IFRA

Answering for Xinet is Scott Seebass, CEO of Xinet, and customer responses (below the interview with Seebass) are from Scott Pellicone, Vice President Business Development, Worldcolor Premedia.

WAN-IFRA: Why is digital asset management important for news publishers?

Seebass: Digital asset management (DAM) is important for news publishers because most publications have to work with a large number of assets—images and files—every day. Some of those assets have different access and publication requirements and you need to be able to know what you have, find what you need quickly, and know and whether the asset is available to use. If you don’t have a digital asset management system, you won’t be able to find relevant images you need or you might find that you no longer have the rights to the image you want to use.

WAN-IFRA: How is DAM different from a database?

Seebass: A database is an integral part of a DAM system but it is merely a place where information, the metadata, is stored. It is a core piece of the technology but not of the solution. The solution makes it easy to find the information, to store the correct information, and to retrieve it when you want it. A DAM interface should be easy and intuitive to use, and users should be able to access it in ways that support the work that they’re doing.

WAN-IFRA: What benefits do users get from DAM?

Seebass: With a good DAM system, users can quickly and easily find the assets they need and put them into use throughout the production cycle. If the DAM system isn’t well integrated into the production cycle then it won’t be much use because it becomes just another hurdle that users have to jump through. If the DAM system is well integrated in the daily workflow and compliments the tools currently in place, it will make users more efficient.

WAN-IFRA: What is the future role of DAM for the publishing industry?

Seebass: The idea of doing publishing without having a DAM system will soon be antiquated—everyone will have a DAM system because it saves money, it saves time, and you’re not really competitive if you don’t have one. As more and more publications work with freelancers and other outside sources, it becomes increasingly more difficult to keep track of all their submissions in a reasonable manner without an asset management system. I think the future DAM systems will be very integrated into the production process.

WAN-IFRA: Once the contract has been signed, approximately how long does it take for a publishing client, such as Sports Illustrated or Fortune, to begin using WebNative Suite?

Seebass: Implementation depends on how much of the workflow is being modified or just replicated—it usually ranges from several days to several weeks. The Xinet WebNative Suite is an out-of-the box software solution that can be configured with a graphic interface; it can go into an existing workflow in a matter of days or weeks and start saving time and money.

WAN-IFRA: How much training is required for a publication's staff to start using WebNative Suite?

Seebass: No system will ever be used if the people who are supposed to use it don’t buy into it. WebNative Suite can be so transparent that you can introduce it into the organization without really disrupting the way people do their work. You can then roll out the features to people and show them how they can do their jobs in an easier and more efficient manner rather than telling them they have to do their jobs in a very different way. The system is intuitive enough that it doesn’t take long to train someone to begin using the system. Even if they don’t use it every day, they should be able to quickly understand it without extensive training.

WAN-IFRA: What developments in this area are you working on now?

Seebass: Every Xinet product release is geared toward trying to make our software simpler to use, and to offer users the ability to perform more tasks automatically as DAM becomes more tightly integrated with production. Xinet just recently released WebNative Suite 16 which has faster data access and more automation. In addition, we also released Video 3.0 for WebNative Suite that enables organizations to search for, view, annotate, approve, distribute, and create video reels from a Web browser, which is important because more publications are providing more multi-media content, especially on their websites.

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Customer comments

Customer responses are from Scott Pellicone, Vice President Business Development, Worldcolor Premedia

WAN-IFRA: How were you working before you began using the Xinet solution?

Scott Pellicone: Prior to using Xinet WebNative Suite, we tended to operate in silos where each pre-media location in the United States and Canada served its own clientele. There was no exchange of assets from one facility to another. Once we introduced WebNative Suite, we allowed our platform to be a little bit more flexible in how we approached delivering value to customers—we were able to share content, we were able to share assets, etc.

We also opened up our platform to our customers so they could take on more responsibility of the pre-media process. We were able to extend our network through the Internet, which allowed us to work in a hub-and-spoke environment where we have one facility that supports a number of different customers utilizing the WebNative tools, and they can cooperatively use our technology over the Internet.

WAN-IFRA: How did you decide to go with WebNative Suite?

Pellicone: It was actually a natural progression. At the time, we needed a solution that would allow us to use some of the higher end file systems, and the only solutions on the market were, I believe, Helios and Xinet. After doing some due diligence and research on both companies we decided to go with the Xinet solution because it was the best-in-class offering. Xinet has done a really great job of continuing to expand their service offering through the pre-media and creative environments. It was just a natural evolvement of using Xinet’s technologies to deliver the best possible value to all of our customers, internal as well as external.

WAN-IFRA: When did Quebecor World begin using WebNative Suite?

Pellicone: We were always a big Xinet user from the early 1990s when it was just the Xinet FullPress offering. We started with Xinet WebNative in about 1999, based on a customer requirement. A global magazine publisher wanted to replace their in-house pre-media facilities management with an outsource solution, but they wanted to keep the intimacy they had with an in-house solution. We offered the WebNative tool, which would allow them to have access to all their work in process through a relatively simple-to-use interface that was browser based. This system offered them the ability to receive hi-res and low-res assets, repurpose their content, and upload files back to us for production. It was a huge success, so we began to use this model as our standard workflow offering. We began to deploy WebNative in all the pre-media locations across our entire platform, and we just grew. Today we have more than twenty locations in the US and Canada and all of them have some combination of the Xinet WebNative Suite.

WAN-IFRA: How was training staff handled?

Pellicone: We tend to tier our approach to training because we don’t want to put our customers or our staff through an information overload; they would become averse to using the tool. Typically we handle the training at relatively small doses. We’ll go in and start with something that’s truly focused or tailored to their business requirements. For example, if all that’s required is sharing hi-res or low-res assets and uploading files, that’s all we’ll initially train them on, and then we will slowly introduce additional features and functionality that could yield huge efficiencies in processes for them.

Most of our customers are enterprise customers that are under contract with us so we have an opportunity to partner with them and continue to evolve their workflows using these tools. But I would definitely say that Xinet WebNative Suite is one of the anchors in our production model.

WAN-IFRA: What are some of the main benefits Quebecor World has seen since you began using the solution?

Pellicone: In general it’s about reducing production cycle time, managing costs, and making our customers more productive while maintaining accuracy in their process. The ability for a customer to manage their creative investments via an easy to browser based system delivers many benefits. Users can efficiently manage their creative assets, repurpose content, soft proof, generate plate ready output and deliver files via the Xinet WebNative Suite. It’s also about working smarter and working virtually—you no longer have to be in your office to get work done. These tools open up this virtual environment; you can log into your WebNative Portal site from anywhere that has an Internet connection to manage your business.

It also allows us to be more flexible in staffing, and that translates into cost efficiencies back to our customers. It’s been a huge investment, but it’s also been a huge success for us. Things like Triggers and Actions automate many processes. The tool can take on a life of its own and automate a lot of tasks that create efficiencies on both sides, both for the customer and for the provider.

Interviews conducted by Brian Veseling, senior editor for Publishing, Editorial and General Management and WAN-IFRA Magazine.