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Tridion, Huge in Europe, Plans U.S. Push

Tom Dunlap

5/22/2006
Tridion, a leading European Web content management vendor with more than 500 corporations as customers, will soon ramp up its presence in the U.S.

Tridion is headquartered in Amsterdam and counts some impressive clients in its stable, including Goodyear, Yamaha, Unilever, Virgin Atlantic and Toyota.

The company's Web content management software -- the latest is Tridion R5 Version 5.2 -- allows its customers to control, create, manage and deliver Web content on multiple sites and in multiple languages.

As companies continue to look for new ways to grow in an increasingly online world, the time is right for a stronger push in the U.S. market, said Richard McCarthy, Tridion product marketing manager.

McCarthy said analysts who cover the Web content management space regard Tridion highly, but the fact that the company is headquartered in Amsterdam means "we're not as loud as some of the others. We've not been very aggressive. We usually wait for the successes of our customers and then we start talking about their achievements."

The company will try to expand in a crowded U.S. market. Competitors include Interwoven, Stellent, Vignette, IBM, EMC and FatWire Software.

The Tridion R5 Version 5.2 includes "hundreds" of improvements, McCarthy said. The 5.2 release focuses on new functionality and improvements in the following areas:

• Accessibility: Major improvements to the format area. Messages/warnings are generated if the content and layout does not comply with accessibility standards.

• Usability: Drag and drop support. Improved cascading style sheet support. More than a hundred customer-driven usability enhancements.

• Extended enterprise capabilities: Performance and stability enhancements. Extensive testing of 5.2 on large configurations.

• Extended platform support for new releases of SQL Server, Oracle, IBM WebSphere, and more.

Being a European-based firm with a focus on multiple languages gives Tridion a huge advantage in the global marketplace, McCarthy said, which coincides with what he sees as a revival in Web content management software.

"The main reason there's a revival is that a lot of organizations are really trying to expand their markets, and of course the Web is crucial," he said. "How you communicate in different languages, in different markets, is now a key characteristic from what they want for their Web content management software."

The fact that the Tridion is a "pure-play" Web content management company is also a key differentiator, McCarthy said. Companies like Tridion and FatWire have been doing it for many years, while other companies see an opportunity and are trying to adjust their document management software so that it can handle Web content, he said.

"We truly believe that managing content for the Web is almost like black magic or black art," McCarthy said. "You cannot take document management software and try and get it to the Web. I mean yes, you can, but not the same way. It's like if you're a truck manufacturer … you never can build a sports car, and vice versa."

This is an example of a Web site that uses Tridion. On this page, Taiwanese and English are in use.

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