Stellent gears suite toward e-gov

Stellent Inc., a longtime developer of Web content management software, has introduced a suite of products targeted directly at e-government programs.

The company has had "a flood" of potential new government business over the past year, said Carrie Ellis, director of vertical sales for Stellent, and the suite is an attempt to provide the market with easy-to-use starter products that can be enhanced as users gain experience with them.

"There are a number of possible reasons for this increased interest, including the fact that federal mandates such as those aimed at [accessibility] concerns are starting to trickle down to the state and local level," she said.

Content management software automates many of the processes involved with Web publishing, which Ellis thinks makes it particularly appealing to many government agencies that are strapped for funds and people to handle it manually.

Scott County in Minnesota began using Stellent's software in 2001, and officials estimates it is saving about $200,000 a year as a result.

"Our Internet site is now completely published using the Stellent product, and many people in the various departments can mark up their own content and put it onto the site," said Gary Shelton, deputy county commissioner for Scott County. "Before, they had to send it to the IT staff to have them to do it."

Stellent's e-government solution comes as four application packages tailored for distinct segments of the market: government-to-citizen (G2C); government-to-employee (G2E); government-to-government (G2G); and government-to-business (G2B). Each is self-contained, Ellis said, although users can add functionality with plug-in components.

Stellent said it does not publish list prices for its products.

Robinson is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. He can be reached at hullite@mindspring.com.