SAM (Site Authoring and Maintenance) is a next generation web content management application that enables individuals and teams to create, edit, and publish web content quickly and easily. A browser-based tool, SAM allows even non-technical users to reliably and securely update any HTML site through Windows® Internet Explorer anytime, anywhere.
The Do-It-Yourself Site Tool
Add new pages, delete old ones, move pages around, edit copy; SAM makes updating your site's architecture a snap. Create case studies, press releases, executive bios, and just about anything else your heart desires, just as you would working in your favorite word processor. Even better, SAM offers complete and total control over the presentation layer. That's right: Any design that can be accomplished in HTML can be accomplished in SAM, a feature that has many of our competitors shaking in their proverbial boots. Of course, maintaining the integrity of your site's look and feel is important—and easy—thanks to SAM's custom style sheets and controls.
It's All About Teamwork—or Not
SAM makes collaboration easy, too. A complete set of roles, tasks, and authorities are built in, and can be applied to individuals or groups. Say you have one person writing the content, another wearing the editor's hat, and another carrying the big golden stamp of approval. Defining these roles and tasks might mean that Mary can write, but not publish; Dylan can edit and publish, but not approve; and Joe can approve, but not edit or publish. Tasks are defined by roles. You can be an Architect, Writer, Editor, Approver, Publisher, or any combination of these. Of course, if you're a one-person operation you can do it all and need never see these features.
Your IT Department Will Thank Us, Too
With its industry standard, non-proprietary technologies like XML/XSL and SQL Server, SAM is a slam dunk for harried IT departments who shudder at the thought of new or unproven applications. Plus it's a real joy for application developers since they can work in their favorite development environment and then simply cut and paste their debugged code. SAM uses a totally hands-off approach to application code, leaving your developer's hard-won ASP, JSP, PHP, and Flash apps completely untouched.
Tried and True Technology
Proclaiming a next generation technology ain't bragging—if you can do it. Fact is, we've been developing content management systems since 1997. The culmination of all this experience; of listening to our clients; of pushing the envelope, is SAM. Our content management tool is the technology behind such diverse sites as Marathon Oil Corporation, Lockheed Federal Credit Union, San Jacinto Museum of History, and Trade-Ranger, Inc. — not to mention this site, which was built and maintained using SAM.
What SAM is Not
Although SAM is extraordinarily robust and well-heeled, we must admit it can't do everything. It can't, for example, take a Word doc and automatically generate a Web page from it. Although a number of full-blown content managers that perform such tasks exist, they are not without serious drawbacks. First, they almost invariably require an enterprise IT department and an enterprise-sized budget. Too, better have a good year set aside for a long, painful installation. Finally, have you actually seen websites generated by these monsters? We have. In fact, we've installed one or two for clients that were committed to their usage. A word to the wise: Unless you have your entire corps of content contributors expertly trained on the use of style sheets in Word, be prepared for absolute chaos on screen.
