Bridgeline Release Web Content Manager

September 30, 2007

Bridgeline Software Releases iAPPS® Content Manager

BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 1 2007 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bridgeline Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLIN), a provider in cloud-based Web Content Management, eCommerce and Marketing Automation software, announced the release of iAPPS Content Manager, the first of four planned on-demand software products unified by the powerful iAPPS Framework. The iAPPS Content Manager brings to the industry the first web content management product that is specifically developed to seamlessly extend into web applications needs around analytics, eCommerce, and eMarketing. Designed for business users, Content Manager combines a state-of-the-art “desktop” user interface with flexible SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) delivery reducing the time, cost, and resources required for companies to manage and maintain their own complex, internal web infrastructure. Due to flexible architecture, both iAPPS Content Manager and the iAPPS Framework can also be licensed for use by customers at their own location for dedicated server use.

The new iAPPS Content Manager was developed on Bridgeline’s iAPPS Framework, an industry-first, .NET development environment that offers a unified common set of shared services that are critical to today’s business web environments including usability, user management, access control, workflow, search, versioning, email, traffic, and analysis. The iAPPS Content Manager is the first of four software products designed to vastly simplify web application development and deployment, and quickly accommodate the rapidly evolving needs of today’s mission-critical web applications.

“In the past, we frequently worked with customers to develop new functionality or integrate eCommerce or eMarketing solutions combined with a content management system” says Brett Zucker, Bridgeline’s Chief Technology Officer. “These engagements always required extensive customization – and we knew there was a better way. We developed the iAPPS Framework for this specific purpose, with Content Manager as the first software product. Our goal is to revolutionize the way our customers can quickly and cost-effectively extend their web applications beyond standard web content management and integrate capabilities such as analytics, eCommerce, eMarketing, and other custom functionality, while reducing development time and costs. And since our iAPPS Framework and software suites are based on .NET, our customers can easily perform their own development using internal IT staff.”Making use of a powerful set of AJAX controls, iAPPS Content Manager empowers both novice and advanced business users with the ability to manage day-to-day operations of their website or application without IT involvement through a visually elegant and robust, yet easy-to-use interface. Using common desktop-like conventions such as drag and drop, administrators can organize and prioritize the Content Manager feature set to support how they work. Inline content editing allows users to make edits or updates directly to a staged version of the actual web page, while right-click context menus provide quick access to common functions without cluttering the interface or confusing the user. For example, the iAPPS Content Manager improves upon a common problem found in other content management systems and limits the use of pop-up windows that can easily get blocked or hidden behind multiple browser windows.“As the needs of business users continue to grow more and more demanding, our goal in developing the user interface for iAPPS Content Manager was to blur the line between desktop and browser usability, states Zucker. We believe we have successfully achieved this objective.”

Although greatly simplified for the business user, the iAPPS Content Manager still manages to deliver a robust web content management solution that will satisfy the technology requirements of the most demanding IT teams. Because the iAPPS Content Manager leverages the iAPPS Framework, IT groups can develop custom applications that seamlessly integrate with content managed sites. IT developers work with the iAPPS common service layer’s APIs to take advantage of universal business process components. For example, developers can automate the process of pulling content from an external data source, such as a customer database, and push that information through workflow in the Content Manger. An administrator can then approve that content for publishing to the web site. The idea is that, with direct API access, developers can extend the front-end web site’s functionality and have access to all of the information and functionality managed within the framework.

Bridgeline offers the entire iAPPS product suite, including the iAPPS Content Manager, as both an on-demand hosted service or as a perpetual licensed product. In making the iAPPS Content Manager available on-demand, customers get all of the benefits of an industry leading solution without having to make initial and ongoing investments in internal hosting infrastructure. Additionally, the on-demand model facilitates more frequent product enhancements that customers can easily use, due to a centralized, one-to-many hosting architecture. And with Bridgeline’s controlled on-demand environment, there is no guess work in implementing upgrades – all infrastructure maintenance and patch deployments are carefully monitored and documented, eliminating unforeseen conflicts that can slow enhancement scheduling.

Bridgeline Release Web Content Manager

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