Ektron opens Australian office and launches user group

Ektron, the worldwide leader in web content management software, has opened its first Australian office, and will launch a local user group this month, to service burgeoning demand for its web content management tools.

Ektron already has more than 100 clients in Australia and New Zealand including the West Australian Department of Treasury, Bank of Queensland, Mortgage Choice and the Commonwealth Bank.

The Sydney office will initially employ five staff and plans to increase this number over the next 12 months as the business accelerates further.

“The demand for web content management tools is being driven by business increasingly wanting to use their websites to interact and help build closer relationships with staff, partners, etc. This new capability is commonly spoken of as Web 2.0,” said Marius Coomans, Regional Managing Director of Ektron Australia/New Zealand.

“Businesses have moved beyond just providing static information on their sites. They aim to engage their audiences with personalised features and wiki-based collaboration tools. At the same time businesses expect ease of use and seamless integration with their existing systems.”

Marius Coomans is a veteran of the Australian web development industry having run the digital media group, Firmware Group, for nearly 20 years, and then managed ConverterTechnology, a subsidiary of Powerlan Ltd, for three years. Mr Coomans also worked at Wormald Data Systems in the role of Technical Manager.

“The worldwide success of Ektron is due in part to the close relationship the company has maintained with the developer community which has had much input into the evolution of Ektron’s products,” said Mr Coomans.

“It is for this reason we are so keen to set up a local user group -- we want to tap into that resource here to build future versions of our products which meet the particular needs of our Australian and New Zealand customers.”

Ektron Founder and President/CEO Bill Rogers will be a keynote speaker at the launch meeting of the Australian User Group to be held in Sydney on March 28.

Ektron has been providing web content management tools and solutions since 1998 and has been servicing the Australian and New Zealand markets since 2001. The company has more than 18,000 customer integrations worldwide, including Unilever, Intel and Pfizer. Ektron also develops content management tools that can be integrated into existing client solutions. This growing list of clients includes Documentum, FatWire, Interwoven, Microsoft, Percussion, Silk Road, Stellent and Vignette.

Ektron's content management solutions are designed to meet the needs of very different users in a variety of industries. Ektron’s component-based solutions can be customised to client requirements, increasing efficiency and productivity and delivering true business value.

Ektron’s CMS solutions give clients the tools and features necessary to create, deploy and manage content, documents, assets and multimedia on their websites and intranets, regardless of the language the website is written in. Ektron’s CMS solutions also help clients manage subscriptions, web alerts and RSS feeds.

"With the additional local technical resources, Ektron can match its service levels to the growing demand for web content management tools and increase our foothold in the Australian and New Zealand markets,” said Mr Coomans.

About Ektron

Ektron's web content management and authoring solutions are affordable for any organisation and simple enough for anyone to use, yet offer webmasters, designers and developers all the tools they need to create, deploy and manage interactive web, intranet and extranet sites in one platform. With Ektron CMS400.NET companies can do what they want on the web, including developing rich sites for personal, two-way communication with visitors, building community through memberships, blogs and forums, and attracting more repeat visits using RSS feeds and web alerts to increase business opportunities. An open API allows for easy customisation and extension. Ektron is headquartered in Nashua, N.H., and has more than 18,000 customer implementations worldwide, including Unilever, Intel and Pfizer.

Ektron Australia is located Unit A217, 20 Lexington Drive, Bella Vista NSW 2153. For more information on the Australian business, its products and the user group please call 02 9421 2700 or visit http://www.ektron.com.au.