Meet Ian Lee, VP sales and marketing for SiberLogic, a Toronto-based provider of XML content management support for development, design, and publishing processes.
Coastlines: What led you to SiberLogic?
Lee: I’ve been in the technology field for about ten years now, in sales, marketing and consulting roles. I collaborated with customers to provide technology solutions, whether Web applications, infrastructure solutions, or custom application development. I was drawn to SiberLogic by its truly class-leading technology, and equally as important, its dynamic, entrepreneurial, and customer-driven culture. SiberLogic has been providing technical documentation solutions for over ten years. I joined them this past year as VP of sales and marketing.
Coastlines: What sets SiberSafe, Siberlogic’s main product, apart from other content management systems (CMS) on the market?
Lee: SiberSafe offers state-of-the-art XML-based content management products and solutions specifically designed for technical publications professionals. This is the key differentiator that sets it apart from mainstream, all-purpose CMSs such as Documentum, SharePoint, and the like.
Coastlines: What is so different about all-purpose CMSs?
Lee: The difference between a tech pubs CMS and an all-purpose CMS can be compared to the difference between a fire engine and an all-purpose pickup truck. Both have wheels and a combustion engine, but no professional firefighting team would use a pickup — it simply isn’t built for the task.
Coastlines: Is the demand for CMSs growing? Are the tools and features plentiful and easy to use?
Lee: SiberLogic only addresses the needs of technical publication professionals. In this segment we see only a handful of vendors. Our customers tell us that SiberLogic is the only vendor who has the right product at the right price. We feel that every year knowledge-intensive organizations realize that the process of technical knowledge formulation, publishing, maintenance, and delivery requires a specialized toolset based on open-structured content format standards such as XML. As these organizations are starting to see definitive cost savings and efficiency gains from the implementation of structured documentation solutions, we’re continuing to see demand grow.
Coastlines: Describe an average tech pubs department that decides to adopt a CMS. Does it have processes in place, understand structured writing requirements, and does it have extensive XML experience?
Lee: Mainly, our customers come to us as soon as they realize that what they want to do with their content cannot be accomplished if the content is stored in an unstructured proprietary format. The moment they have this realization, they make the next logical step and start looking for an XML-based CMS, editing and publishing tools.
To customers who come to us with little or no XML experience, and who may or may not have had the chance to consider workflow processes or a path to implementation, we offer professional services and consultation to help get them going. The beauty of SiberSafe is that its high level of configurability and ease of implementation makes it easy for organizations to adopt and use, with a minimum of disruption.
Coastlines: How easy is SiberSafe to use?
Lee: SiberSafe is designed for multiple types of users: authors, contributors, reviewers, translators, training specialists, content integrators, system administrators, and so on. Some users, such as reviewers and contributors, are not required to have any expertise in structured authoring whatsoever. Authors need to know the basics of structured authoring. System Administrators are responsible for configuring and maintaining the SiberSafe CMS. Finally, content integrators, who are responsible for the life cycle of complex information products managed by the SiberSafe CMS, have to have extensive knowledge of the product’s internal mechanics. SiberLogic offers self-paced training courseware and live on-site training to bring users up to speed.
