Rich Media Publishing and Management Part 3: Peering into the Crystal Ball

Here to Stay
Some of those supporting the view that rich media publishing and management is sufficiently complex and valuable to stand alone are executives who lead companies offering these solutions today. The management teams of most of the companies in this segment, and their investors, are enthusiastic about their opportunities. "Media Publisher’s key value proposition is that we eliminate the inherent complexity from each phase of the rich media publishing and management process," says Bruce Dresser, Vice President of Marketing at Media Publisher. "Complexity has been a huge issue facing customers in our marketplace. We think addressing this issue directly, and offering a complete yet flexible solution, is essential to be successful in this segment."

"Our experience within the business communications context has proven to us that rich media is fundamentally different than writing and distributing a memo," says Mike Newman, CEO, Accordent Technologies. "As such, and in conjunction with virtually limitless market opportunity in the enterprise, government, and education sectors for business communications, we feel that many solutions in this segment can and will persevere as standalone offerings."

Lawrence Orans, principal analyst with research firm Gartner, is also of the opinion that the segment is here to stay. "I see a stand alone market for these solutions because by far the largest interest I’ve seen to date in this space is for enhancing corporate communications," reports Orans. "There will certainly be some integration of rich media publishing within certain vertical and horizontal applications such as training and learning, but these will only complement the dedicated rich media publishing systems.

"I can see a situation, in say three to five years, when there is an important event in a company. The executive team will need to make a presentation, immediately, and talk about the issues, live. People will want to look their leader in the eyes. The rich media publishing and management platform will be in place and its value will be established beyond a shadow of a doubt. That’s the future and it puts us firmly in the ‘here to stay’ camp."