BigCabinet 3.0 enables clients to access and repurpose a document's original design files regardless of how well the client knows the application in which it was created. That means someone who's unfamiliar with QuarkXPress—even people that don't have the design software—can use BigCabinet to access and customize a Quark document. Those print-ready files then are ready for production.
BigCabinet 3.0 works with standard desktop publishing files and is as easy to use as Microsoft Office. Unlike proprietary template-based systems, the documents in BigCabinet are the original design files, distilled to XML. Nothing is hard-coded. "We're only limited creatively by the native file we support," Parker says.
Because the application is relatively easy to use, training is simple. "You can get set up and ready to go in two and a half hours," Parker says. "There's no need to send someone out for a week's worth of training. If your staff changes, there's no need to send someone out to get new training. You can get a job and immediately upload."
New users are given a workbook and comprehensive user guide that explain how BigCabinet 3.0 works. The Windows-based application utilizes basic folders and menus and all training takes place right on the customer's desktop. "Our clients run the gamut from young and tech-savvy to experienced and shy about technology," Parker says. "They see the ease of use in getting the client online and letting the client drive the production."
Since launching BigCabinet 3.0, BRANDCONTROL.NET has shifted its main focus from development to educating clients and potential clients about the application. Chicago Press' Roskowski says BigCabinet's remote viewing capabilities will help him shave days off of national orders. He's also impressed with how the application handles variable data.
BRANDCONTROL.NET, which is based outside of Chicago, employs six people: three developers, two quality-assurance engineers and a customer service representative. The firm's tiered customer service is modeled after IBM, where Parker was a business line manager.
BRANDCONTROL.NET's clients include several commercial printers and distributors. Parker says interest in the application is growing. When the company made a software release announcement through DMIA, it received more than 80 contacts from prospective buyers. "One guy said, 'Wow, you basically enabled anyone to drive a desktop publishing job without knowing anything about the application in which it was created,'" Parker says. "The real value is that it does something faster, cheaper and better."
The Next Moves
Future versions of BigCabinet, will make the tool easier to use and broader in scope, Parker says. In its current form, images and text must first be tagged for use before they can be changed. The next generation of BigCabinet will allow clients to change all content regardless of whether or not it's tagged.
Parker and his team also are working on giving BigCabinet the ability to repurpose dynamic video and audio content. For example, clients could create a radio spot and customize it for different neighborhoods using BigCabinet. Or they could contour digital content for Palm Pilots, the internet, television or digital signage. "It's exciting," Parker says, talking about the long edge of the curve, "but still distant."
When it comes to acquiring technology, Chicago Press Corporation is neither behind the curve nor ahead of it. Like many medium-sized commercial printers, the firm lives right on the curve, taking into consideration the necessity of growth and the realities of finances.
"We're cautious about our purchases because the market is so up and down in the printing world, especially in the last year," says Chicago Press Vice President of Operations Ken Roskowski. "Typically, our company holds out on the latest and greatest to see how things pan out in the industry."
Against this backdrop, BRANDCONTROL.NET President Chris Parker introduced his browser-based dynamic publishing application, BigCabinet 3.0, to Chicago Press executives and sales staff. The tool lets customers manage, order and repurpose documents online. "Our sales team came out of the meeting and said, 'We want to present this to our clients,'" Roskowski says. "We haven't done a live walk-through yet, but we've talked to our customers and they're interested." He says Chicago Press will be using BigCabinet 3.0 soon.
How the System Works
Parker and his team at BRANDCONTROL.NET can make the claim that they represent the past and future of browser-based dynamic publishing.
Before launching BRANDCONTROL.NET, Parker ran a similar company called BigCabinet. The 2001 terror attacks cost the company its largest client, hotel operator Hyatt, forcing Parker to close in the spring of 2002. After gathering venture capital, Parker relaunched as BRANDCONTROL.NET in January 2004 with BigCabinet 3.0 as the company's flagship product. "That shows you how strong the technology was when we shut down," Parker says. "Unlike most software that sits on the shelf for more than a year, ours still had value and venture capitalists knew that."
THE FILE ON BRANDCONTROL.NET
Company: BRANDCONTROL.NET
Launched: 2004
Location: Elmhurst, Ill.
Principal: Chris Parker, president
Business in Brief: The company produces marketing resource management systems, including BigCabinet 3.0, a browser-based dynamic publishing application developed for print and print resellers.
