Digital Solutions in India, May 2014

5/26/2018 Digital Solutions in India, May 2014

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Digital publishingsolutions of all sizes

for all types of content

TECHNOLOGY | CONTENT | DELIVERY e: [email protected] | p: +1.267.640.9158 | WWW.CENVEOPUBLISHERSERVICES.CO

Making Digital Pay

BOOKS JOURNALS MAGAZINESDIGITAL


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decision is about how enriched, complex

and smart (or smarter) their content (or

assets) should be to grab the end users

(and their wallets). For digital solutions

providers, how much the publishers are

willing to pay to apply enhanced and

intuitive solutions to their content

would decide how high the level of offer-

ings would go. In short, everything has a

price and finding a workable business

model is getting more complexand

crucialthan ever.

Controlling ContentAs we speak, content is being scanned,converted, reformatted, enhanced,

spliced, diced, structured, dechunked,

animated, fattened (or trimmed) andslicked up for distribution through all

types of devices and platforms. The need

for content consistency, portability, effi-

ciency, accuracy and speed is overwhelm-

ing.

Current digital technology, says CEO

Kris Srinaath of Qbend, has thrown up

various possibilities, platforms and

devices. We see consumer choices

becoming extremely varied, and content

delivery so complex that publishers

both traditional and non-traditional

cannot afford to focus on a few formats.

The goal for S4Carlisle, Qbend and our

transmedia services team is to provide a

solid framework for publishers to curate

and enrich their content, and provide

what the consumers have come to

expect, he says, adding that transmedia

services, a new division within S4Carl-

isle, will bridge the gap between tech-

nology providers and content creators to

offer consumers rich content experienceon their devices.

Multiplicity of devices has certainly

increased the demand for content conver-

Nothing is set in stone as far as content digitization andaggregation is concerned

Redefining and RepurposingContent as We Go AlongB T T

Smart and enhanced content. Intuitive and dynamic work-flow. Interactive and integrated media. Scalable and custom-

ized solutions. Single-source and multi-platform processes.

Aggregated and dechunked data. Agile and mobile technolo-

gies. The adjectives keep coming and the concepts pertaining

to content, ever more sophisticated by the day.

So just when you were grasp-

ing the meaning of dis-

coverability and big

data, you will now have to

get your mind around

flipped classroom, in

which students view short video lectures

at home before the class session while in-

class time is devoted to exercises, proj-

ects, or discussion; and semantic tag-

ging, a way of reinforcing the meaning

of specified content.

Concepts and jargons aside, both pub-

lishers and digital solutions providersneed to make some major calls regarding

content, and its digitization and distri-

bution processes. For publishers, the big

W W W. P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY . C O M

D i g i t a l S o l u t i o n s i n I n d i a 2 0 1 4

The following articles are available online in conjunction with this print report:

Visit www.publishersweekly.com/DigitalSolutions2014 for continuing coverage, news, and q&as with vendors and

publishers on the digital solutions industry.

Online Coverage of the Digital Solutions Industry

Q&A with Dr Lalit S. Kanodia of Datamatics (who is one of

the pioneers in the Indian software and offshore services

industry)

Across Segments and Domains: Projects Showcase

(featuring interesting, unusual and complex projects

from various vendors)

COVER

PHOTO

I

STOCKPHOTO/ALENGO


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P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY M A Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 44

to different screen sizes. This called for

improvisation at the instructional design

level itself.

How to achieve that same level of

learning with different display or content

presentation, he adds, is an instructionaldesign question, and that is a very excit-

ing problem to solve. Other hot button

issues for the e-learning industry on

Kulkarnis list include responsive

HTML5, interactive ePub3, augmented

reality in print, personalizable educa-

tional videos and cloud technologies.

Technology, while confounding, also

makes it an exciting time to be in the

education industry. Technology affects

the way we receive and process informa-

tion, and directly impacts the way welearn. Students now live in a digital

world, and we are creating a learning

product, MarkSharks, that is consistent

with that, says Aditya Tripathi, CEO of

OKS Education. In a nutshell, Mark-

Sharks is a tablet- and cloud-based

e-learning product for students grade 6

to 12 that will be launched in the autumn

of 2014.

Almost all educational publishers

today are looking to acquire or partner

with adaptive learning companies to

make their products more personalized,

observes CEO Samudra Sen of Learning-

Mate, whose team created a huge amount

of content for adaptive learning plat-

forms last year. We know students mas-

ter learning objectives faster through

personalized learningwhen the system

is intelligent enough to predict areas of

struggle and prompt students with addi-

tional content and assessments that help

them achieve mastery of that concept.Meta-tagging for the level of difficulty

or specific subject area becomes incredi-

bly important. So these platforms are

changing the way publishers write, and

create, content.

Publishers and content creators are no

longer selling curriculum or full-text

content, adds Sen. Instead, they are

focusing on selling learning outcomes.

And when you sell outcomes, you need

technology to measure effectiveness.

That is a great opportunity for us becauseour team is uniquely qualified to develop

sion, and by default grew Lapiz Digital

Services further last year. The services

required ranged from simple conversion

to complex animation, says CEO Indira

Rajan, whose team strives to keep up

with new technologies even as it workson more digital products for publishers.

In e-book production, for instance, deal-

ing with multiple platforms and stiffer

competition from industry counterparts

are all in a days work.

There are also more requests to com-

pose content as individual assets along

with the entire title, says v-p of sales and

marketing David Bass of codeMantra.

Publishers are thinking about custom-

izing content for their end users digitally

in ways that they cannot do with printproducts, and they are using XML to

ensure content functionality and display

capabilities on different e-book readers

and browsers. Publishers objective, he

adds, is to develop a title one time, with

a single process that produces outputs for

print and digitaland leaving one file

to update and edit going forward. It is

about improving operational efficiencies

to create and distribute print and digital

in a variety of methods.

And it has always been about XML in

the digital solutions industry. We have

heard of XML-first and XML-early for

many years now. But it is a real conversa-

tion stopper when you try to introduce

XML to content creators and authors.

We believe they should not have to even

know what XML or structure is, says

Marianne Calilhanna, director of market-

ing at Cenveo Publishers Services, add-

ing that it is the service providers job to

support publishers and authors withstructure that enables front-end automa-

tion. Our editorial transformation tools

do this now and are evolving to even pro-

vide a mechanism to incorporate stylistic

elements before acceptance. It sounds

like a pipe dream, but everyone

authors, readers, the scientific commu-

nity, for instancewill benefit from the

speed and efficiency this system brings

to the process. We are making this hap-

pen now and will be partnering with

publishers even more in 2014.Content enrichment and semantic tag-

ging are what help publishers manage

their most important assetcontent,

adds Calilhanna. Commercial and soci-

ety publishers alike will need more effi-

cient ways to bring semantic tagging

into workflows. This is a particularlycritical process that needs to be consid-

ered when working with a service pro-

vider like Cenveo, which manages much

of publishers development and produc-

tion processes.

With lines demarcating publishing

departments blurring, editorial, pro-

duction, marketing and IT departments

now play equally important roles in

product development and delivery,

observes chief marketing officer Rahul

Arora of MPS Limited. In addition tocreating engaging and interactive learn-

ing products, it is also imperative to pro-

vide seamless access to such content

through robust and easily scalable plat-

forms. And more than ever before, pub-

lishers are committed to understanding

their end-users through richer analytics

and market research.

MPS is also seeing its business becom-

ing more focused on platform develop-

ment and managed services for publish-

ing clients in recent months. Its hosted

cloud-based platform, MPSTrak, for

instance, powers the overall publishing

process from start to finish, and has won

two significant client awards in 2013.

Meanwhile, the Peer Review module of

MPSTrak, having passed the early devel-

opment and testing stages, will be

implemented for a U.K.-based publisher

sometime this year.

Rethinking e-LearningIn the e-learning space, the multiplicity ofdevices and platforms, while affording ven-

dors new paths to grow their business (and

revenues), poses a big challenge. Content

must automatically fit into different plat-

forms while learning effectiveness needs to

remain the same, says executive director

Jayant Kulkarni of Harbinger Interactive

Learning, explaining that the pedagogy,

interaction levels and learning effectiveness

must remain unchanged even as the con-

tent sequence is presented a little differ-ently on a PC, tablet or a smartphone due


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Serving Up SolutionsWhether it is about transforming con-

tent, enhancing e-learning modules,

aiding discoverability, experimenting

with new workflows, augmenting real-

ity, gamifying interactivities or miningbig data, the following 27 vendorssiz-

able or small, specialist or generalist;

listed in reverse alphabetical order

offer a multitude of services, bespoke or

are more appropriate than one-shot cam-

paigns when a book is published.

For CTO Gurvinder Batra of KiwiTech,

digital content and its monetization are

central to any businesss growth these

days. User engagement defines profit-ability. The growing bandwagon of new-

age chief executive officers with digital

blueprint as their primary ROI index is

driving the growth of mobile apps and

digital solutions providers like us. Enter-

prises are evolving to stay connected,

improve processes and deliver rewarding

consumer engagement. Mobile and the

digital spectrum are offering never-before-

seen mechanics to our shrinking and con-nected world. This is a truly digital con-

vergence era that we live in, and KiwiTech

is strategically positioned to evolve and

grow organically with it.

Flash-t

o-HTMLConver

sion:TheHurix

Story

To address the above challenge, Hurix deploys Responsive Web

Design (RWD) to create the HTML5 activities. RWD allows the lay-

out to adjust according to the users screen resolution and size, and

in order for RWD to work, the activity layouts need to be programmed

as flexible. Fluid or liquid layouts, proportionally scaled images and

supporting media queries help to achieve the required flexibility.

It enables us to offer the best possible experience to the widestpossible audience, says Mohanty.

Replicating the experience of Flash activityin look, feel and

functionalityin HTML5 is the next challenge. The animation part

is the most problematic. Simple transitions or motion-based ani-

mation of images can be achieved through JavaScript and CSS tran-

sitions. But achieving small complex animations requires the use

of sprite sheets and tween max, Mohanty explains, adding that

sprite sheets are basically a sequence of images depicting differ-

ent steps of an animation on a single sheet. Sprite sheets cannot

be used for longer animations. Furthermore, tablets do not load

sprite sheets with a large number of frames.

Tween max, he adds, is used for presenting slightly complex

motion-based animations, which are movements of an object acrossdifferent locations on the screen. In cases where large complex

animations have multiple characters or objects, we convert these

animations to MP4 videos and channel them through a player. The

drawback of using videos for presenting the animations, he says, is

that external factors such as Internet connectivity and the devices

processing power will determine the time it takes to download the

video. So his team employs a combination of the above approaches in

Flash-to-HTML5 conversion so that the experience of the animations

remains the same as seen in Flash.

Naturally, HTML5 has its limitations. Explains Mohanty, HTML5

content is most likely to be viewed on tablets, and rollover cannot

be implemented since tablets do not support this functionality. In

such cases, we deploy workarounds like click-to-reveal. Having con-

verting a massive amount of Flash activities over the years, we are

familiar with various workarounds that can be used to address dif-

ferent HTML5 limitations.

Given that HTML5 is still a developing standard, it is not sup-

ported by many older versions of popular browsers. For instance,

HTML5 standards are not supported by Internet Explorer versions

older than IE9. However, using libraries such as HTML5shiv,HTML5shim and DOM animations, we can make the activities com-

patible to IE8. We employ user agents to check the browser version

on the launch of an activity. Then, based on the version used, the

appropriate libraries or scripts are called to play the activity.

Hurix adopts two different approaches when it comes to Flash-to-

HTML conversion projects. Dictera, its proprietary award-winning

platform, which is mostly used for authoring content and publishing

courses, can be also be used for Flash-to-HTML5 conversion. In

this method, media assets such as graphics, audio and video are

extracted from existing Flash files. Dictera then uses its wide-rang-

ing templates to author the screens while offering instant preview

and testing on more than 50 types of browsers. Such features have

enabled us to convert 50,000 Flash pages within five months for apublishing client, says Mohanty.

The second methodcustom developmentis mostly

applied when there are numerous Flash activities involving cus-

tom screens and interactivities such as games, complex labs

and simulations. Once media assets are extracted from the Flash

files, the programming of the templates and screen layouts is

done from scratch. Dynamic templates are often created with

JSON [JavaScript Object Notation] so that all future screens and

template revisions can be easily done by editing the JSON.

Once the templates are created, the content is then integrated

and the HTML5 package tested on the required device, operat-

ing system or browser combinations as per clients require-

ments. T.T.

Now that Flash is dead, publishers are scrambling to reformat their FLA files into future-proof

standards such as HTML5. But making converted Flash-to-HTML content compatible across

various devicesdesktops, laptops, tablets, phablets and smartphonesis a major hurdle,

admits CEO Subrat Mohanty of Hurix. With the current boom in the mobile industry, we now

have devices with varying screen sizes, from 5-inch smartphones to 10-inch tablets with

phablets somewhere in between. We also need to ensure that the converted Flash activity

works across these screen sizes without any tangible loss in the user experience.


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Vakils PremediaLast year, Vakils Premedia, a subsidiary

of printing and publishing group Vakils

& Sons, entered into an alliance with

Boston-based short-run printer King

Printing and Milan-based Rotolito Lom-barda. Both companies and their clients

can now take advantage of Vakilss pre-

media services for file conversion, or use

our new business lines to create mobile

apps, interactive e-books, e-catalogs or

applications for e-learning and the Web,

says managing director Bimal Mehta.

It is estimated that 500 million

smartphone users will be using health-

care apps by 2015, and many major phar-

maceutical firms, such as Merck, Pfizer,

Roche and GlaxoSmithKline, have intro-

duced apps for marketing and medical

education. And we have developed sev-

eral mobile solutions for our clients in

the pharmaceutical and healthcare indus-

try to improve their customer outreach

and increase their competitiveness. Apps

such as MD Spirometry Flash and Dental

Sleep Medicine Study, for instance, aredesigned to reinforce knowledge for pro-

fessionals in the respective fields, adds

Mehta. His team also developed the offi-

cial app of Sleep Diagnosis and Therapy

Journal and an app on Merck Millipore

Antibody that comes with comprehen-

sive search functions and hyperlinks.

For the business sector, Mehta and his

team provide annual reports, XBRL con-

version, IR apps and other services to

company secretaries and investor rela-

tions departments of corporations. Hehas also added Virtualboardroom to his

templated, for e-books, apps, tablets and

mobile devices. Each company is answer-

ing calls for innovative products and

novel solutions in its own way, building

on proven expertise and established rep-

utation.This small sampling, out of hundreds

that mostly operate belowPWradar, is

sufficient to showcase their cumulative

strength and expertise. But if you need

further assurance about, and proof of,

their capabilities, online article Across

Segments and Domainslooks at many of

these vendors interesting and complex

projects.

This reviewtotally unscientific and

not rubber-stamped with our endorse-

mentis totally discriminating, featur-ing only those with interesting products

and solutions targeted at publishers and

content creators/aggregators. Whichever

provider(s) you ultimately choose to be

your partner down the digitization path,

remember: do your homework and exer-

cise your due diligence.

vPrompt eServicesSome of the highlights for eight-year-old

Hyderabad-based vPrompt in 2013 were

the acquisition of a new facility in New

Delhi and addition of another 300 pro-

duction people. Our revenue more than

doubled, with significantly increased

volume of work from major clients, says

president and CEO Ameet Chauhaan,

adding that their capabilities in foreign

language data processing, HTML5 pro-

duction and mobile app development

have been strengthened and expanded

further. We pride ourselves on our flat

hierarchy and quick response. Our dedi-

cated client service, for instance, enables

clients to interact directly with our pro-duction line managers for continual

updates on project status. For clients,

nothing is more frustrating than being

put on hold and not knowing what is

happening to their projects.

Hyderabad has no other major player

of vPrompts size offering composition

services. The location gives the company

an edge, as Hyderabad is about 15% less

expensive than Delhi and other major

Indian cities in terms of entry-level

wages. But cost will eventually go upand nullify any cost advantage. So we

have been investing in technology to

reduce manual work and to achieve cost-

effectiveness in production workflows.

This investment will offset future

increases in manpower costs, adds T.

Giriraj, senior director for strategic

planning.

Presently, 80% of vPrompts business

comes from the U.S., mostly for XML

work and e-book processing. We are a

one-stop shop for all types of publishing

and content processes, such as data entry,

art creation, conversion, structured copy-

editing of all content types, automated

page composition and XML processing

for e-publications, says managing direc-

tor Ajay Srivastava, who recently brought

in industry veteran Byron Laws as v-p for

business development

and account manage-

ment. Our New Delhi

office serves as a clienthub, as many clients pre-

fer not to make the lon-

ger trip to Hyderabad,

while most software-

related and full-project

management services are

handled by our Hyder-

abad facility. Both facili-

ties will undergo further

expansion this year with

newer and faster services

to better meet clientdemands.

(l. to r.) Ajay Srivastava, T. Giriraj and Ameet Chauhaan ofvPrompt eServices

Bimal Mehta, managing director of VakilsPremedia


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W W W. P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY . C O M


XPS for legal publications for one of

Europes biggest publishers.

Digital media capabilities, which are the

core of e-learning services, have also been

the prime focus for Thomson Digital in the

last few years. Our team of instructionaldesigners and subject matter experts offers

interactive animation and e-learning mod-

offerings, which is a secured Web-based

portal for board members and company

secretaries to share confidential informa-

tion and access documents remotely.

(Virtualboardroom is owned and devel-

oped by a British company, and Vakilswill be marketing it in India.) Together

with our associate companies, we provide

a one-stop solution to clients requiring

premedia services, app development, IT

services, printing and publishing,

including self-publishing, adds Mehta.

Thomson DigitalIt was a year of evolution for Thomson

Digital in 2013. We developed the

revolutionary concept of 1P1P [One

Person One Project] with the aim offostering a smart and lean workflow

pattern from input acceptance to deliv-

ery. It is about facilitating the shortest

possible workflow while lowering costs

and improving quality, says executive

director Vinay Singh, adding that the

concept is backed by TD-XPS, the

companys unique Web-based digital

publishing platform. TD-XPS is a

game changer. It builds and manages a

robust XML-based production process

that integrates authoring, reviewing,

editing, formatting and multichannel

product delivery from a single content

source. Its futuristic features have a

measurable impact on cost efficiency

and resource optimization.

TD-XPSs high degree of automation

captures the levels of granularity in content

while limiting manual intervention to a

minimal, thus delivering consistent qual-

ity at an unparalleled speed, he adds.

Launched at the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair,

TD-XPS, which can handle books, maga-

zines, journals, e-learning, and other smart

and interactive content, has since com-

pleted the pilot phase with two of the com-

panys largest customers. We are movingtoward the second testing phase and will

go live soon. We are also customizing TD-

tnq.co.in

All on the same web pageA single URL unites authors, typesetters

and publishers in Proof Central, a

TNQ platform that has transformed the

proofing process for over 1000 S&T

journals from PDF to HTML, with the

XML intact. We make it possible for

editors, reviewers, authors, all of

publishing, to collaborate along similar

lines. This takes publishing to the next

level, even as it drives costs down. To

get there, get on the same page with

TNQ. Contact [email protected].

Vinay Singh, executive director at ThomsonDigital


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arships for journalism and performing

arts studies, contributes to the Integrated

Child Development Centre, assists in

running a school for the disabled and

supports the Lepra Trust (founded on the

ideals of Mother Teresa), and facilitates

wildlife-tribal life harmony in an eco-

logically sensitive zone.

Swift ProsysIndependently owned since April 2013,

Swift Prosys has moved to a new facility

with space for 75 people. We also have

two Norwegian employees, under a

three-year employee exchange program

with our client eBokNorden. FK Nor-

way funds this program, where Swift

Prosys and eBokNorden will exchange

two employees for each of the three

years, says managing director and

founder Mohan Thas Shanmugam, add-

ing that his company provides eBokNor-

ule development in a

variety of disciplines and

languages, adds Singh,

who has also built a cre-

ative services team skilled

in understanding culturalnuances, local tastes and

specific creative needs.

Singh has been busy

expanding Thomson

Digitals onshore and

offshore presence in

recent months. We

have a sales office in Ger-

many, and a new facility

in Gangtok, Sikkim,

which was conceptual-

ized with the 1P1P/TD-XPS workflow in mind. We offer transla-

tion, copyediting and proofreading ser-

vices in French (handled by our Mauritius

facility), Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Dutch

and Brazilian Portuguese. Thomson

Digital now displays a growing list of

addresses in London, New York, Barce-

lona and Rio de Janeiro. This is about

having a global reach with a local touch,

and we are hatching plans for an onshore

presence in Germany and Singapore.

TNQBased in Chennai with around 2,000

employees, 17-year-old TNQ is known

for its expertise in STM publishing.

Proof Central, its proofing platform, has

been replacing the traditional PDF

proofing processes, and will be used for

more than 1,400 scientific and technical

journals (one-fourth of such journals

globally) by the end of this year. This

technology eliminates errors that areinevitable in the content integration pro-

cess post-PDF annotation. Besides

increasing accuracy, it halves process

time and cost, says CEO Yakov Chandy,

adding that his team will leverage the

capabilities of Proof Central in other

areas of STM publishing and beyond.

Meanwhile, the writable Web has

enabled everyoneauthors, editors,

reviewers, typesetters and publishers

to work on the same HTML page from

submission to publishing in TNQs sin-gle-URL publishing workflow. It is a

content-centric workflow as opposed to

user-centric. In this scheme of things, an

article or a chapter equals a URL. After

testing this concept and the associated

processes and technologies, we have suc-

cessfully used it for the journalReview of

Agrarian Studies[ras.org.in] in the last

two years, where the whole process

submission to publishingis managed

online, adds Chandy, whose clients

include Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, eLife

and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Chandy regards the companys most

important clients to be its own employees.

However, we make it tough for them to

join. The recruitment, induction and train-

ing processes are rigorous, so much so that

TNQ is considered the de facto training

ground for the rest of the industry.

TNQ is known for its CSR initiatives,

especially the annual lecture series fea-

turing speakers at the leading edge of

biological sciences that itco-sponsors with Cell

Press. Speakers featured

in past events include

David Baltimore, Eliza-

beth Blackburn, Shinya

Yamanaka and, recently,

Huda Zoghbi. (Interest-

ingly, the first three won

the Nobel Prize after

their lectures.) TNQ also

sponsors a chair at the

Chennai MathematicalInstitute, provides schol-

(l. to r.) Shanthi Krishnamoorthy, S.K. Venkatesan, Yakov Chandy, Kalpana Chandrasekaran, M.V. Bhaskar and

Mariam Ram of TNQs executive team

Mohan Thas Shanmugam, managing director of Swift Prosys


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manager for scalable cloud systems

Shao-shao Cheng, takes current bodies

of content or unstructured data, break

them into modules, discover relation-

ships within, bring in related and rele-

vant public external content, anddynamically assembly all the pieces into

intelligent streams of aggregated con-

tent. These streams of content can then

be delivered as marketable product to

any format. Rule14 has been applied by

two major legal content developers to

create headnotes for judgments and

write blogs after researching for stories

on the Web. Rule 14 is a hybrid system,

taking advantage of a machine learning,

natural language processing, and cus-

tomizable rules engines and is thereforeextremely flexible, customizable to cli-

ents requirements, and is able to learn

and therefore refine its performance to

extremely high levels of accuracy with

minimal human intervention. It also can

manage product technology support and

customer relationships at a fraction of

todays costs for such services.

Reality PremediaPune-based Reality Premedia is high on

advanced e-book apps and augmented

reality (AR). Now that e-books are no

longer new, publishers are looking

beyond cookie-cutter solutions. Service

providers are expected to create a unique

e-book experiencenot just adding

technology for the sake of going digital,

or simply embedding video or audio to

the digitized version of a print book,

says manager for business development

Alberto Lima Fernandes, pointing out

that the big mistake for a lot of serviceproviders in the past was to keep e-books

very similar to the print editions. The

key to a unique digital experience is a

much closer collaboration between the

publishers editorial team and the service

providers technical people. And while

earlier technology determined how digi-

tal content interacted with users, now it

is more the content dictating how the

technology is applied.

Most publishers today get into

e-books because of competition, markethype or the fear of being left behind in

den with e-book production, typesetting

and web application development to

enable a fully functional e-book portal.

(eBokNorden provides e-book distribu-

tion and sales services to Scandinavian

publishers.)Shanmugam and his team are now

busy servicing various libraries under the

Europeana Newspapers Project and

working on a new project to clip German

newsreels. There is also a two-year proj-

ect on MARC XML retroconversion from

Germany that is the second phase of a

project we had successfully completed in

2010, says Shanmugam, who has also

started servicing Italian libraries as a

third-party vendor. We now serve 21

countries including Iceland, and havemore clients from South Africa in the

past year for typesetting and e-book pro-

duction. There have been a lot of enqui-

ries on ePDF, which is a low-cost e-book

format for personal computers, and back-

list conversion to ePDF and ePub, he

adds. The demand for iBooks Author

workflow from Scandinavian publishers

is also on the rise, pointing to the wider

acceptance of this format beyond the

U.S. shores.

This year, Swift Prosys is set to open

an office in Chennai suburb that will hire

only female workers (and managed by

Shanmugams wife and Swift Prosys co-

owner, Bhavani, who is an experienced

executive in the ITES industry). We

will focus on selling web applications

such as learning management system and

human resource management system to

South African clients. While Swift Pro-

sys is a young company of five years, we

have been able to leverage on our cumu-lative expertise to go intoand work on

successful projects inareas such as apps

development, SharePoint development

and open source implementation to offer

products in CRM, MIS, NVOCC

Dynamics [for shipping and multimodal

logistics], performance management sys-

tem, retail ERP and warehouse manage-

ment system.

SourceHOVTexas-based SourceHOV has over 70locations throughout the U.S. in addi-

tion to facilities in India, China, Canada,

Mexico, Indonesia and the Philippines.

This global provider of transaction pro-

cessing solutions, strategic consulting

and data analytics has over 12,000

employees and recorded a 20% growthlast year. In the publishing space, our

biggest challenge is making our new and

traditional services widely known to the

industry. We have actually been servic-

ing publishers for over 21 years, says

Nakul Parashar, vice president for enter-

prise content management (ECM).

Our ECM publishing vertical

uniquely distinguishes itself by bringing

to every one of our content clients the

depth of our organizations expertise.

ECM offers not only all the traditional

publishing servicesranging from

developmental editing services to ePub3

creationbut also creates content for our

clients. We have strong writing and legal

teams providing legal blogs, social media

posts, articles, and case head notes to the

worlds biggest legal publishers. We also

have a deep pool of technology solutionsthat currently help over 100 of the For-

tune 500 companies. Our publishing

clients can create content with us, do a

deep dive into data and content analytics,

use our content management solutions,

engage our end-to-end production ser-

vices, and avail themselves of our docu-

ment analytics, conversion work, quality

checking, and auditing of all their work-

flows, explains Parashar.

End-to-end big data-driven aggrega-

tion solution is another SourceHOVoffering to publishers. Rule14, says

Nakul Parashar, v-p for enterprise contentmanagement at SourceHOV


13/32


the technology race, adds global head

for marketing Mohit Ahluwalia. How-

ever, not many can confidently say that

e-books have generated revenues for

them. AR offers a unique win-win

opportunity: publishers can attract

users to access their digital content

directly from their print book. There is

no need to leave the print strategy

behind. Instead, publishers can now

leverage that print strategy to create

interactive digital content and boost

their revenues. AR only requires readers

to scan the print pages with a simple

mobile app, and the pages would come

to life with games, videos and other

enhancements.

Recent ly , the t eam produced

momics (mobile comics) for a major

comic book publisher, using a semi-automated workflow to adapt more

than two million pages in 14 different

languages for mobile devices. We are

also working with a large entertainment

and publishing company to digitize

their 20-year-old backlist and make

their content future-proof using

XHTML/HTML, adds Ahluwalia,

pointing out that his 18-year-old com-

pany serves more than 100 European

newspapers and marks up nearly one

million pages annually for multipledevices and platforms.

QbendThe publishing industry has come to

realize the importance of selling direct to

customers, according to COO Kaushik

Sampath, so we have been working to

adapt our services and focus areas to meetpublishers needs, such as the enterprise

side of content delivery. One of the great

things about selling direct is that you

will build communities around your con-

tent, and we look forward to helping cli-

ents achieve this.

His team has launched several services

that cater to both traditional and nontra-

ditional publishers, retailers and authors.

MyCollect, for instance, takes content

customization to a whole new level where

end consumers can put together custom-ized books from a large repository of a

publishers content. The potential i s

tremendous; for example, a researcher

can assemble chapters, sections or even

content with higher granularity into a

single reference book, a food lover can

collate favorite recipes into a personal-

ized cookbook, and parents can custom-

ize storybooks for their children, adds

Sampath.

CEO Kris Srinaath adds, We are also

working on a self-publishing platform

that will enable authors to prepare their

content for publication, build their

brand through an eStore powered by

Qbend, use our services to distribute

their content to channels such as Ama-

zon, B&N and Apple, and utilize our

digital marketing services. Our prepress

team, S4Carlisle, will work with them on

editorial, design and other publishing

aspects. So every aspiring author will

have the best professional tools and aidsto get their magnum opus published.

Analytics, an area for which Qbend is

well known, has changed sales models for

many publishers, says Sampath. With

Qbends analytics, a publisher gets to

know, for example, that many people are

looking at a particular book by a mid-

level author but not buying it. Offering

a free first chapter of the book to inter-

ested readers will help dispel doubts

about the writing and quality of a largely

unknown author, and this can increasesales tremendously.

Alberto Lima Fernandes (l.) and MohitAhluwalia of Reality Premedia


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tional products, which creates a strong

impetus for us to expand our e-learning

services.

Its brand-new e-learning product,

MarkSharks, adopts the flip classroom

methodology, where students undertakeself-study before class by watching vid-

eos or using other learning material

(typically in digital format). Mark-

Sharks differs from other e-learning

material in that it does not present the

content through a talking head. Instead,

it transforms the learning experience

using a guided discovery approach where

students literally interact with, and

explore, the content, says Aditya Tripa-

thi, CEO of OKS Education.

Nigel Wyman, president of OKSPrepress Services, says publishers are

looking for new workflows that remove

the reliance on traditional typesetting

processes. Many publishers are migrat-

ing to a nonprint portfolio, and there

seems little reason why they should be

constrained by page layouts that are

created to meet printing requirements.

We are about to launch a cloud-based

publishing platform that delivers con-

tent in various digital formats simulta-

neously and with minimum reliance on

conventional processes.

The range of services that the OKS

Group provides, adds Wyman, goes

above and beyond the normal set of pub-

lishing services offered by other vendors.

Our clients particularly benefit from

our legal, information and technology

solutions units. We have the expertise,

PurpleframeTechnologiesSix-year-old Bangalore-based Purple-

frame has been producing learning solu-

tions that promote strong user retention

through the usage of rich and interactive

content with broadcast-quality graphics.

Such experience comes about by part-

nering innovative technology with in-

house subject matter expertise, says

founder and CEO Yogish Shanbhag, add-

ing that the finished content is deployed

seamlessly on all platforms and devices.

His team delivers mostly platform-inde-

pendent solutions and virtual reality-

based content for real-time 3D simula-

tions. Such expertise has netted Purple-

frame the 2012 Brandon Hall Gold

award for a technology-based training

solution for GE Transportation.

Its double-digit growth last year came

mostly from the manufacturing and engi-

neering industries, where Purpleframe

excels in creating customized trainingcontent. The demand for real-time sim-

ulation-based training solutions is grow-

ing, and our success in this area has opened

more doors. Our ability to mix 3D and

programming skills in real-time simula-

tions is expected to bring us a twofold

increase in revenue and clients this year,

says CEO for America, Mahim Mishra.

The team has also created Learnival, a

flipped classroom model for higher-ed

students. Asian colleges have recognized

that curriculum excellence alone does notdefine the success of their students, and

are increasingly aware

of the widening gap

between s tudent

achievements, and

corporate and indus-

t ry expectat ions .Learnival serves to

bridge this gap,

explains director for

Asia Pacific, Sharath

Waikar. Learnival, a

flip-classroom model,

is focused on the

learners while sup-

porting different

learning styles. It

offers many collaborative tools that con-

tinuously engage learners to explore andget exposed to global curriculum in their

field of study or research.

Housed in a new 20,000-sq.-ft. office

that can accommodate around 100 peo-

ple, Purpleframe is busy leveraging its

success in the U.S. and Singapore markets

to move into new territories such as Aus-

tralia and the Middle East.

OKS GroupFounded 30 years ago by Vinit Khanna,

OKS Group has expanded many times

over since then, having bought over

Alden Prepress (now OKS Publishing) in

2009 and Exactus (now OKS Legal) in

2011. Despite having four production

sites in New Delhi, Mumbai, Trichy and

Chennai, and offices in the U.S., Europe

and Latin America, OKS still operates

very much as it did during its modest

beginnings. We pride

ourselves on being

small enough to treat aclient like they are our

only customer, yet

large enough to pro-

vide everything that is

needed, says Khanna,

the groups president

and CEO. Last year,

our STM business

grew significantly, and

we continue to see an

increasing focus on

electronic delivery andinteractivity for educa-

(l. to r.) Yogish Shanbhag, M.S.P. Shrikant, Vinod Chithambaranand Mahim Mishra of Purpleframe Technologies

(l. to r.) Vinit Khanna, Nigel Wyman and Aditya Tripathi ofOKS Group


15/32


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Netex, he adds, is focused not just on

the technological aspects of e-learning

solutions but also on its pedagogical rel-

evance. Our flagship platformslearn-

ingCoffee and learningFruitare perfect

for needs-based e-learning while ourauthoring tool, learningMaker, is evolv-

ing by the day as a robust solution for

content authoring and publishing, says

Kasare, pointing out that learningCen-

tral, Netexs comprehensive learning

management system, helps to manage

online, offline and blended trainings in a

perfectly integrated environment. And

now, through collaborative learning tools

along with eXperience API, we are tak-

ing participative learning to a whole new

level.Netex clients, adds Kasare, are primar-

ily looking for device-agnostic content

which helps them to tap into the tablet

and smartphone content consumption

market. Our authoring tool learning-

Maker uses responsive design architec-

ture and publishes totally responsive

HTML5 content for seamless consump-

tion on multiple devices. Our revolu-

tionary tool, learningApp, allows clients

to publish, deliver, and sell their learning

content in Google Play and App stores

through their own app.

With big publishing houses finding

it difficult to move their content into

the digital space, Netex is offering its

consultancy services to identify the

best strategies that clients can use to

digitize their content. We analyze

their requirements, business objectives

and provide our expertise in pedagogy,

usability, technology and production

management in order to develop aneffective action plan, adds Kasare,

whose company was established in

Spain in 1997 and opened its Pune

office 11 years later. Netex now has

offices in London and Mexico City.

MPS LimitedIt was an exciting 2013 for MPS, which

was selected as one of the core vendors for

product development services by two of

the worlds leading educational publish-

ers. The acquisition of Florida-basedElement LLC has certainly strengthened

capacity and flexibility to work with our

clients to develop new products, design

new workflows and deal with specialized

content. Its IP unit, for instance, carries

out work on trademark protection and

anti-counterfeiting to prevent activitiesthat would threaten brand integrity and

cut into publishers sales.

Newgen

KnowledgeWorksOne noticeable trend at Newgen in 2013

was increased experimentation with for-

mats and publication models for academic

and professional books. In large measure,

the experiments, done in collaboration

with our clients, were enabled by the near-ubiquity of XML-first production work-

flows and multiple e-delivery formats,

says president Maran Elancheran, adding

that many reference works, for instance,

have adopted a journal-like model in

which each chapter is published online as

soon as it is copyedited.

Many monograph publishers, Elanch-

eran adds, have also begun to make indi-

vidual chapters available online to

researchers or as e-books. For backlists,

the metadata for each chapter may need to

be derived by manually splitting reference

lists or indexes, or by taking the first few

sentences of each chapter to create an

abstract. For new titles, authors are often

asked to submit abstracts, and references

and index terms are assigned to the rele-

vant chapters on the basis of links in the

XML.

As for full-service manuscript-to-

print projects, he observes involvement

of the Newgen team as early as the man-uscript acquisit ion stage. This

prompted a client to ask how we could

jointly make life easier for authors, and

the result is the Author Experience

interface. Authors see a simple respon-

sive Web interface, which is backed by a

powerful project management system,

that focuses their attention on what they

need to do next. It even ensures that

project managers prioritize their daily

activities to coincide with their authors

time zones.Meanwhile, Newgens Silk reflowable

ePub tool now has a Web-based fixed-

layout counterpart, Steel, which converts

PDFs to HTML pages, which are then

optimized for major reading devices.

This optimization has required exten-

sive research into often undocumenteddevice specifications, which put us in a

good position last year to join the IDPF

BISG working group set up to compile

the ePub3 Support Grid, adds Elanch-

eran. The grid is a summary of app,

device and reading system performance

across features supported by ePub3. We

are currently working with several aca-

demic presses to formalize their specifi-

cations for accessible ePub within the

reality of what devices and reading sys-

tems can support.

Netex Knowledge

FactoryLast year was a busy period of imple-

menting innovative approaches in real

time for Netex. One of our latest initia-

tives is to enhance learner engagement

through Collaborative Learning using

eXperience API, formerly known as Tin

Can. This technology allows both online

and offline tracking of the learners expe-

riences from multiple sources. We are

using this API capability to make

e-learning content truly dynamic, flexi-

ble and engaging, and exploring possi-

bilities such as adding gamification and

social learning to the e-modules, says

country manager Sumedh Kasare, whose

company is one of the early adopters of

this technology.

Sumedh Kasare, country manager at NetexKnowledge Factory


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WWW . P U B L I S H E R SW E E K L Y . C OM


pricing decisions, focus on specific distri-

bution channels, and develop an overall

marketing strategy, says Arora, whose

team completely overhauled the Insight

user interface last year.

Over at the learning and new mediaservices (LNMS) business unit, a range

of digital production services are offered,

such as image reprocessing, complex art-

work production, audio and video pro-

cessing, video transcription, video screen

capture, and templated file creation for

image galleries, companion CDs/DVDs/

Websites, interactive presentations and

others. It leverages on various MPS pro-

prietary technologies such as Media-

Suite, which can convert content in any

format into multimedia-rich flipbooks.Audio, video, animations, hyperlinks

and interactivity can then be added to

the flipbook pages to create enhanced

learning solutions, says Arora. In some

cases, we offer MediaSuite to publishing

clients through a SaaS model.

our position in the k-12

market. We also met the

clients criteria in terms of

experience and perfor-

mance on service deliver-

ies, a strong digital focusand ability to leverage

technology for product

development, says chief

marketing officer Rahul

Arora.

We have also been con-

ducting several pilots

with publishers using

DigiEdit, our intuitive online editing

platform with underlying XML, adds

Arora, pointing out that the success of

such platforms is dependent on the pub-lishers capacity for innovation and

change. On our part, we are committed

to our goal to redefine how content is

managed, and we continue to develop

more products to make life easier for

authors, editors, production planners

and publishers. Cur-

rently, 90% of the content

that MPS produces for

publishers is for digital

consumption. Our pro-

duction processes aredriven by digital-first

workflows that come to

life through DigiCore, our

smart, cloud-based edito-

rial and production plat-

form, which has been

helping STM publishers

realize savings and reduce

time to market.

MPS Insight, which enables users to

dynamically access and analyze content

usage, is one of the first platforms to beCOUNTER 4-compliant, and is a natural

choice for publishers looking to under-

stand their customers better. Publishers

can access this dynamic platform in real

time to analyze usage patterns in order to

develop richer content, make intelligent

Find out how Big Data can change the

way you look at publishing.

Email us at [email protected]

or visit www.rule14.com

RULE14

Big Data DrivenContent Aggregation

Nishith Arora, chairman ofMPS Limited


18/32



through rigorous training and constantly

updating them on new technologies and

methodologies, says CEO Indira Rajan.

The company has become the place pub-

lishers go to when they want to vet other

vendors work.In a recent project, it was asked to

debug the code for an interactive math

project. We had to enhance the perfor-

mance (or loading) of the content, the

code for math calculation, and the image

loading with HTML5 canvas. In the end,

we changed the user interface design and

created more 3D interactivity before fin-

ishing it up with more validation and

testing, adds Rajan.

Another Lapiz specialty is adding

interactivity to comics (or manga) usingePub3/HTML5. Explains COO V.

Bharathram, We add background audio

or audio lip-sync for the comic characters,

enhance the variety of voice-overs to suit

different characters, and produce anima-

tions that range from simple effects to

complex movements. He points out that

the popularity of printed comics makes

the task of repurposing them for the dig-

ital medium a challenge. We have to

ensure the same user experience in various

devices in terms of page swiping. The

images need to be in high resolution so

that there is no difference between print

and digital versions. We also have to

enhance the experience by adding inter-

activity and audio to make the characters

come alive. That is quite a tall order.

LearningMateHitting the 10th-year mark was a major

milestone last year for LearningMate,

which now employs 600-plus people. The

company sees more demand for editorial

work as well as more content rendering for

mobile devices and digital environments.

And it has expanded its offerings to include

authoring services, such as those dedicated

to adaptive learning.

Schools are buying iOS, Android or

PC tablets, and one-to-one computing is

literally exploding. Everyone is looking

for a strategy to capitalize on m-learning.

For a strategy to be successful, controlling

student-teacher interaction and structur-

ing the learning experience are crucial.

LearningMate was a first mover in this

with GoClass, which was recently named

an SIIA Education CODiE finalist. And

we are helping one of the largest educa-

tional content providers in the U.S. to

build their mobile curriculum platform,

which will be rolled out to school dis-tricts this fall, says CEO Samudra Sen.

LearningMates next-generatio n

GoClass+, a cloud-based teaching and

learning application, incorporates

flipped-classroom methodologies using a

three-screen approach (student, teacher

and shared). This flipped model proved

itself when storms wreaked havoc on

much of the East Coast of the U.S. last

winter. GoClass instructors stayed on

schedule even though schools were

closed, says director of marketing Dan-ielle Holmes, adding that GoClass has

instructors in more than 70 countries.

Learning analytics, or education intel-

ligence, is another key area that Learn-

ingMate has focused on in the last few

years. Since 2012, we have worked with

the Arizona Department of Education todevelop and implement a statewide data

and analytics framework to track areas

such as funding patterns, content analy-

ses, teacher and student performance,

and attendanceperformance relation-

ships. This is the largest analytics project

in education, covering 1.1 million stu-

dents, 600 school districts and 500-plus

local education agencies, adds Sen.

(Read more about this on page 29,Learn-

ingMates Analytics Project for Arizona.)

With many educational publishersmoving content to digital format or cre-

ating digital-first content, there is

increased demand for new approaches

and workflows, and often a change in

resource and expertise requirements.

In the k-12 segment, for instance, we

are working on TEI [technology-

enhanced items] that adhere to the new

Common Core standards, adds Sen,

who is setting up a k-12 editorial divi-

sion in the U.S.

Lapiz Digital ServicesLast year, more software-based projects

than just plain typesetting and composi-

tion landed at Lapiz Digital. We were

able to handle these projects by enhanc-

ing the skill levels of our existing staff

Samudra Sen, CEO of LearningMate

The production floor at Lapiz Digital Services


19/32


20/32



ume in custom publishing, showing that

more publishers want to reuse their con-

tent, says CEO Sanjiv Bhatnagar. His

team also provides content structuring,

database management and content

enrichment services to French and Aus-tralian travel book publishers. Our cli-

ents are also interested to have Jouve

handling project management along

with custom publishing. In fact, more

publishers want us to use their content

management platforms, where they

already have the content structured the

way they want.

A high-speed workflow has enabled

Jouve to provide project management,

genre-based copyediting, and typesetting

with simultaneous print and e-bookdeliveries. This workflow is a full-service

end-to-end production process that is

focused on low- to no-touch titles, adds

Bhatnagar, who recently introduced a

new service for the production and deliv-

ery of interactive assessment objects.

These are XHTML5-based exercises that

use sets of predefined and reusable build-

ing blocks, and are fully customizable

with support for multimedia components

within the assessments. I continue to see

increased interest in building libraries of

reusable learning objects. For instance, a

learning module may contain a learning

objective, specific content, an assessment

and the metadata, which can be assem-

bled on the fly to fit a students need and

delivered through a variety of platforms.

He also sees publishing clients strug-

gling with the management and stream-

lining of editorial workflow. This is a

common problem, and it is an area of

great interest to Jouve. We are lookinginto new tools, methodologies and ser-

vices that will make life easier for pub-

lishers.

ImpelsysNow at version 5.1, iPublishCentral, the

flagship product of Impelsys, offers a

suite of comprehensive features that

include library model functionality, rich

data analytics, abandoned cart monetiza-

tion and enhanced user experience.

With rich data analytics, publishers cantransform data into actionable insights

In the meantime, Rajan has expanded

the companys software division by

developing their own products. On the

publishing side, we have developed con-

tent management systems using tech-

nologies such as Python and Djangoframeworks. For schools, we work on the

full management system right from stu-

dent admission to records management.

Our team has also developed a wide

range of apps on iOS and Android spe-

cifically for students and k-12 publish-

ers. More new products and services from

our software division are in the works.

KiwiTechFive years on, KiwiTech has pivoted from

a mobile app development outfit to adigital ecosystem builder for todays

enterprises. We now offer a consulta-

tive-driven approach to build Web,

mobile and social media solutions. A key

differentiator in 2013 was our strategy to

engage with start-ups that bring niche

offerings into the digital world. This has

given a fresh leash of solutions and tech-

nical capabilities to infuse into some of

our large enterprise clients. We have

moved from a typical vendor-driven

approach to a strategic technology part-

nership that solves two of the major

issues in the start-up world: access to

capital and human talent, says v-p for

strategic partnerships, Mohsin Syed,

adding that publishing continues to be a

big part of what KiwiTech does. We are

also actively working in enterprise world

with the likes of McKinsey, Intel and

Toyota. Overall, we are pivoting as the

mobile market becomes more mature.

CTO Gurvinder Batra and his col-leagues have also been busy driving

Ruckus Mediaan interactive childrens

multimedia app, education and retail

platform that was acquired last Octo-

berfrom a negative cash flow to profit-

ability. Says Batra: We strategized a new

operational model and this redefined

approach is showing strong results

through app store downloads. The

usability and export of Ruckus content is

also seeing new opportunities with some

large enterprise accounts willing to col-laborate and use them as a part of their

gamification strategy to build and

engage their brands. Warner Brothers

and IDW Publishing have also signed up

to add their content on Ruckus platform.

KiwiTech also acquired a major share

of Loopster, a developer of cutting-edgevideo-editing software in October.

Director of project management office

Rachna Chauhan adds: The value of

video as a medium to enthrall digital

audiences is high on the radar of the most

progressive enterprises, and Loopster is

able to uniquely address this new-age

demand for customized and on-demand

video content creation and management.

It fits into KiwiTechs digital philosophy

for todays enterprise: disruptive user

engagement, and ease of using anddeploying technology. We will launch a

HTML5-based Web video editor and an

Android app very soon.

JouveEstablished in Mayenne, France, back in

1903 as a printing company, Jouve has

since expanded into digital services with

offices in Europe, North America, Africa

and Asia. Every year, its 2,500 staff in 19

locations handle around 50,000 projects

and process nearly 24 million pages. Cur-

rently, 25% of its business comes from

export.

For Jouve India in Chennai (which was

established in 2011 through the acquisi-

tion of TexTech), a major differentiator is

its editorial expertise in all European

languages. Last year, we saw an increased

demand for full-service project manage-

ment from both trade and educationalpublishers. We also had the highest vol-

Sanjiv Bhatnagar, CEO of Jouve India


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W W W. P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M


and discover effective ways to gain more

readers, explains assistant v-p for mar-

keting and presales Uday Majithia. The

new version, empowered with the latest

COUNTER reports, will help publishers

understand reader behavior, gain insightsinto title consumption and analyze vari-

ous buying patterns.

A comprehensive solution that helps to

warehouse, market, sell and deliver content

online across multiple platforms, iPublish-

Central can be customized to specific pub-

lisher requirements. This SaaS model,

which can build a digital e-book strategy

from scratch, serves around 100 publishers

globally. We will be adding exciting

e-learning features to iPublishCentral that

are geared toward improving the readingexperience with richer, integrated and

interactive content, adds Majithia, point-

ing out that the implementation team

recently built a white-labeled e-library for

Elsevier using iPublishCentral. With the

e-library, students can access an entire col-

lection of titles by paying a fixed monthly

rate. Such e-libraries allow publishers to

accrue recurring revenues through sub-

scriptions and renewals, and monetize

existing digital content by having a pres-

ence in the institutional markets.

To help publishers create rich, fun,

immersive and engaging titles, Impelsys

has also launched enhanced e-books on

iPublishCentral. It offers better discov-

erability and navigation, improved read-

ability and presentation, and support for

ancillaries and assessments. Other fea-

tures include enhanced tables of con-

tents, note-sharing, bookmarking, mul-

timedia components, reader personaliza-

tion, real-time assessment and socialmedia networking, says marketing

manager Shubha Khaddar. She lists

adapting the layout for mobile devices as

well as developing and embedding ancil-

lary content without disrupting the text

flow as key challenges in producing

enhanced e-books.

Named one of the Top 100 Digital

Companies That Matters by EContent

magazine, Impelsys offers solutions that

support multiple business models, such

as chapter-based selling, e-lending, sub-scription, book collections, and retail and

institutional access. These are models

that can be leveraged by publishers, edu-

cational institutions and content aggre-

gators alike, adds Majithia.

HurixThe latest product from Hurix is the

cloud-based version of its multi-platform

publishing solution Kitaboo. The beauty

of Kitaboo Cloud is that it has multiple

versions to cater to the needs of medium-

sized to large publishers, institutions and

corporations. Since its launch in January

this year, it has created quite a buzz among

existing and prospective clients. We have

seen several adoptions to date, and we are

working on new features such as licensing

mechanisms, enhanced analytics andimproved feedback, says CEO Subrat

Mohanty. He acknowledges that the idea

for Kitaboo Cloud came from clients who

wanted a totally cloud-based end-to-end

solution. He launched the Windows 8

Reader app on the day Microsoft launched

the new browser. Coming up soon is the

app for Windows 8.1.

Hurix has also been busy converting

more than 100,000 Flash pages into

HTML in the past ten months. We usu-

ally take two approaches when it comes

to Flash-to-HTML conversion. One

involves using our proprietary platform

Dictera, which is used for authoring con-

tent and publishing courses. Dictera

extracts the media assets from Flash files,

and uses its wide-ranging templates to

author the screens. It offers instant pre-

view as well as testing on 50-plus brows-

ers, adds Mohanty, whose team con-

verted 50,000 Flash pages within five

Subrat Mohanty, CEO of Hurix


22/32



interactive learning experiences at both

individual and social levels.

DataworksFor CEO Muthu Krishnan of Dataworks,

having his production facility inThirunelveli, some 610 kilometers south

of Chennai, is a sound business strategy.

Costs are high when one operates in

major cities, and there is no lack of skilled

labor even this far south. In fact, it is even

better as there are few solutions providers

out there to compete with us for resources.

Our low-cost model works, especially

since creating e-books is not exactly

rocket science. One recent project to

convert 114 titles, or 5,496 pages, into

different outputspress- and Web-readyPDFs, standard reflowable and fixed

ePub, Mobi and KF8took the team

under two months while another similar

project of 63,108 pages with inputs in

scanned pages, Quark and InDesign

application files and print-ready PDFs

was completed within three months.

Currently, nearly 60% of business

comes from Europe, which Krishnan

attributes to his companys expertise and

capabilities in handling more than 20

European languages. We also work as an

aggregator for about 20 publishers on

two different models. The first model is

where we convert the titles for a flat fee

and then we register the titles on behalf

of the publishers with selected e-book

retailers and negotiate the percentage of

sales to be paid to the retailers. Once a

user ID is created, we upload and main-

tain the e-book files. So we act as the

technical assistant and consultant to the

publisher. In the second model, Krish-nans team converts the titles and hosts

them through the Dataworks account.

We track the sales and pay the publish-

ers after deducting our fees, which range

between 12% and 22% of sales. This is

done after paying the retailers fees.

Although there is still a significant

demand for ePub2 format, adds Krish-

nan, many of the required features in

most of the app projects that landed at

our door can be easily created in ePub3.

So this has opened up new opportunitiesfor us to convert and update hundreds of

months using Dictera, which is a much

more cost-effective and faster method.

We also use a customized approach

when there are specially built screens and

interactivity such as games and simula-

tions in the Flash content. In such cases,the template programming is done from

scratch, usually with JSON [JavaScript

Object Notation].

Dictera, by the way, won the 2013

Brandon Hall silver award for excellence

in technology. This content creation

platform allows users to author, manage

and publish e-learning content on mul-

tiple platforms. You can create work-

flows and assign different users access to

different areas. It is designed to make the

job easier for authors, editors, asset pro-ducers and project managers. It has the

capability to deliver upwards of 20,000

pages of content within a three-month

turnaround time, adds Mohanty. Major

publishers using Dictera include

McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Jones &

Bartlett Learning.

Harbinger Interactive

LearningThe move into more innovative design and

development services of instructionally

sound and interactive digital learning con-

tent is behind the new name given to Har-

bingers content development business

unit, explains executive director Jayant

Kulkarni. With strong customer relation-

ships, new client acquisitions and innova-

tive offerings, Harbinger Interactive Learn-

ing is poised to usher in the next stage of

rapid growth.

One of the innovative services dealswith AR (augmented reality). There is

immense potential in AR, and it is sur-

prising to note that not much has been

thought, or done, about this concept in

e-learning, says Kulkarni, pointing out

that userswhether kids or profession-

alsfind this innovative, real life-like

ability to explore, discover and apply

knowledge within the learning content

highly engaging and effective. We have

started to look into adding application-

driven interactivity in learning experi-ences using AR. The initial results from

our clients are extremely positive, and it

shows that responsive design principles

in instructional design are increasinglyin demand and much needed in educa-

tional content.

Perhaps the only learning solutions

company to hold patents on technologies

for developing learning interactions,

Harbinger has also been busy making

video-based content interactive and

dynamic. Our new innovation, Video

Jazzer, changes the conventional one-way

presentation of content in a video by

turning that content into a multi-lay-

ered, interactive and personalized learn-

ing experience. For publishers, the abil-

ity to rapidly and cost-effectively turn

educational videos into dynamic, inter-

active and socially connected personal-

ized learning tool will be of great value.

The high level of interest shown by our

publishing customers attests to the

potential of this product, adds Kulkarni.

Video Jazzer, which is currently at the

beta-testing stage, will soon be launched

by Harbinger Group. It will join Teem-ingPod, our Groups versatile platform

for embedded social interactions, as a

SaaS-based product offering.

With self-learning becoming a major

component of the learning process, it is

imperative, says Kulkarni, that learners

must get effective means to interact with

the content as well as with the group or

his peers. Without the appropriate mix

of both types of interaction, the overall

impact of interactive learning dimin-

ishes. So Harbinger is focused on bothapproaches that immerse learners in

Jayant Kulkarni, executive director atHarbinger Interactive Learning


23/32

Learning Expertise Innovationwww.lapizdigital.com

digital

Interactive Digital content WidgetsIWB Solutions

Apps and Game Development:

Educational apps for all age group

iOS Android Windows

Ebooks / EPUB3: FreeflowFixed layout Manga Comics

Interactive ebooks

KF8 Nook Apple Kobo

508 Compliance for

Digital content

Asp.Net, MVC, C#, Ruby on Rails,

Python, Mobile Applications

XML, HTML and

NIMAS conversions

Device is inPaper is out


24/32



ible and international to handle all

major European languages as well as Chi-

nese, Japanese, Korean and Malay.

FlexePub is based on the client-server

model that is built on standard Web and

cloud technologies. This enables thedeploy-once, access anywhere environ-

ment while providing centralized access

control and data security, explains

Narang, adding that the solution utilizes

tried-and-tested open source technologies

to reduce both initial and operational

costs. The servers utilize Linux-based

operating systems for higher efficiency

and lower cost, and allow administrators,

managers and operators to access the sys-

tem through Chrome Web browser. Cen-

tralized access control mechanisms furtherallow secure authentication schemes and

support for industry standard 256-bit SSL

encryption for data security.

This year, Contentra is focused on

ePub3 creation, HTML5 animation,

developing mobile content, digital

learning modules and providing end-to-

end publishing services and solutions

comprising of conceptualization, manu-

script development, editorial services,

fact-checking, book design, page compo-

sition, proof-reading, creative artwork,

photo research, permissioning, cartogra-

phy and project management services.

In the newspaper segment, we offer a

complete solution that includes micro-

film scanning, content refurbishing,

digital data preservation and Web host-

ing solutions for national libraries across

the globe, says Vohra.

codeMantra

Crescendo, codeMantras newly launchedXML-anytime composition workflow,

takes the center stage this year. A power-

ful XML authoring and dynamic compo-

sition engine that imports, exports and

transforms content across multiple pub-

lishing applications such as Word, InDe-

sign and Quark, Crescendo can work

with, or provide, XML at any point in the

publishing production process. It also

seamlessly integrates with a publishers

existing workflow. That means that no

matter where, or how, your edits occurbefore, and even after a so-called final page

team is working on several initiativesthat will soon be unveiled.

The increase in services for both pub-

lishing and e-retail in the European mar-

ket has also led to the creation of a sepa-

rate company in Germany, aptly named

Datamatics e-Retail & Publishing

GmbH. Says Tewari, This new company

marks the point where we will be enrich-

ing our offerings with more platform-

based solutions using software such as

Oracle-ATG and Intershop.

Contentra TechnologiesFormerly known as Planman Technolo-

gies, Contentra has been associated with

three of the worlds largest e-reader com-

panies for a while now, helping them to

produce magazines, newspapers and

e-books for their respective portals.

Every month, we produce more than

1,000 magazines, around 1,500 e-books

and over 300 newspapers for these com-

panies, says president Amit Vohra.Contentra has developed its own pro-

prietary digital software solution, Flexe-

Pub, to digitize contents into multiple

formats for various devices and platforms.

According to senior v-p Pawan Narang,

FlexePub is truly a state-of-the-art tech-

nology and our clients have experienced

an average 40% reduction in cost while

maintaining the required high level of

quality. FlexePub is a robust, agile, seam-

less WYSIWYG solution, where quality

checks and edits can be made in real time.We have also made FlexePub truly flex-

backlist apps into ePub3 format.

The way ahead for Dataworks to expand,

says Krishnan, is to maintain the same suc-

cessful strategy. We have been providing

high-quality digital services at very com-

petitive rates with turnaround time that ison par with the best in the industry. My

plan is to continue on this path and give

our 100-plus clients unmatched turn-

around time and quality service.

DatamaticsAs one of the leading big data vendors, it

is not surprising that Datamatics was

invited to deliver a keynote speech on

that topic to around 300 publishers at a

forum in Berlin in May last year. My

presentation covered the overall idea ofbig data, various types of data that are

generated in publishing, challenges faced

by publishers in harnessing the data, and

the big data technology landscape along

with relevant case studies, says Krishna

Tewari, executive director and global

head of digital publishing and retail solu-

tions. One of the ideas we mooted was

that publishers should take focused steps

in harnessing big data technology by

identifying target areas to work on, and

then approach it at an organizational level

instead of operating in silos. (Datamatics

was named Innovator in Technology of

the Year by the 2014 National Trial Law-

yers Summit in Miami for its expertise in

both big data and legal publishing.)

While its publishing and e-retail busi-

ness continue to grow on its own, the

acquisition of Premedia Global in

August 2013 has boosted the companys

portfolio further. It has created a pow-

erhouse in content-related capabilitiesand digital solutions. Our company, with

more than 2,500 people spread out in

nine locations worldwide, is now focused

on the emerging needs of publishers and

retailers, working to help them grow

their business by enabling content and

e-commerce through newer technologies

and solutions. In recent months, we are

seeing increased demand for assessments,

reader analytics, buyer behavior studies,

in addition to the usual inquiries about

full-service project management anddigital products, adds Tewari, whose

Krishna Tewari, executive director and globalhead of digital publishing and retail solutionsat Datamatics


25/32


or file is declared. Crescendo captures

those edits and can create and store an up-

to-date XML instantly from a traditional

Word-to-InDesign workflow, says presi-

dent Walter Walker, adding that the

workflow integrates seamlessly withcloud-based collectionPoint 3.0 [cP 3.0]

platformcodeMantras flagship prod-

uctto store and distribute content to

any digital retailer or printer.

Recently, the codeMantra team used

cP3.0 to work on content from the IMF

(International Monetary Fund), where

the documents were enhanced with an

XML layer allowing IMF to distribute

their e-content across the Web for mar-

keting purposes and drive users back to

their e-bookstore and e-library. Thisenables them to measure marketing ROI

and traffic trends.

The metadata management, title

workflow and sales/revenue reporting

features of cP3.0 have been enhanced sig-

nificantly in the past few months, adds

Walker. We are focused on providing

clients with end-user insights related to

their titles including daily rankings of

their titles, top sellers and highest gross-

ing, and average selling prices. We want

to provide features that will help clients

improve revenue insights and opera-

tional efficiencies.

Structure-wise, after a management

buyout by a group of investors in Febru-

ary, former head of sales and marketing

Walker now serves as the president while

ex-CFO Nathan Vaidya takes the CEO

mantle. Ed Marino, former head of Light-

ning Source, is one of its board members.

Says Walker: 2013 was a great year for

us with double digit revenue growthagain. Our strategy is to increase codeM-

antras presence and offerings within the

composition services and XML composi-

tion technology products. An announce-

ment on Crescendo software licensing is

forthcoming, and we are placing specific

emphasis on our suite of solutions and

services to enable publishers to increase

their efficiencies and lower overall costs.

He is also preparing to launch Duet, an

e-book reader application, in the latter

half of this year with several key partnersand publishing brands.

Cenveo Publishers

Services

The list of publishers using Cenveo

Mobile dPub, a device-neutral browser-

based digital publishing framework formobile content development and deliv-

ery, continues to grow. The Society for

Petroleum Engineers, for instance, moved

from print to digital-only journal issues

to cater to the evolving needs of its mem-

bers, who are mostly out in the oil fields

with their iPads. The organizations

multi-issue app is now supported by Cen-

veo Mobile dPub Business Edition. In

addition, Cenveos production team pro-

vides resources to meet the clients XML

workflow and changing editorial and pro-duction requirements. Georgetow

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