ULTRAK SELECTS CROWNPEAK TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE CMS ACROSS ALL NET SYSTEMS; CONTENT MANAGEMENT ASP TARGETS MANUFACTURING SECTOR
Security Solution Provider Ultrak Extends ASP-Centric IT Strategy
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (June 18, 2002) – CrownPeak Technology, the premier content management ASP, today announced that it will implement the Advantage CMS™ content management system (CMS) for Ultrak, Inc. (Nasdaq: ULTK), a worldwide provider of integrated security solutions. Ultrak will use Advantage CMS to manage all of its Web systems, including its public site, its extranet and its intranet.
Ultrak’s client base relies heavily on the Web as a tool for support and as a resource for information. Advantage CMS will give Ultrak the flexibility the company needs to quickly and easily update virtually all online information, and administer and modify the system through a simple but powerful browser-based user interface.
The engagement represents CrownPeak’s first foray into the manufacturing sector, a segment currently served by conventional packaged content management solutions, and one considered ripe for outsourced CMS.
At the same time, the Advantage CMS implementation extends Ultrak’s trend-setting embrace of ASP solutions for its enterprise IT needs. The company has become a prominent exponent of “build vs. rent” – opting for rental in almost every instance – as a successful alternative to the traditional “build vs. buy” decision. Ultrak has enlisted best-of-breed ASPs in such areas as salesforce automation, Web hosting and ERP, as well as in content management.
“We selected CrownPeak Technology for our CMS because of its unique ASP model, rapid deployment, and ease of use,” said Diane Schwartz, CIO, Ultrak. “CrownPeak was also the only outsourced application with a rich-enough feature set and enough integration flexibility to meet our needs. The CrownPeak approach is entirely consistent with ours, as an IT organization and as a company. We regard specialized ASPs to be enormously cost-effective. In relying on experts to deliver world-class applications like Advantage CMS, our internal personnel become program/vendor managers. In content management, CrownPeak enables us to outsource technology, not human capital.”
“We see manufacturing firms like Ultrak as benefiting significantly from outsourced CMS,” said Jim Howard, CEO, CrownPeak Technology. “Companies in this sector have special needs. They seek tools that can be agile and flexible as well as secure. They want world-class solutions, but are often too budget and human capital constrained to tackle an internal implementation. CrownPeak has identified the need to provide clients in the manufacturing environment a fully customizable solution that is quick to implement and still provides the level of performance and options associated with full-scale in-house deployments.
“Ultrak is a forward-thinking organization, recognizing that application rental solutions are viable and smart choices because they are lower risk, lower cost, and faster to implement,” he said. “Outsourcing is, in fact, the only way many organizations can afford a world-class solution these days.”
Deploying the Developers Toolkit
In addition to implementing content management for the extensive www.ultrak.com, CrownPeak has enabled publishing and digital asset management for Ultrak’s intranet and extranet sites. Ultrak will then extend the system over time, using CrownPeak’s new developers toolkit, to enable growth in intranet content and functionality. For content that is shared among the sites -- product documentation, press releases and the like -- Ultrak will need to enter the information only once; Advantage CMS will publish the content with different layouts on the appropriate sites automatically.
Earlier this year CrownPeak announced the availability of the Advantage CMS developers tool kit and a template management system for end-users. These additions to the flagship Advantage CMS allow for greater customization and easier implementation by CrownPeak’s clients themselves. Ultrak, for example, can now manage its own system, including the ability to add or modify templates via a powerful code wizard and template manager module.
Ultrak will also use Advantage CMS’s asset management features (workflow, approvals, check in/out, versioning) to control and publish all of its documentation, which exists in MS Word and PDF formats.
CrownPeak implemented the Internet site templates and complete account and workflow configuration over a two-week span. Ultrak users were up and running on the system one hour of online training – a major boon to Ultrak’s already busy project managers and Web team.
CrownPeak Technology’s Advantage CMS provides all the powerful features of a world-class CMS at a fraction of the cost and time commitment required by packaged solutions. Its easy-to-use Web interface enables users to maintain and edit content in any format as text, images, movies or any hybrid medium. The administrative interfaces and application code are hosted on high-availability servers, where CrownPeak backs up, maintains and extends the system. As an enterprise-level content management system, Advantage CMS is highly inter-operable with other systems and applications. Connection options available to developers include SOAP, XML, FTP, HTTP, SMTP and ODBC.
About Crown Peak Technology
Based in Marina del Rey, Calif., CrownPeak Technology is the first company to provide world-class content management as a service, so that secure, feature-rich, enterprise level technology can be made available economically. As the premier hosted application provider, CrownPeak offers in Advantage CMS a feature set that is helping to redefine the content management space. The company's comprehensive developer environment, industry-leading service levels and "risk-free" outsourcing options have made CrownPeak one of the fastest growing companies in its sector.
Press contact:
Erin Lumley
SHIFT Communications
elumley@shiftcomm.com
415.591.8414
