New Contenders in the Editorial Systems Market - Impressed

tem. Second, the open architecture and customizability
will appeal to certain types of customers at the outset,
and probably more customers later. One of the major
benefits of the architecture is that it is appropriate for
Web applications, where open-source technology, PHP
scripting and native XML communications are more
commonly used than in the traditional newspaper market.
As more newspapers move aggressively to enhance
their cross-media publishing efforts, this strength of the
Enterprise system should become increasingly valuable.
Moving into this market at this time should be good
for Woodwing, since QPS users are now facing the critical
decision of whether to upgrade with Quark or switch
to one of the emerging suppliers. How these competitors
will fare in making the sale is still unclear. Enterprise is
off to a good start with 16 quick sales, but that’s just a
beginning compared with QPS and Baseview.
Quark Offers QPS Classic 3 for OS X,
Xpress 6
Almost two years ago, Quark outlined a new QPS
strategy that would address complaints that the original
system architecture had become outdated and
needed to be upgraded if QPS was to retain its dominant
position in the market. The strategy involved setting
up a three-tier hierarchy in which a system based
on the existing proprietary architecture would serve at
the entry level under the name QPS Classic. This system
is the mainstay of the line today. The strategy
called for a midlevel system to be added above the
Classic, built around an SQL database. This system, to
be called QPS Plus, remains in the category of “future
products,” not yet given a detailed description or target
release date.
The third system in the strategy, called QPS Enterprise,
was designed around Quark’s existing DMS
technology to serve the high end, or “enterprise” market,
where it is currently being sold. It uses an Oracle 9i
database and offers a host of application modules to
address the needs of newspapers, magazines and some
other customers. From a technology standpoint, QPS
Enterprise might seem like a possible migration path
for lower-level QPS customers. However, for reasons
of price, QPS Enterprise remains out of the range of
most traditional QPS customers. (Quark declined to
tell us how many QPS Enterprise systems have been
installed to date.)
The focus of our interest here is QPS Classic, which
for more than 10 years has dominated the magazine
market and also competed well against some dedicated
newspaper systems, especially in the small and
midrange markets. Contributing to its success have
been its status-based workflow and moderate price, as
well as the fact that it comes from a well-known company
that was expected to be around for a long time in
an industry known for consolidation, mergers and the
sudden disappearance of companies and product lines.
In addition, since many customers were already using
Xpress, QPS was a logical course for those who wanted
a multiuser system.
Increasingly, though, QPS has suffered from
Quark’s sluggishness in offering upgrades, both to
remain compatible with other industry advances and
to add features that hadn’t been available in version
2.12. QPS Classic 3 was hoped to address both needs.
Classic 3. Like the Classic 2.12 system, Classic 3 is built
around the Quark Dispatch Server and a proprietary
database. (Actually, it uses a RAM-based file system in
which header information is stored with the file and
loaded when the Dispatch Server is started up.) It is targeted
at users needing up to 120 seats (the typical size
is 55 seats, according to one integrator), although it
has been installed in some larger configurations.
The most important new features of Classic 3
address compatibility issues: support for Quark’s own
Xpress 6 and for Apple’s OS X. (Clients running OS
9.2 can still run CopyDesk, but no other QPS applications.)
Support for Xpress 6 and OS X gives Classic 3
users the functionality incumbent in those developments,
including the ability to work on different elements
of a print or Web layout by distributing
page-creation functions among editorial, design, Web
and print-production personnel. Print and Web layouts
can be stored in the same file to increase consistency
and simplify the repurposing of print content for the
Web. Text can be synchronized for multiple uses so
that updating the text once can affect all instances,
including both Web and print.
Also included is the ability to import Excel data
directly into Xpress layouts. Redlining and revision
comparison features will be added to track editorial
changes by multiple reviewers, Quark said.
Still missing. While the enhancements in Classic 3 were
essential for Quark to retain its QPS customers, many
Editorial Systems
Smart Connection
Elements palette.
The Elements
palette provides a
comprehensive view
of the workflow,
including elements
in the issue, their
current basket and
page assignment
and some icon
markers on the left.
The pencil indicates
that the InDesign
user has checked
out the layout, but
the editor can still
edit the contents.
The flag indicates
that an InCopy user
has changed the
article and has sent
it to the Ready
basket. The buttons
across the top are
for checking stories
in and out,
refreshing content
from InCopy and
alerting an InCopy
user of an update to
the design that
affects the article.
Items in the list are
sorted based on the
instruction at the
bottom (here,
grouping articles
together).
Volume 4, Number 13 • The Seybold Report • Analyzing Publishing Technologies 13