Toolbox for communication

When we talk about editing, we first think of writing. From this point of view, editorial systems should be writing tools, but this idea falls short because it does not do justice to the diversity of such offerings and ignores media change. In addition, the digital transformation, which began early in media production, shortened or even automated work steps and, above all, offered editorial teams the opportunity to become involved in the production process.If we measure the circle of editorial systems generously, on the one hand we have the layout programs, on the other hand the databases for text and image modules, which play a major role especially in commercial communication. The core is the channel management, which allows the digital templates to be made available for the desired channels, mostly print or online (Web). In the meantime, there are complete solutions (such as Censhare) and special solutions, for example for production management or for translation services, which can be docked on; but also adaptations for special applications, such as for annual reports.

A modular offer

In Switzerland, two suppliers in particular specialize in the sale of editorial systems: A&F in Sursee and Topix in St. Gallen. In Switzerland, A&F sells WoodWing products in the editorial area, consisting of the Enterprise workflow system and the Elvis DAM system (Digital Asset Management), as well as various peripheral systems that are integrated into this environment according to the customer's needs. This is a "best-of-breed" approach, says Managing Director Urs Felber; the customer should receive everything from a single source. A&F has installed around 100 systems in Switzerland alone and thus describes itself as the market leader in the Swiss market, which includes media houses, media service providers, agencies and corporate marketing departments.Topix AG offers various solutions for collaborative work and focuses on the vjoon K4 cross-media publishing platform when it comes to the use of high-quality editorial solutions. The system is used by media houses, publishers, agencies, corporates and various organizations and associations. It plays a central role in controlling assets (media building blocks) and workflows and is often linked with various connecting programs to form an entire ecosystem, as Managing Director Dieter Herzmann explains.Such a toolset can be used for a wide variety of applications. Topix serves several dozen customers in Switzerland and abroad, including classic media houses such as the Anzeiger Region Bern or public authorities such as the Federal Finance Administration or companies such as the REWE Group.

Digital hub

Anyone involved in media production is now asking what contribution such solutions make to digital transformation. In his answer, Urs Felber points to Enterprise Aurora, the multi-channel tool from WoodWing, with which the Sursee-based company follows the "story-first" principle. This should ensure effective and truly neutral content creation. The story can thus be added to every conceivable digital channel in the best possible way and in the simplest possible way, or automatically transferred to the print environment.Dieter Herzmann from Topix argues similarly; his tool (vjoon K4) can function as a digital hub and thus combine administrative as well as production-supporting and communicative workflows. In addition, Topix no longer focuses solely on media production, but also on media communication in its proposed solutions. Thus, various systems can be docked to a central content platform, installed on-site or docked from the cloud, and can thus control assets on their journey from creation, management, delivery, use, storage and reuse in a different context.Central to this, according to the St. Gallen-based company, are questions such as "What small-scale division of information units makes sense?", "What connections can I establish between information units?"What perspectives can I apply to content?", "What relevance can I create and display/communicate in shop windows, so to speak?", "How can I establish one-to-one communication with the customer with this relevant content?", "How can I control production and communication processes from a single source?", "Are the systems easy to use and the necessary services not excessive and thus suitable for SMEs?

Where the development leads

Many points need to be clarified when an editorial system is to be purchased. But what is in the foreground when we ask ourselves in which direction such systems will continue to develop? A&F wants to continuously adapt its editorial offering to the needs of the market: According to Urs Felber, more and more digital channels are being added as standard, so that they can be integrated quasi "plug & play" without any effort. The market today is very fast-moving, new trends come, trends go. If you want to keep up in communication, you have to be able to adapt quickly. WoodWing has proven time and again in the past that it is capable of reacting extremely quickly to such changes in communication.While A&F points to changes in user habits, Topix sees primarily technical improvements. Dieter Herzmann, for example, puts his finger on programming interfaces (API first and microservices), which enable links to the existing content platform, make it more scalable and stable, and thus protect investments because they are more likely to allow the integration of production and communication processes. This should also improve the mapping of complex processes, while keeping operation simple and maintenance inexpensive.Let's look at two more specific additions to the editorial system from these two suppliers: translation services and product management. The latter is not covered by A&F's WoodWing because it focuses on the optimal and efficient production and distribution of editorial content, according to Urs Felber.For product management, A&F uses specialized PIM (Product Management Information) systems such as Contentserv and LobsterPIM. In A&F's opinion, the past has impressively proven that the so-called "Egg-Laying Wooly Pig", which wants to be able to do everything, does not make sense. The projects become too big, too complex, too inflexible and too expensive. That is why many companies turn away from such systems and use the appropriate systems for the most important requirements.The integration of translation services, on the other hand, is problem-free and has proven itself in practice. Thanks to the open interfaces, it doesn't really matter which type of translation service is connected to WoodWing.Cross-media production management is fully included in vjoon K4, which is sold by Topix. Topix also has several customers where translation services have been installed in various forms. For example, InDesign documents created on their editorial system can automatically export articles in XLIFF format, including metadata, to a translation management system such as SDL Trados or Across; the finished translation is then also automatically retrieved and the translated ID documents generated from it on the vjoon K4 editorial system.

Adaptations for special applications

It is not only the program manufacturers and distributors who continue to develop editorial systems, but also users. Service providers for financial publications, for example, are taking existing editorial systems as a basis and offering specific tools that significantly simplify the production of publications, especially annual reports. The best-known providers are the Zurich-based Link Group and NeidhartSchön, Zurich, which distributes ns.publish, a leading system for financial and corporate publications, through its subsidiary mms solutions ag. More than 120 listed companies in Switzerland work with ns.publish. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or institutions (such as NGOs), there is a solution with reduced requirements for the highest IT security as demanded by listed companies.The success is due to the increase in efficiency and automation thanks to state-of-the-art technology, says Marketing Manager Dr. Joëlle Loos-Neidhart. Collaborative working independent of time and place is thus made possible and fully supported. And what is particularly important for large companies: the highest IT security, guaranteed by the most demanding ISO 27001 certification for information security. ns.publish includes the fully integrated "translate plus" module for translation services, which was developed with translation service providers and is used by many customers. For the implementation, NeidhartSchön relies on personal project management, which is fully aligned with the ns.publish solution.Further automations are planned for ns.publish, as well as the permanent further development of the user experience. In addition to ns.publish, three other products are being developed and offered: the cross-channel ns.edition for corporate publishing, ns.now for online publishing, and ns.connect as a portal solution for cross-media campaigns.

With Burda free of charge

A special kind of customer loyalty is being practiced by the German publishing and printing house Burda, which is giving away its Thunder content management system free of charge to interested parties. This is a web solution based on the open source solution Drupal8 that can be used as an editorial system.The Swiss software company MD Systems in Zurich is heavily involved in the further development of Thunder and has contributed to several Swiss applications that use Thunder as an editorial system, such as the Swiss Baublatt and the Kommunalmagazin.Miro Dietiker from MD Systems adds that a custom design and numerous additional functionalities have been developed for these solutions that show the strengths of Drupal and the Thunder application: A solid and standardized basis that is easily expandable and, above all, customizable.Thunder turns Drupal into a preconfigured editorial system, Dietiker continues, which eliminates a lot of work during development and later also makes a lot of maintenance easier because of the higher level of standardization. Users (media houses) benefit from a system that is constantly being further developed by numerous parties.digital transformation is constantly increasing the speed of innovation. Open solutions (open source/free software) in which all parties collaborate can keep up with this speed in the long term.

Order for editorial systems

A really meaningful distinction can probably only be made for editorial or newsroom systems in terms of the targeted user group. In his study, Alexander Zock from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz distinguished between "broadcast newsroom systems" and "publication newsroom systems". The terminology here still lags a bit, but the striking difference lies in whether such a system is intended more for television / radio stations or for private companies that offer a product and / or a service. "Broadcast newsroom systems" offer various automated content input channels, such as seamless integration of social media sources (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), agency news or RSS feeds. "Publication newsroom systems" have a much smaller feature set and are primarily focused on online distribution (web / mobile, print is also often included). In return, these tools offer much more features for optimizing the web presence, which should improve the reception of the visitor.