World Wide Domination
With the Internet progressing in its quest for global takeover, pay close attention—technological advancements occur faster than one can say: “Google.” Since English developer Sir Tim Berners-Lee launched the World Wide Web in 1990, browsers such as Mosaic and Netscape Navigator have forfeited their hold of the top contender title to Internet Explorer and Firefox. Today, Amazon, Yahoo! and eBay fuel growth in online advertising; Google has its own virtual planet with Google Earth; social networking services, including MySpace and Facebook, have subscribers in the millions; and blogs, mashups, podcasts, widgets and wikis have brought about Web 2.0.
The Web is even proving to be a reliable tool for traditional print suppliers and distributors. More and more transactions for printed material orders are being conducted through e-commerce software. Many industry professionals have already—or are currently—incorporating this type of platform into their businesses. Therefore, this may be the appropriate time for reluctant companies to review any potentially antiquated practices in order to outsmart the competition.
Norcross, Georgia-based DemandBridge and Redwood City, California-based PageDNA are two companies with a strong presence in the e-commerce sector. Representatives from both discussed what it takes to survive in a market characterized by change, and how members of the print industry can benefit from taking the plunge.
New Beginnings
In an industry fraught with mergers and acquisitions and economic strife, overall, many companies are vanishing with the quick stroke of a delete button. This was almost the case for DemandBridge. Shortly after document management solutions provider Global DocuGraphix filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy code in 2006, Webb/Mason, Hunt Valley, Md., made a defensive move for TopForm Software. From a strategic standpoint, Webb/Mason already used the company’s software products and didn’t want to risk someone else stepping in to acquire, and possibly dismantle, TopForm Software.
Last October, TopForm Software became DemandBridge and expanded its long-term goal to enhance its value-added services, commented Brian Fritsche, president and CEO of DemandBridge, and chief information officer of Webb/Mason. To its advantage, the technology team of the company has doubled in size since the majority of Webb/Mason’s technical staff was redirected to work under DemandBridge.
DemandBridge offers a print eProcurement portal—DB Enterprise—which connects to customers’ accounting, operations and inventory systems. “There are just under 200 customers of DemandBridge, including 12 of the 20 largest distributors. But, to date, approximately 20 have lined up for participation in DB Enterprise, which is in itself pretty amazing since the product has only left beta and gone into full release in March,” Fritsche explained. He went on to say that the 450,000 registered end-user customers represent those from Webb/Mason and the beta test group, consisting of six distributors.
PageDNA has been a provider of web-to-print solutions since 1997. However, the company, formerly Printra, only became known as PageDNA in 2006. “Printra was a construct of ‘print’ and ‘intranet’ back when more of a distinction was made between intranets—the private network of corporations—and the public Internet,” said Doug Ballinger, president. At the time, Printra was serving the printing needs of corporate customers, so the name seemed like a natural fit.
But, the distinction between the intranet and Internet isn’t so clear anymore. As a result, Printra decided to revisit its message. In its search, the company realized it wanted to emphasize page creation, hence PageDNA, said Ballinger. “As we move from web-to-print program sales—that is, Web stores for variable print and static print—to more support for workflows involving custom jobs, we believe that PageDNA will continue to be an apt description of our mission,” he explained. “Our future lies at the intersection of Web pages and the printed page.”
PageDNA has approximately 170 customers serving 1,000 accounts, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Ballinger noted more than 25 percent of the company’s current customers signed up in the past year.
Similar to PageDNA, DemandBridge has seen a significant jump in new customers. The company reported a 400 percent increase in new customer revenue in 2007. Said Fritsche, “Our ability to help our customers compete and win is one component of why I think the sales have been what they have been.”
Quality Control
To help customers maintain a competitive advantage, software companies must provide a solid platform that evolves with the latest trends. In response, PageDNA has developed its Visual Style Editor. With this tool, users can create templates in a visual interface instead of using an old text-based editor.
Ballinger described the process in simple terms. “The user uploads a sample file for the item and our engine ‘reverse engineers’ typography information and then provides a visual editor in which to make changes. The goal has been to provide our customers the same deep programming capabilities we’ve supported for years, while allowing them to do the bulk of their work within a much easier-to-navigate visual editor—all over the Web,” he said.
Another area where he anticipates growth involves enhanced support for workflows pertaining to custom orders. To date, PageDNA has increased sales in software catering to program selling, or “Web stores featuring SKU-like static and variable items [such as] business cards, postcards, promotional items and inventoried literature.” Many of Ballinger’s customers require assistance with custom jobs, which continue to comprise the largest segment of the company’s print revenue.
“These orders involve higher average dollar values and more ‘touches’ within the estimating/planning departments. Our analysis shows the interaction between buyers and sellers can be markedly improved with online systems,” he stressed. Because of this demand, PageDNA recently made improvements to its general order management interface, and has outlined a plan for more improvements during the next six to 12 months. Additional areas gaining more attention are “multi-imprint shopping carts, budgeting systems, fully automated imposition (ganging) with FTP push delivery of press-ready files and integrations with numerous Enterprise, and print and distributor MIS systems.”
Furthermore, opportunities abound in branded basics like corporate stationery, letters and direct mail. Said Ballinger, “Many corporations are struggling internally with broken processes and are looking for vendors who can help them save time, money and head count to manage these types of programs, especially in the business communications category, such as letters.”
Fritsche observed that many of his customers are asking for features to address the needs of marketing departments. List acquisition for direct mail is one particular example. DemandBridge offers a consumer database of 220 million household names. Companies are able to select a postcard or brochure, for instance, choose their targeted demographic market and geographic region, and within seconds receive 10,000 hits and create a direct-mail campaign.
“You can do the whole thing in two minutes. That takes a week-and-a-half if you’re a franchisee today and you have to deal with the mothership to get your marketing done,” he stated.
Online collaborative proofing is also a significant feature of DB Enterprise. This ability streamlines the print production process by drastically reducing the typical two-and-half-week time frame it takes to send a file to prepress, circulate hard-copy proofs and reroute updated versions on the creative end of a commercial print job.
Fritsche said, “Online collaborative proofing uses the Web so that someone in N.Y., Milwaukee, Calif. [or] Singapore can look via the Web at the actual proof rendered in its real color space in high resolution. They can circle things and annotate things so every[one] can see everybody else’s feedback and comments.” He continued, “It can take a two-week process down to two days.”
Once the process is complete, there is a file from production that must be managed or it will be difficult to track when files from other processes surface, he added. To monitor multiple files, customers can use a Digital Management Asset System enabling them not only to store the digital file, but access it whenever needed.
Obviously, it’s good business to provide high-performing software; however, this becomes futile if the software isn’t user-friendly. PageDNA tests its software on all major platforms. The company is a Mac shop, and Ballinger commented that Macs aren’t well-supported by software companies. In turn, this becomes a driver to support everyone.
Currently, PageDNA has a goal of 99.5 percent or better for uptime. And, it is working to improve Web upload and FTP capabilities to ensure customer satisfaction regardless of file size.
Meanwhile, DemandBridge uses Web 2.0 technology for all of its user interfaces. An article recently published by BBC News stated more than half of the companies in North America and Europe see Web 2.0 as a priority for 2009.
The requirements for investing in e-commerce don’t have to be complicated. A company actually only needs an Internet connection and an updated browser, both men joked.
Custom Made
Perhaps one of the most desirable qualities of an e-commerce platform is customization. Depending on a user’s skill and the amount of time invested in exploration, he or she can rise to tech-guru status or lose out on the software’s maximum capabilities.
Sometimes, the role of customization can be tricky. Ballinger acknowledged customization is a valuable asset to offer—that is, until it compromises speed or increases costs. Finding a balance is a common practice at PageDNA.
“[Based] on our customers’ skills, they can upload their own buttons, use our native HTML and CSS support to customize the look and feel of a site … but despite these available customizations, the great majority upload a logo to a site, change the foreground and background colors and call it a day,” he revealed.
Ballinger attributed this to the fact that customers aren’t being paid for extra customization. Customers are dealing with an internal business ordering website instead of a public marketing piece, he remarked. PageDNA does offer customizations in regard to features and functionality, including modified workflows and new item characteristics, but the company prefers to focus first on customizations that will improve the overall product for all customers. Nevertheless, other customizations are performed if a sound business case is presented.
When money is involved, customers want to know they are getting the best source for the job. “There are ways to use the strength of the community, if you will, to create [essentially] an eco-system between buyers and sellers in the print management space, and that’s what we’re focusing on with a tool we call the Sourcing Bench,” Fritsche said.
The Sourcing Bench tool provides a dashboard user experience for the enterprise customers—the customers of the distributor—giving them visibility into the purchasing process, he said. And, in fact, “The long-term goal,” he added, “is to create these tools to help the industry continue to grow and prosper.”
Deciphering the Code
For customers who aren’t well-versed in computer technology, both companies offer a wealth of educational services, including webinars and onsite consulting. Customers are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these tools. It requires more than viewing one webinar to help someone speak authoritatively on such sophisticated software, stressed Fritsche.
Ballinger agreed. It can be challenging to find qualified customers because not everyone has the ability to successfully sell web-to-print, he said. To complicate matters, with a down-and-out economy, the need for good people and a good product becomes even more crucial. Ballinger stated, “... If you don’t give customers what they want, they’ll eventually go somewhere else to get it. Does anyone need a better reason than that? I certainly hope not.”
For more information on DemandBridge, visit www.demandbridge.com.
For more information on PageDNA, visit www.pagedna.com.
Related story: Building Business
- Companies:
- Webb/Mason