Build-IT for Business Users is a companion product to Wallop Build-IT for the Enterprise and promises to address the needs of the 55% of the staff developing Web sites, the actual non-IT member of the collaborative application process. Business contributors can now safely combine their specific content and components into the appropriate place in the Intranet application architecture. The other 45% of programmers and Webmasters who make up the rest of the Intranet development team can rest easy knowing that this product protects the integrity of large-scale applications, with a limited, "non-muckaboutable" set of controls and interfaces. Contributors gain freedom to add their appropriate line-of-business content to the Intranet application, while the IT team preserves the integrity of the master application and keeps the control where it rightfully belongs.

The new Business Users version delivers built-in flexibility to use favorite tools and applications for creating HTML pages and other content-based, multimedia components. Also, Build-IT for Business Users provides intuitive, easy-to-use features, support for existing tools and components, and, most importantly, the context for viewing individual contributions as part of the overarching whole. Because Build-IT for Business Users is part of the Build-IT product family that pioneered the concept of a components-based, collaborative application assembly environment, business contributors can safely add, modify, or delete components to their personal portion of the application--leaving the tricky deployment and management functions to the Webmaster.

Using authoring tools like Netscape Navigator Gold, Microsoft Front Page/Word/PowerPoint, and Adobe PhotoShop, users can now update content with their tool of choice. For example, to update pricing information contained in an HTML page/component in the Intranet application, you'd use the familiar "double-click" metaphor on the appropriate component icon within the Build-IT for Business Users environment to check the component out from the server. This creates your own component copy to edit, and ensures that other team members aren't going to be making changes to your edits--an important feature for team-based development.

Build-IT automatically knows what authoring tool was used to create the component and associates it with the file through the Windows registry function. It then launches the tool with the HTML page ready for editing. It makes the edits, saves the file, and automatically checks back into the server for use by other teammates. The product checks for broken links, and the Webmaster can safely deploy the component to the production site using the Enterprise version. Available immediately from Wallop Software, Inc., Build-IT for Business Users is priced at $495/seat and comes bundled in multiuser packs. Call 1-888-2WALLOP to order, or download an evaluation copy from the Web site.

Past installments of Inside Intranets