Stellent Puts Content Metadata in Context

How you find information doesn't depend just on what you're looking for. That's why Stellent today announced an evolved metadata approach in Universal Content Management 7.5, the company's first major upgrade in more than a year. The new metadata engine offers control beyond content type, and the update also includes enhanced e-mail management and business-oriented digital asset management (DAM) features.

Stellent's In-Context Metadata Engine lets you dynamically control the metadata exposed, so users aren't overwhelmed by information that isn't relevant to the search. Specific fields can be revealed, or withheld, based on user roles, the status of the content and other variables.

Authors and editors, for example, might see and search state-oriented metadata values while a document is in process. Later, when that same content is live, constituents would see and search different fields that could vary depending on the application and whether users are employees, partners or customers.

"We see increasing efforts to give users the information they need within the context of their jobs and interests," says Susan Feldman, vice president for content technologies at IDC. "Stellent's in-context metadata is an example of this drive toward precision results."

Stellent's new e-mail management capabilities appear to be in line with competitive offerings from the likes of Interwoven and Red Dot. Universal Content Management folders automatically appear within user e-mail clients without client software, and users can drag and drop messages and attachments into the desired folders. While users can cc folders to bring messages under management, options for automated declaration and classification are otherwise limited and the system is not designed for e-mail archiving or lifecycle management.

Way back in 2003, Stellent acquired DAM vendor Ancept, and the Ancept Media Server is still offered as a standalone product for media professionals. In Universal Content Management 7.5, Stellent offers a "greatest hits" sampling of DAM features for routine business use. Features include auto image and video conversion from a single source to a variety of formats. For example, image renditions can be generated for use in PowerPoint and on Web sites, while videos can be compressed from AVI to MPEG format. Version 7.5 can also drill down into video storyboards to get right to desired segments of videos.

In a separate statement today, Stellent announced an upgrade of its Sarbanes-Oxley Solution that adds predefined process, risk and control templates, sample documentation and documentation alerts, mapping of financial elements, and improved support for content and process reuse.