iointegration

How We Do What We Do

2012-02-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

One reallyimportant thing that sets us apart from other system integrators is that, atIOI, we’re really mindful of the process of customizing a solution for ourclients. In other words, when you come to us with a business need, you can beconfident that you’re not going to get saddled with a cookie-cutter,“insert-the-product-of-the-month-here” solution that should do the job. Wejust don’t work that way.

First of all, wego out of our way to gather the best and brightest on our team, fromengineering and project management to customer support. And we combine all thattalent with a killer methodology that’s designed to make sure that you’llalways get the right solution for your business.

And what is thismethodology, you ask? Well, it goes like this:

#1 – We show up

Wespend two to three days at your site, meeting with your team and analyzing yournetwork setup so we can completely understand how each user accesses and usesyour assets, and how projects flow between departments.

#2 – We make a plan

Weidentify your key business pain, like difficulty locating assets, or inconsistentbranding. Using this information, your IOI team designs a strategy that includesa detailed breakdown of the solution, the customizations, the deploymenttimeline, and the total cost.

#3 – We roll it out

Onceyou’ve reviewed and approved our plan, we build your solution and work with yourteam to deploy it and test it so that we know that it will absolutely meet all yourneeds.

#4 – We never leave you hanging

AtIOI, we don’t hit-and-run. After deployment, our engineers remain onsite totrain your system administrators, production personnel, and other users soeveryone can get the benefits from your new solution.

But even when we’re done, we’re not really done. After we leave yoursite, you can count on no more than a10-minute response time, every time you call us with a question or concern. Every. Time.

Thisis why our customers love us—and why I love working here.

Createasphere DAM LA: Are you in?

2012-02-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

Here at IOI, you know we love dynamic media, and wethink the folks at Createasphere are pretty cool, too. So, are we heading off toLA this month for the Createasphere Digital Asset Management Conference? Youknow it!
On February 22 and 23, we’ll be down in LA, basking in the wintersunshine and taking part in what is truly one of the industry’s must-attendevents forcreatives, marketers, digital librarians, IT specialists, and execs. It’s two solid days of focused sessions on managing digital assets, media assets, marketing resources, thecontent and information lifecycle, storage, and security and preservation.

Don't miss our own Rich Carroll, Technical Sales Manager, who will be speaking on the panel "How to get the CFO to Buy into your DAM." Learn how to argue ROI, increased production efficiencies, and risk management with the best of them! They'll discuss how to pitch business and technology plans to the C-Suite and hit the soft spot of the CFO in particular that gives your DAM projects the green light and not the thumbs down.

This year, the keynote addresswill be delivered by Theodore Gluck, the Director ofLibrary Restoration & Preservation at Walt Disney Studios. Speakers willinclude Stephen Beres, Technology Architect at HBO; Chris Orr, InformationServices Project Manager at the University of California; Deborah Hunt,Principal of Information Edge and Presidentof SLA; and Nick Sincaglia, President ofNueMeta LLC.

“Tell me more,” you say? We’d love to!
To find out more about this month’s Creatasphere Digital AssetManagement Conference in LA, just click here.

Tip for Capturing Terminal Logs

2012-02-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

This tip ran in a recent newsletter. Don't get it? Subscribe here.

Because I’m not a command-line guru by any means, I find it helpful to search my terminal commands. Capturing all those terminal sessions to log files really saves me time, and here’s how to do it:

Create a folder in your User folder called "terminalLogs"
Edit your .profile file which should live in your home directory. On OS X it is NOT there by default.
Add these commands:

. /sw/bin/init.sh

echo "starting .profile"

if tty -s ; then

script ~/logs/termlog-date +%Y%m%d-%H%M.txt

4. Quit the terminal and restart. You should see something like this when terminal starts:

starting .profile Script started, output file is /Users/myHomeDir/logs/termlog-20100301-1350.txt

As you can see by the output in the ~/Documents/terminalLogs folder, the text file has a handy date and time stamp, making it easy for you to go back and look through the old logs if necessary.

At the end of each year, I create a new folder, move all of the year’s logs into that folder, and gzip them individually (example: cd ~logs/2008/ gzip *) so they take up hardly any space. Later, I can use zgrep to search the compressed files, and gzcat to print them to screen.

Overall, it’s a great system and has saved me a lot of time and effort over the years.

Before I close here, I also want to give a shout out to Jerry Adlersfluegel and Dave Lawrence for putting me on to this—thanks, guys! If you have questions, or need more information on capturing terminal logs, just contact us at support@iointegration.com.

COMING SOON: IOI Toolbox Products Release!

2012-01-30T23:40:00.000-08:00

You may have read about this in our latest newsletter, but in case you haven't, I wanted to let you know about some really cool IOI Toolbox products for Portal 4/Xinet 17. Some are updated, and some are brand-spanking new, so read on for more information.

As you know, IOI Toolbox is a collection of workflow-centric software applications that extends the functionality of Xinet so you can get things done your way. Soon, we're going to be rolling out two Portal 4 releases for each of the IOI Toolbox products:

1. The first will allow your tools to work in Portal 3-based sites running on Portal 4, so you can upgrade as soon as you are ready--without rebuilding your sites for the new Portal 4 template format

2. The second will provide native support in Portal 4 sites

Both releases should be out for all IOI Toolbox products by the end of February. For more information or to request a product demo, email sales@iointegration.com, or call us at 408-996-3420.

Remote Monitoring with IO Monitor

2012-01-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

This year, we’re offering a special deal on our IO Monitor remote monitoring service, so I thought I’d tell you a little bit about it.

IO Monitor is a new IOI solution that remotely monitors and supports your systems 24/7, helping find and fix issues with your servers and custom apps before they affect your productivity—or your bottom line. Essentially, it enables you to sleep through the night, knowing that you won’t be hearing the phone ring at 2am with a problem. You can see it in action at our live webinar "Maximizing Production Performance and Uptime with IO Monitor" on February 15 - register today!

IO Monitor comes in two versions, both of which can be set up in just minutes. If you require OS monitoring only, I’d recommend IO Monitor Lite. However, if you need more robust monitoring, choose IO Monitor Full, which tracks your critical Windows-, Solaris-, and Linux-based custom apps, web services, OS, disk, memory, and CPU around the clock.

Cool features include:

Critical log file review to address specific issues
Automated help desk ticket generation with IO Integration whenever an issue is detected
Email updates to keep you informed about issues
Full statistical reporting on server function, performance, and power utilization

And now, here’s the deal: When you buy an annual license for IO Monitor, you’ll get the first 30 days FREE. Try it out and see what it’s like to have problems identified and fixed before you’ve even had your morning coffee! And of course, you can cancel your license at any time if you're not completely satisfied.

Find out more
Learn more about the IO Monitor special offer. Want an in-person look? Simply request a demo, or buy it and try it, money back guaranteed, if you don't experience better productivity, uptime and sleep.

What’s New in DALIM TWiST 6.4?

2012-01-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

DALIM Software's TWIST product is used by the world's top brands, publishers and advertising agencies to automate creative workflows and speed production, reducing costs and resource strain through optimization. It is entirely customizable and drops right into an organization's core processes to fit their unique way of doing business. And, now it is even better.

As you may know, DALIM Software just released an update of its flagship product, TWIST 6.4. As expected, there aren’t any major changes, but a number of bug fixes have been rolled out, which is great. Here’s an overview of a few key improvements:

Multi-page files – Now, a workflow will never “fork” any additional processes than the initial one and all tools are now able to process multiple pages in one shot (This improvement includes some of the most widely used tools like PsCheck, MergeXP, O_PDF, Transmit).

New e-publication PDF output format – DALIM has now created a dedicated PDF format for e-publishing, so you can generate a light-weight version of a file and still maintain readability.  Screening in PDFs – The O_PDF tool now features a new tab that deals with controlling screening information inside PDFs.

PDF Channel Order Control - It is now possible with the SeparationMap tool to control the channel order in files as well as opacity, which will allow the user to create proofs of complex inks that will match the final printed result.

Quality Control - The visualCompare tool has been greatly improved in TWIST 6.4 in order to be able to ignore certain channels as being part of the ones to compare as well as avoid false positive detection in the comparison engine itself.

Normalizer Tool – The Normalizer tool has been introduced in TWIST 6.4 as a variation on PsCheck that focuses on file normalization, simplifying the workflow design by introducing tools that are specialized in the certain key pre-press functions.

Improved Reporting - The CreatePreflightReport tool has been improved to be able to aggregate different sources of information into a single report.

Overall, these performance improvements are really significant - may the upgrades begin.

IO Integration Celebrates 10 Years - Letter from the President

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago this month, IO Integration opened its doors. Our beginnings were modest, but we had high hopes, plenty of energy, and a single goal: To bring effective technology solutions to creative marketing professionals who were being under served. We were lucky to quickly gain some fantastic customers who understood what we were trying to accomplish, and we were also fortunate to attract talented employees who were committed to looking after those customers at all hours of the day and night.

Our initial group of four has grown into a strong team of more than 30 people across North America and Europe. Their combined knowledge and experience are unmatched in our market, and I am immensely proud of all of them and the work they do to deliver exceptional service, support, and solutions to you. As we progress beyond our first decade, IOI will continue to invest to make the best people, products, and services available to you, even as your needs grow and change.

Of the more than 60 customers IOI worked with in our first two years, almost all are still customers today. We are extremely grateful to them, and we have never taken that loyalty for granted. As we move forward, we will maintain our core belief that delivering the best services, solutions and value to our customers will enable us to grow and prosper during the next ten years and beyond.

Xinet was our first software partner, and the company continues today as one of our core partners. Over the years, the Xinet WebNative Suite has evolved right along with IOI. DALIM was IOI’s next major partner, and we have steadily grown our user base and ability to get the most out of their workflow tools. More recently, iBrams brand management technologies have become a major part of our solution set. This year, we have added censhare to offer production solutions in the ever changing and expanding print and digital arena. We also continue to deliver our world-class Professional Consulting Services and in-house development expertise in the form of applications that complement and extend our partners’ solutions. IOI would not be where we are now without the support of our Solution Partners and I am personally very thankful for their help and assistance.

It has been our pleasure to work with you, and we remain committed to serving your business and technology needs. We’ll strive to rapidly respond to and resolve tickets, bring best-of-breed solutions to the table that make you more efficient, and deliver better services to you and your customers. We could not be here without you, and we truly appreciate your business and support. We look forward to many more prosperous years together.

Thanks and all the best in 2012!

Mike

Just Released: Xinet WebNative Suite 17

2011-12-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

Xinet has released WebNative^® Suite 17.0. From the press release:

Available now, the highly anticipated release boasts a new look and feel in the display interface, while offering expanded search engine capabilities, more customization, and new tools that make it easier than ever for companies to improve collaboration while maintaining tight control over their assets. WebNative Suite 17 also provides optimized support for mobile devices such as the Apple iPad, making the WebNative interface easily accessible from anywhere, at anytime

Read more and check out the complete feature list here.

Congratulations to Mcgarrybowen

2011-12-26T06:07:00.000-08:00

Hearty congratulations to Mcgarrybowen for being named Adweek's Agency of the Year. From the article:

“We believe in the power of emotion. We’re not afraid of it,” Bowen explains. “Some agencies are too cool for school; we’re not.” Besides, he adds, “I don’t serve the advertising industry. . . . My job is to serve the brands by getting into their DNA and bringing out and enhancing—through all the art forms that are at our fingertips—their brand, their iconography, or their products, and to maximize their short- and long-term sales.”

Read the rest of Adweek's piece here.

Read more about io integration has helped Mcgarrybowen improve their digital workflow.

IOI Professional Services: The Ultimate Workflow Brain Trust

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Need better workflow but not sure where to start? A lot of organizations feel that way, knowing they have to make a change, but not sure how to get started. Limited time and lack of resources can often keep companies from improving their workflow, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

The IOI Professional Services group, including experts in customer-focused process analysis, engineering, and project management, will work with you to design custom solutions that will meet your organization’s specific needs. Our proven methodology enables us to identify and resolve workflow challenges up front, so they don’t impact deployment at the 11^th hour. We provide you with weekly status reports, milestone tracking, and success metrics, and make sure that issue identification and resolution is swift. After deployment, IOI Professional Services provides your team with training and upgrades so you can protect your investment, and keep your overhead low.

Our suite of IOI Professional Services includes technology assessment, business process automation, application integration, consulting services, and training. If you are ready to implement better workflow processes but just don’t have the in-house resources, contact us today.

Xinet WebNative 17 and Digital Marketing Best Practices

2011-12-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

You’ve probably heard some of the buzz about new Xinet WebNative Suite 17, and I’m here to tell you that, well, it’s all true. Here at IOI, we’re really excited about how WebNative Suite 17 is going to change the face of digital marketing, and we think you’ll agree.

In digital marketing, best practices tend to revolve around working smarter and faster, and WebNative Suite 17 really takes that to all-new levels. It’s one of the first tools to provide optimized global access for smart phone and tablet interfaces. It also has the most advanced digital media management database capabilities, advanced security and customization features, and tools for faster searching, better integration, and simplified administration--plus a slick new UI that will let you do more, faster.

But how do all these bells and whistles play into making your organization better at digital marketing? Well, would it kick your strategies into overdrive if you could do a better job at:

Centralizing rich media information
Reducing resources and administrative overhead
Automating production workflows
Streamlining approval cycles

The bottom line is this: With Xinet WebNative Suite 17, you’ll be able to quickly and easily find, re-purpose, and publish your digital content to any kind of media, worldwide. And that’s good news for you, and your bottom line.

Free Webcast
If all this makes gets you motivated to transform your digital marketing, register to attend our upcoming free webcast, Power Your 2012 Digital Marketing Strategy with Xinet, which is taking place on Thursday, December 15 at 11 am PT. Register today!

One Hour That Can Transform Your Digital Marketing

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

This time of year, everyone is knee-deep in strategic planning for 2012. If you’re looking for a way to really jump-start all your digital marketing activities in the coming year, consider joining us for our upcoming free webcast, Power Your 2012 Digital Marketing Strategy with Xinet, which is taking place on Thursday, December 15 at 11 am PT.

We’ll be talking about how you can use new Xinet WebNative Suite 17 to centralize rich media information, reduce resources and administrative overhead, automate production workflows, and streamline approval cycles. We’ll be focusing on distributed team collaboration best practices, review process, managing video, and integrating smart phone and tablet computer interfaces into the workflow.

With the power of WebNative Suite 17, you’ll be able to quickly and easily find, re-purpose, and publish your digital content to any kind of media, worldwide. Here at IOI, we feel that no other technology currently available can positively impact your bottom line as quickly as Xinet WebNative Suite 17.

Register today

To register for the free Xinet webcast, send email to damian@iointegration.com, and include your name, company, title, and phone number. You‘ll receive a confirmation email that includes login information.

Need more Xinet functionality? Try new InPress Accelerator 6.0!

2011-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

You may or may not know that one of our fantastic IOI partners, Sweden’s InPress Systems, develops killer tools that extend the functionality of Xinet WebNative Suite. InPress Systems’ Accelerator helps WebNative servers become online print and document-ordering portals. Essentially, Accelerator enables Web Native users to dynamically create and order custom collateral 24 hours a day, which is about as cool as it can get!

But there’s more. . .

Earlier this month, InPress released a new version of Accelerator, InPress Accelerator 6.0. Accelerator 6.0 is a major upgrade from InPress, with a lot of great new features, including a new interface style that keeps the user in the same window, and lots of new interface details, like tooltip help, zoomable proofs, and auto complete selects. Other new features include:

Typography styles and color selects for text
Support for making templates from InDesign CS 5 and 5.5
Updated admin utility that uses tooltip for help in editing content filters and database interaction
Ability to add input-only variables through admin GUI
Enhanced save-to-disk style with send email function
New image placement options, with standard images for user/group, and image selection from file list
New input filters and more consistent application of filters
More final formats

InPress Accelerator 6.0 is available now through IO Integration. For more information, visit our InPress Systems page and request a demo!

Metadata & DAM: Making Smart Searches Easy

2011-11-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Whether you’ve already deploy a digital asset management system or are currently considering one, it’s probably for one primary reason: because you want to be able to find and access your assets quickly and easily. And key to fast, efficient searches is metadata.

The addition of metadata to traditional search widened search options dramatically, opening the door for a variety of methods of storing information within files, including XMP and JDF. Then along came queries like 'Equals,' 'Contains,' 'Starts with,' and 'Ends with.’ As time marched on and more and more search options came into use however, many made the mistake of trying to fit increasingly complex search options into existing (or legacy) metadata schemas. In this case, too many options can sometimes lead to a degradation of results—which negates the reason companies deploy digital asset management systems in the first place!

The bottom line here is this: Always be sure to keep the end user search interface in mind when deciding what searchable data fields are necessary within the metadata schema. Just because you can search using every possible option doesn’t mean you should.

A good, realistic metadata plan enables you to find the asset you want the first time, every time, so make sure yours meets the unique needs of your organization before you deploy.

ROAD TRIP – Who’s Headed to LA Next Week?

2011-11-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

IO Integration’s Deployment Team Manager Rich Carroll, that’s who!

Rich is making the trek down south to participate on a panel at the DAM LAConference. He’ll be speaking as part of a panel on How to Overcome Change Management Challengesand Successfully Integrate DAM into your Organization. The discussion will revolve around issues including best practices for managing change across organizations, purging digital “junk,” overcoming objections, gaining approval and adoption, incentives for change, the implications of DAM at different workflow stages, and more.

Rich is well-qualified to represent IOI in this panel, as he has been in the trenches of digital asset management for nearly 20 years, serving as a consultant to many of the country’s largest ad agencies, helping them streamline workflow and cut overhead. As part of the panel this year, he’ll be speaking alongside peers from Cognizant and iGATE Patni.

Find out more
Rich’s panel discussion is being held at 11:50am on Tuesday the 15^th. For more information on how you can register toattend the Henry Stewart DAM LA conference, just click here.

See you there!
IO Integration is one of the featured System Integration Partners and we'll be there next to our technology partner Xinet, so check out the booth and say "Hi!" to Mike Holt, Linda Maines-Goodwin, and Damian Diaz who will also be at the conference (egging on Rich).

See the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHkUZV-GmsE&feature=player_embedded

RECAP: NYC Managing Rich Media Workshop

2011-11-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 25, IOI and Xinet hosted an event focused on Digital Asset Management for managing rich media. Held at the Soho House on New York City’s trendy Meatpacking District, we presented a sneak peek at WebNative Suite 17. Version 17 features a new tablet- and smart phone-friendly interface from Xinet and is designed to centralize rich media information, reduce resources and administrative overhead, automate production workflows, and streamline approval cycles.

The afternoon’s presenters included Scott Seebass, CEO of Xinet; Mike Holt, CEO of IO Integration; Paul Giaime, Pre-press Technology Manager at JWT; Kim Nichols, Lead Developer at IO Integration; and Adam Days and Gary Fisher, Technical Sales Managers at Xinet. Attendees were given a tour through the new features and tools of Xinet WebNative Suite 17, along with an overview of Digital Asset Management from IO Integration, and finishing with a fantastic customer panel.The event left everyone excited about the ground-breaking advances coming in Xinet WebNative Suite 17, which will further expand the options for creatives looking to more efficiently manage and publish rich media files. If you weren’t able to make it to the workshop, please visit this page, and you can download the materials we covered.

Want more info?
If you’d like to schedule an onsite demo of IO Integration’s Digital Asset Management solutions, including WebNative Suite 17, request a demo today (and we’ll even bring lunch if you want it live)!

Creative Convergence Chicago Recap

2011-10-27T20:50:00.001-07:00

Last week, IO Integration, IBM, Intel and censhare hosted a fun dinner event dedicated to the convergence of creative technologies. The evening event was held at Chicago’s famous Boka Restaurant + Bar, and featured dinner, cocktails, networking, and presentations from IO Integration, censhare, IBM and Intel. The theme was Business Benefits of a Converged Infrastructure and showed how how marketing, publishing, retail, and IT decision makers can combine the power of the cloud with new digital publishing innovations to speed production and easily deliver rich media to mobile, print, web, or social channels.

The speakers included a Who’s Who of technology innovation, including Mary Yurkovic, Digital Asset Management Community Builder and conference organizer, createasphere; Mark Alexander, Channel Technical Sales Specialist, IBM; Todd Speck, Intel Business Development Manager; Rich Carroll, Sales Manager, IO Integration; Chip Norton, Sales Manager, IO Integration; and Michele Broccardo, VP Americas, censhare.Find more photos from the event and presentations here.

Welcoming our new partner, eG Innovations!

2011-10-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

This week, weannounced that we have selected New Jersey-based eG Innovations to provide the performance management platform for our new IO Monitor remote monitoring service. We’re really excited about this partnership, as it will enable us to expandour range of services to include advanced remote performance management,analysis, and reporting of mission-critical systems.

As you know,we’re very particular about the companies with which we partner, so you mightbe wondering, “what makes eG Innovations special?” Well, in a remote monitoringsituation, it’s absolutely critical to be as proactive as possible. We foundthat the design of the eG Innovations solution was able to pinpoint issues soearly and accurately—and across multiple platforms and systems—that it ispossible to resolve problems before end users are impacted at all.

Our partnershipwith eG Innovations is going to enable IO Monitor to offer unprecedentedsupport and performance visibility to our customers. And that’s the bottomline.

Find out more about IO Monitor.

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle…Your Old Mac

2011-10-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

We’ve all heard the phrase, “reduce, reuse, recycle.” When it comes to technology—most specifically, computer hardware—the urge to recycle often gets replaced by an easier solution: piling unused equipment in a corner.In our newsletter last month (have you subscribed yet?), we talked a bit about a way to reuse old Mac hardware. Read on, and, you might get inspired to blow the dust off some of your old boxes and put them back to work!

Older Macs can easily be re-purposed for use as Time Machine backup servers with very little expense and effort. Apple sells a time capsule that allows modern Macintosh computers to be backed up over the network. If you’re working with an old Mac Mini, laptop, or desktop, just enable file sharing on your Mac.

(Hopefully something newer than the museum piece pictured here.)

6 quick steps and you’ll be on your way:
1. Drag an icon of a hard disk we want to share to our network
2. Adjust your sharing privileges according to your security requirements and enable Time Machine in your systems preferences by clicking the option to turn Time Machine on
3. The Time Machine window will pop up and, you should click Choose Backup Disk
4. Connect over the local network to the TIMEMACHINE server share
5. Mount the server that is advertising the Time Machine volume we just configured, and enable Time Machine on your local modern Mac
6. Once it’s turned on, a window will pop up and show you that it sees the Time Machine hosted on your other Mac, and lets you use the same Time Machine across multiple Macs

All that’s required to reinvent your old Mac hardware is a high-capacity external Firewire or USB external hard disk. The performance is great and it can help back up your other systems. Easy!

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A Fond Farewell

2011-10-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today we take a moment to reflect briefly on the passing of Apple’s Steve Jobs.

IO Integration has been in partnership with Apple since 2001, and during that time, we have regularly paused and stood in awe of the energy, simplicity, beauty, and compassion that Steve brought to an industry not often known for its humanity. Many of us here have been right there with Steve, using an Apple product daily since the late ‘70’s.

In the design industry, he revolutionized and invigorated our creativity by giving us ground-breaking tools that helped us all realize what we were capable of. From the Macintosh to the iPod to the iPad, Steve Jobs changed the way we work, live, and play. With strength and grace.

Thanks, Steve.

Creative Convergence Chicago: Speed-to-Market

2011-09-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

Recession or no recession, marketers are always searching for ways to get their deliverables to market faster. “First-to-market” often equates with garnering and retaining the most customer mindshare, and that can make or break a campaign or offering.

Of course, it’s not as simple as
just getting things out the door faster, is it?

On the road to being first-to-market, there are obstacles like business risk, lack of resources, and just plain poor communication to contend with. And when these three opponents band together, being first-to-market can quickly fall by the wayside.

Creative convergence is more than just a buzzword; it’s a way to configure a marketing infrastructure in order to head off impediments like risk, resources, and communication to get to market faster. It eliminates the expense, slowdowns, and inconsistent quality that come with ad-hoc, manual production workflows. Creative convergence also means that you can re-purpose existing content to deliver targeted, localized communications across a wide variety of channels and devices worldwide.

By leveraging a converged, virtualized environment,
you can do a lot more with much less―and have a higher-quality result.

On October 20, IOI, along with our colleagues at IBM and Intel, will be presenting an evening dedicated to creative convergence, Business Benefits of a Converged Infrastructure. We’ll be discussing how your organization can reap the benefits of cloud computing and how a converged creative infrastructure can help revolutionize the way you deliver rich media to mobile, print, web, or social channels.

For More Information
Go here to register to attend the Creative Convergence dinner event in Chicago.

Join us for dinner at Boka on October 20. See you there!

censhare for Social Media

2011-09-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

According to the online marketing resource MarketingProfs, more than 90% of B2B marketers today use social media as part of their marketing strategies. No longer just the new kid on the marketing block, social media is establishing a presence as the fast track to more business exposure, increased site traffic, and better online search rankings.

Although the Social Media Examiner found that 90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business, a staggering 70% of marketers indicated to Marketing Profs that a lack of resources was one of the top obstacles to adopting social media marketing.

Marketers, it seems, know what they need to do, but simply don’t have an easy way to do it.

But all is not lost. Our new partner censhare offers a publishing system that provides an integrated workflow for the creation and production of your social media content. censhare can efficiently re-purpose your existing content, and help you share it with customers and prospects via common social media channels.

Using the censhare publishing system, you’ll have an interactive interface with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Slideshare, and most other social media outlets. You can publish assets such as visuals, videos, and presentations, along with content like tweets and status updates, directly from within censhare.

For More Information
To find out more about censhare publishing solutions for social media, visit www.iointegration.com/censhare.

If you are in Chicago, don't miss our Creative Convergence event on October 6 with censhare, IBM, and Intel at the exclusive Boka Restaurant!

IOI & DALIM @GraphExpo Chicago Next Month

2011-08-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

As the summer winds down, we’re getting ready to head out on the road again—this time to Chicago, for GRAPH EXPO! As GRAPH EXPO veterans, we at IOI always look forward to attending and learning about the ideas, solutions, and trends that will be shaping our industry in the years ahead.

We’ll be joining our partner DALIM on the exhibit floor, where we’ll be showcasing the latest DALIM offerings. We’ll also be conducting demos, and providing hands-on training for DALIM ES, the award-winning Web-based proofing and collaboration tool for multi-channel content.

If you need to move to a paperless proofing solution that will dramatically improve collaboration and productivity, DALIM ES is best in its class. Come see us and take a look—either on the exhibit floor, or in our hospitality suite!

Will We See You There?
To register for GRAPH EXPO, just follow this link. Find us in the DALIM booth in McCormick Place, September 11 – 14, in Booth 229, or, check-out the show planner here. If you can’t make it to the exhibit floor, just drop us a note to request a one-on-one demo of DALIM ES in our private GRAPH EXPO suite!

GET FREE REGISTRATION FOR GRAPH EXPO THROUGH AUG. 26!

IOI Toolbox Apps for Custom Xinet Portal Search

2011-08-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Need better Search capabilities? Interested in maximizing your investment in Xinet WebNative? IOI has the answer with IOI Toolbox!

Better Searches
The IOI Continuous Data Integrity Tools, part of the IOI Toolbox, enable administrators to define specific business rules and logic to ensure that your Xinet databases are populated with the cleanest metadata. This better-quality metadata means that searches, in turn, will also yield more targeted results for users.

Custom Search Pages
For rapid creation of flexible custom search pages that support strict criteria, IOI Toolbox Flex Search fits the bill, and offers a fluid interface for users. Flex Search removes the complexity of creating custom searches while using hierarchical, relationship-based data. Using Batch Apply and image information, administrators can make searches more effective through the use of strict business rules.

For More Information
Always find your rich media: never lose an image again! To find out more about how you can use IOI Toolbox to improve Xinet Portal searches, send us a note to request a product demo — we’ll even spring for lunch!
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Where’s IOI This Month? Createasphere Executive Marketplace in Chicago!

2011-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Next week, the IOI crew will be heading out to Chicago to attend the createasphere Executive Marketplace event. If you’ve never attended a createasphere conference, you should definitely check it out—it features some of the best seminars on digital asset management (DAM) in the industry. This time around, they are featuring special sessions on DAM road mapping, metadata and search, and rights management.

And IOI will be there especially to participate in the Connect Live event on the evening of July 20. Connect Live is a FREE after-hours event, dedicated to networking and the discussion of the digital supply chain for marketing and DAM. If you are in the area and/or attending the createasphere seminars, please come see us and say hi!

Come See Us at createasphere!
To register for createasphere Connect Chicago, click here. If you’d like to set up a time to chat with IOI about DAM solutions while you’re there, just drop us a line.

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What We Did On Our Summer Vacation: DAM NY!

2011-06-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, we just got back from attending the Digital Asset Management conference in the Big Apple, and it was a fantastic event. We got a meet a great bunch of people, from customers to influencers to the true innovators of the industry—not a bad way to spend two days in the city!

Some of the particular highlights for us included presentations on:
-Customer Engagement - How DAM can impact your customer engagement process from end-to-end
-Tablet Computing - How the rapid adoption of the iPad and similar tablet devices has changed the way we use DAM
-Supply Chain Strategies - Securing and enabling the supply chain for distribution, protection, and monetization of digital content
-Social Media - Using analytics to measure how DAM supports brand management and loyalty

And getting to hear industry leaders like Richard Buchanan from Comcast, Chad Beer and Holly Boerner from American Express, and Carin Foreman from HBO gave us invaluable insight into how these organizations implement DAM—and where they see it going in the future.

And of course, our own Rich Carroll was there, participating in a panel on Change Management: Go Rich!

DAM: Read All About It
To get more information on Digital Asset Management, download our DAM 101 white paper.

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Are you putting your data at risk?

2011-06-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Even if they’re not all that IT savvy, most folks in creative organizations know that not backing up digital assets can result in tragedy. But what about the database? If you’re not also backing it up consistently, you’re just asking for trouble.

Backing up a Xinet Venture database is actually easier than you think. It can be done simply, using the Database Admin tab in the WebNative Admin GUI:

1. Log in to Xinet WebNative using the “nativeadmin” user and password
2. Select the Database tab
3. Look at the Schedules section in the middle of the page to set up Quick Syncs, Quick Backups, Full Backups, and Table Checks

Quick Syncs reconcile the database entries to the file system to catch basic discrepancies and correct them. Recommendation: Run once a week.

Quick Backups are incremental backups of the database. Recommendation: Run daily, preferably after business hours, on days when a Full Backup is not being run.

Full Backups make a complete secondary copy of the database for the purpose of recovery in cases of catastrophic data loss. Recommendation: Run during a weekend to minimize impact on employees.

Table Checks verify database table consistency and integrity and can correct identified issues. Recommendation: Run once a week.

Remember, when you back up your digital assets, you’re not done yet. Always make sure to give the database regular backups to ensure that your information will always be there (and recoverable) when you need it!

Find Out More
If you would like any additional information on backing up your Venture Database, please contact info@iointegration.com.

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Can You Do the TWIST (6.3)?

2011-05-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

TWIST 6.3, the most recent stand-alone version of the automated workflow engine from our partner DALIM, has been out for some time, but what do you really need to know about it?

Here are a couple of nuggets, for a start:
- Better PDF quality. Now you can take advantage of a fully automated comparison workflow, based on the Adobe PDF Print Engine. This means that prior to a job going to press, TWIST ensures that the final output is consistent with the intent of the original, delivered file. No more expensive re-runs!

- Consistent color. The Adobe Color Management Module, integrated into this latest version of TWIST, helps users achieve a more consistent color workflow. Also, the new GMG Link tool delivers a more transparent integration to GMG color management.

Ultimately, consider a move to TWIST 6.3 because it was designed to deliver exactly what you need: Better automation, higher quality, and great new levels of flexibility.

Interested? We Can Tell You More...
For more information on DALIM TWIST or to request a demo, visit our IOI TWIST page.

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Beyond the Monitor: True Color Soft Proofing

2011-04-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Our friends and partners over at DALIM believe that there’s much more to soft proofing than just a calibrated color monitor, and we agree. Calibrating, profiling and validating a monitor will get you some of the way there, but that’s only part of the story.

To really ensure that the color of your data is correctly represented in both a soft proof application and from the user’s perspective, consider the following:

- Daylight and light reflected by the elements of the room (ceiling, walls, floor, furniture, etc.) can significantly affect soft proofs
- Control your color settings in the soft proof application to ensure true color representation
- Utilize hardware calibration to counter the effects of the graphic controller, utility programs, and login items on calibration
- Dependent upon the ways the individual calibration settings are defined and adapted, a soft proof will yield multiple colors, not true colors
- Make visual control of reference print quality a priority; otherwise, a considerable part of your soft proof quality may be lost
- Confirm that your calibration software allows the visual adjustment of color temperature, brightness, and contrast

Overall, rapid calibration with decent measuring will give you only average results. A variety of measuring devices or monitors can deliver significantly different results. To achieve the best outcome, make sure to integrate measuring, calibrating, and visual control into the process by utilizing all features for one target.

Learn More
For more information on DALIM soft proofing solutions, visit our DALiM ES page, or request a free demo - lunch is on us!

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GLOBALedit? Yeah: There’s an App for That!

2011-03-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

We love it when our partners innovate, and GLOBALedit’s recent iPad App takes digital capture and collaboration to a whole new level! It enables users to review, approve, present, and share content with colleagues, partners, and customers from anywhere―all using the iPad’s cool (and very user-efficient) form factor.

The GLOBALedit iPad App was designed in partnership with Area17, a New York-based interactive branding and design agency. It’s really easy to use, and offers the option to work online, or in offline mode, which automatically updates the GLOBALedit system once an Internet connection is re-established.

It makes great strides in convenience and personalization, so if you haven’t already, check this handy tool out!

Learn More
To get more information about the GLOBALedit app for iPad, watch this demo. To purchase the app, visit the iTunes store. Please note that you must have an active GLOBALedit user name and password to use this application.

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Personalized Outreach for Education

2011-03-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

Is your educational institution interested in better engagement with potential students, more effective classroom resource material, or publishing customizable digital content?

More and more, today’s schools and universities are looking for cost-effective ways to produce everything from textbooks and other learning materials to Web sites and marketing collateral.

By implementing personalized communication and custom publishing programs on campus, educational institutions are finding it easier than ever to attract great students, and create materials that enrich learning programs beyond the standard textbook. With solutions like the DALIM ES soft-proofing server and iBrams Brand Management, these schools can develop branded, customizable materials quickly and easily, without breaking their budgets.

DALIM ES facilitates multi-level document workflow, and includes version control, and real-time approval tracking. iBrams Brand Management helps maintain consistency of brand while enabling assets to be available to users 24/7.

Find Out More About IOI and Education
Learn more about IOI publishing solutions for Education, including the iBrams Brand Management and DALIM ES.

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Does Control = Productivity?

2011-02-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

Nothing can kill a creative organization’s productivity like a lack of easy access to images and video. Clients approach us every day asking for a solution that will give their production teams anytime, anywhere access so they can get more done.

To get these teams back on track, we often recommend solutions based upon GLOBALedit tools. GLOBALedit helps our clients get control over image and video libraries, so their users collaborate better and smarter, producing more and saving the company money. The GLOBALedit online collaboration system delivers more efficient processes, enabling clients to gain full control over image libraries, production workflow, and collaboration.

Free East Coast GLOBALedit Workshop
If you’re in the NYC area, join us for an interactive Lunch & Learn workshop on Thursday, February 10. We’ll show you how you can save time and money with GLOBALedit. Seating is limited to just 45 attendees, so click here and register today!

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The View from LA: DAM Best Practices

2011-01-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

As you may know, IO Integration recently attended the DAM LA 2010 event. It was great to meet face-to-face with so many of our customers and partners!

Our own IOI Technical Sales Manager, Rich Carroll, participated in a dynamic panel discussion of DAM best practices. This discussion provided crucial insight into a process that many creative organizations find somewhat mystifying.

The best way to embark on a DAM deployment is to understand what information is needed upfront. This will allow you to more logically plan for, and implement, a solution that will best meet your needs in the long term.

The three primary types of information you will need to consider are your core business drivers, the design and architecture of a system, and ultimate impact on users:

Business Drivers
- Ensure that the development team focuses on business drivers rather than technology
- Understand that workflow and process are key

Design & Architecture
- Make certain that IT understands the value of the solution
- Determine which comes first: Architecture, or custom technology?
- Identify and remove unnecessary complexity
- Keep the Big Picture in sight, while keeping flexibility and testing in mind
- Remember that DAM encompasses the entire stack, and that you must size accordingly
- Always validate after deployment is completed

Users
- Engage end users early in the process so they can help validate solutions and buy into the it completely
- Establish whether or not users are utilizing the DAM properly
- Provide follow up training for optimal adoption and results

For more information on IOI solutions for Digital Asset Management, request a FREE demo.

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The Show(time) Must Go On. . .with Online Collaboration Tools

2010-12-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Recently, Showtime Networks had a dilemma that many organizations face: The in-house creative teams that produce promotional and branding materials for all of Showtime’s properties were completely silo’ed, creating a bottleneck in the production and approval processes.

With hundreds of thousands of images of visuals for online media and print ads and multi-story billboards traveling through the creative process every year, any workflow hiccup is a big deal. Fortunately, Showtime asked for help and found the perfect fix.

The recommended solution was based upon the online photo workflow collaboration tool GLOBALedit. Employing an enterprise-level hosted GLOBALedit account, a team of more than 100 Showtime creatives now collaborate better, edit easier, and approve, download, and distribute images much faster than ever before.

Here’s how it worked:

• Talent Approval Galleries distribute image collections for approval
• Gallery Manager gives full granular control over kill rights, expiration, and reports
• Custom XMP metadata schema implementation integrates seamlessly with in-house DAM system
• Aspera Connect integration ensures images are moving in and out at high speed

When all was said and done, users in Showtime’s creative organization had unprecedented 24/7 access to in-progress materials, resulting in significantly increased photo production capacity and faster time-to-market. We think Nurse Jackie would be pleased.

Is an IOI GLOBALedit solution right for you? Find out more.

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Are Efficient Reviews and Approvals Really Possible with a Dispersed Workforce?

2010-11-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

If you've ever tried to turn around a mission-critical review cycle on the fly, only to find that one or two stakeholders are unavailable, you know how it can completely derail getting an asset into production. The tighter the deadline: the uglier it gets.

With creative teams working more and more often from separate locations, having an easy and efficient way to collaborate, review, and approve deliverables can really take the stress and frustration out of getting things done. One new solution that can make it easier to get approvals, regardless of the location of the reviewers, is the paperless Enterprise Solutions (ES) Online Approval Platform Technology from our partner DALIM.

Developed with XML, JDF, and AJAX technologies, DALIM ES is accessible from anywhere using a standard Web browser. This means that John in Atlanta, Carole in London, Wayne in Hong Kong, and Lisa, who happens to be on vacation in Peru, can each do his or her part to keep the project moving forward, saving time and reducing overhead.

If you think the DALIM ES might be the right solution for your organization, check out DALIM ES to get more information and request a demo.

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Photo + Video Assets ― Are You Ready for True Media Workflow?

2010-09-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

With the convergence of photo and video workflows, the asset management game is changing rapidly. Creative organizations are ramping up the volume of multimedia content they must develop and deliver, and the need for a comprehensive media workflow solution has never been greater.

In the past, content was most often produced in silos, with multiple contributors working independently. Today, video is produced and distributed seamlessly, without the need to juggle multiple delivery modes, and production teams can collaborate on electronic files from anywhere.

At IOI, we are always on the lookout for advanced media workflow solutions for our customers. As a longstanding partner with Industrial Color Software, we were thrilled when the company released GLOBALedit 3.10 with video support in April of this year.

Users can now upload and ingest up to 500MB video files in the following formats: ASF, AVI, AVS, DV, ISMV, M2V, M4V, MOD, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, TS, VOB, WMV, and XESC.

With the advent of video support for GLOBALedit, users can have the advantage of a state-of-the-art production tool that features review, approval, distribution, rights management, and metadata for both photo and video. To learn more about capturing digital images and video and using collaborative review and approval workflows, check-out GLOBALedit 3.10.