonplace • Not everyone emerges at the same time and the effects linger • It takes a longer time than we usually anticipate to return to the old growth rates - which is why our users want us to go faster to help them return to growth
Commoditization is the biggest enemy • Our users , even if they cannot grow the topline , are under huge pressure to restore and improve margins • This drives the focus on productivity, decision-making and cheaper compliance • And in turn , users seek to apply the cheap , or the free , or the “good enough “ solution • We need to demonstrate how expensive this can be !
Reactions in a Networked World • Users can data share without necessarily losing competitive edge • Users can buy in bulk at a central point , and re-use and add value in their own intranet environment • Generalized “solutions “ become mere products. Custom is king • Data quality and uniqueness remains important , but not beyond the price point
How must we react to the Challenge? • Structure our content to allow custom restructuring • Create modular applets to help users to customize • Federate with third party content across common structures in order to build more complete solutions
Super-Customization • Hand the API to the user • Invite users to recombine your content with theirs to create unique datasets , but using your tools • Seek to lock in support and update to secure resubscription and reliance
But we sell products , not services ! • eBooks are a whole new market • Here we can price to format again , avoiding value pricing • BUT, there are real risks here , unless…
… we network publish here too… • Make them fully searchable , and contextually open to third party content • Attach the applets that draw fresh value out of collections • Generate the links that allow them to be network tools • Price them to quality , not to format
Case Studies in Solutions • Thomson Reuters : Pharma and Innovations • McGraw Hill and Reed Business: Construction Network and BIM • DMGT: Landmark and Quest • Complinet • Elsevier Health: Evolve
Case Studies in Applications • ChemSpider • Open Calais Toolkit • Oxford Music Online ( MarkLogic) • AIPUniPHY.com and iResearch ( Collexis and MarkLogic)
Lessons Learnt … • Revenue streams can diversify: education and audit at Complinet are good examples • Tools to improve useability and enable client data sharing in the intranet can be vital (LexisNexis) • Management and marketing tools can be as important as process improvement (Westlaw) • Community and client inter-action can change brand perception and realize “lock-in” ( Nature) • Consultancy and service support are revenue components in their own right (Complinet)
Two prerequisites for change… • You must give up a product mindset and take on a services and solutions view of your content • … and you have to be confident that you know what your customers do for a living – on the network , but also in real life – to be able to envisage helping them in this way .
It is not the strongest of the species that survive , nor the most intelligent , but the one most responsive to changeCharles Darwin
Contact David Worlock at david@davidworlock.com • Tel +447836361873 • On Twitter at dworlock • Blog at www.davidworlock.com