Press Release

BLACK TULIP RESTORES CONTENT OWNERSHIP TO CONTRIBUTORS
Software Suite Enables Content Management at its Source

San Jose, Calif. April 22, 2003—Black Tulip Systems today announced the availability of their five-part software suite that allows authors to create and store new content using native desktop authoring tools and convert legacy content. Black Tulip Solution Suite enables business users across the enterprise to create and manage their own content in a small fraction of the time possible with existing technology.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products have primarily focused on the data store and presentation. The functionality these products have provided for content authoring has involved the use of programming or scripting languages such as Java, Perl, or TCL to create authoring applications. This activity requires IT development to produce content authoring interfaces. A separate authoring interface is required for each type of content authored, from press releases and marketing collateral to engineering specifications and product documentation, each taking IT 4 or 5 days to design, code, and test. This complexity leaves the enterprise in the unenviable position of spending significant capital per year supporting content contributors on a recurring basis.

“Existing solutions essentially remove the author’s ownership and creativity and place these activities in the IT department’s hands. This transfer results in a skills mismatch within a group not chartered or staffed to ensure quality for a wide range of content delivery media, including the organization’s most visible symbol, its Web site,” according to Ted Munnich, President and CEO of Black Tulip.“ The further you move from the source of the information, the more possibilities you create for errors. Also, the more steps and time required to get the information to the public, the less relevant it becomes and the more expensive it becomes to counteract these effects. Black Tulip Solution Suite returns content ownership back to contributors, where it belongs.”

Black Tulip Systems greatly reduces the technology- and process-related complexities associated with authoring, resulting in the generation of quality content at its source. To this end, the company has developed Black Tulip Solution Suite. Employing a unique approach it calls application encapsulation, the Suite enables organizations to create and manage their own content without IT involvement. The Suite is also being extended to support legacy content through the integration of key NASA-developed technology.

Black Tulip Solution Suite is designed to enhance the value of currently implemented ECM platforms, employing J2EE and XML technologies and an open API to ensure rapid integration with existing content management infrastructure.

Suite Products

Black Tulip Solution Suite consists of four products:

• BT Designer – enables business users to create and deploy fully customized content authoring interfaces that can be accessed via native authoring tools.
• BT Schema – automates the discovery of existing content repository data structures and makes this information available for use by BT Designer.
• BT Engine – is the core parsing engine that ensures accurate content storage and easy integration into customer environments.
• BT Documents – indexes, parses, and searches existing documents stores, transforming legacy content into valuable information.
• BT Architect – is an SDK that enables customers to extend the capabilities of Black Tulip Solution Suite to satisfy their particular needs.

Additional information and pricing on Black Tulip Solution Suite is available by contacting the company at info@blacktulipsystems.com.

About Black Tulip Systems

Black Tulip Systems, founded in 2001, is located in The Enterprise Network’s (TEN) new facilities in San Jose, CA. The company provides innovative solutions that simplify the processes and technology involved in content creation and legacy document conversion.