DeskNet Press Release

For: Immediate Release
Contact: Darragh Fitzsimons, DeskNet Inc., phone 212-343-9800

New DeskNetAPS XML plug-in to be introduced at Seybold Boston 2000
leverages the value of your content across print and the Web

“On the Internet, content is king, and it’s also pure gold,” says Michael Fitzsimons, who claims that his company, DeskNet Inc., has created a unique solution to help organizations get the most value from the content they own – and publish it in any format in print or on the Web.

At Seybold Boston (Booth #2833, [date]), DeskNet Inc. will be demonstrating the new XML plug-in to its DeskNetAPS™ Automated Publishing Solution (APS) software. APS won the “Hot Pick” automated technology award at Seybold San Francisco on [date].

Originally developed for newspapers, magazines, and other traditional publishers, DeskNetAPS is now used by organizations nationwide – including MIT, Conde Naste, T. Rowe Price, Time Warner, Filene’s Basement, State Street Global Advisors, and Frankel and Company Advertising -- to control, manage, distribute, and publish their content.

“We call APS a ‘media-neutral workflow system,’ because it seamlessly transports text and visual content across an organization, in real time, regardless of format, media, or platform,” says Fitzsimons. He thinks of it as an “electronic assembly line” for editors, writers, designers, managers, and others who work with text and images to create and publish content for print or the Web – or both.

The new XML plug-in enables APS to take advantage of XML’s rich indexing capabilities to tag content. “XML content posted on the Web or stored in a database is much more searchable than HTML pages,” notes Fitzsimons. This searchability, in turn, increases the usefulness of the Web site or database to the user.

The XML plug-in software translates articles or pages into HTML or XML,
adhering to DTD standards. It automatically links to Web servers including OpenMarket’s FutureTense, Vinyet, and Update Engine – saving operators hours of tedious manual labor.

“Many organizations have invested small fortunes in creating the content they currently own, but since this content is locked up in outmoded formats, it returns only a fraction of its true value,” observes Fitzsimons.

“Converting content from its old-world print format to Web, multimedia, and other new-world formats is usually expensive – it can actually cost more than what was originally spent to create the content in the first place,” he continues.

APS with the XML plug-in creates an automated workflow environment for converting content from the old to new formats, saving time, money, and effort. The content is converted faster and made available sooner, maximizing the return the owner gets on its value.

For users who are writing in traditional applications such as MSWord ™ or QuarkCopyDesk™, or laying out pages in QuarkXPress™, DeskNetAPS automatically extracts text and images, and reformats them for the Web. Converting content into a media-neutral format like XML allows content to be reused for Web sites, CD-ROMs, searchable databases, and many other purposes. Plug-ins to media asset management systems help DeskNetAPS accommodate user archiving needs.

DeskNet Inc. is a consulting and software company focused on building leading-edge workflow solutions for those who publish and manage content. For more information, visit www.desknetinc.com.

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