Web sites and intranets are designed for the same reason—to provide information. In the business world, this information needs to be updated and changed constantly in order to stay abreast of a changing business climate. New product releases, price changes, and marketing promotions are just a few examples of information that companies need to constantly provide to their customers, suppliers, employees, and shareholders. In today’s world of e-commerce and intense corporate competition, companies need the ability to instantly update published information in order to effectively communicate with their intended audience. Today’s companies know that they have to have a dynamic and interesting Web presence, but they are struggling to find ways to effectively manage their Internet strategy. Traditional advertising agencies and Web development firms are no longer meeting the all-encompassing Internet requirements necessary for businesses in today’s e-commerce driven marketplace. Companies are looking for advertising agencies and Web development firms that address their initial Web development needs while also providing them with viable, affordable solutions that are designed to address, implement, and manage their overall Internet strategy.

Historically, companies outsourced the development of their Web sites, because creation and maintenance required design and programming expertise. However, relying on third parties for all site maintenance limited a company’s ability to quickly and easily update their published information. To solve this problem, many companies decided to bring Web site and intranet development in-house. Companies then discovered that hiring the necessary skilled personnel contains its own set of inherent problems. Information “bottlenecks” still occur when a company has one or two people in the internal IT department who are bombarded with the responsibility of publishing all company information. In addition, companies are also finding that Web site designers are hard to find and even harder to keep. The recurring theme in the market is that companies are recruiting individual Web designers to build and maintain their Web sites and intranets in-house, only to find that after several months of development, the designer may be lured away by the promise of a more exciting and rewarding career. This “catch 22” has left companies looking for some additional alternatives. Companies are turning toward their advertising agencies and Web development firms to provide the solution to this problem.

Market trends have caused Web site management to become an arduous task, with sites evolving to meet the needs of e-commerce and e-business. For example, today’s Web application development software is now a complete site production platform that enables content contribution, production management, content management, verification, and deployment. Users should be able to submit content, manage site architecture, collaborate with others, and control the delivery of information. With its open architecture, today’s Web application development software should work with existing enterprise infrastructures and be able to handle dynamic content. The software should also be able to integrate with other leading Web site design solutions, so that Web design firms can continue to develop sites as they have done historically, while incorporating the added functionality. The software should also allow for the separation of design and logic, which means that while the designer can control the graphical look and feel of a site, the client can manage the architecture, the content, and the functionality of their own site.