In the early days of Web site development, there was a saying that "content is king." While that philosophy has morphed over the past years for many enterprises, content is still king at
Techbooks, a Falls Church, Virginia-based electronic content services and solutions provider.
And that's exactly why IT professionals with a strong understanding of content management, as well as technical skills such as Java and ASP.Net, are what Techbooks Chief Technologist Gurvinder Batra is looking to hire these days.
Techbooks employs approximately 4,000 workers in eight locations: Falls Church, VA (headquarters); York, PA; Boston, MA; Sydney, Australia; Los Angeles, CA; Cambridge, UK; New Delhi, and Pune, India.
The India-based development centers each have 50 to 70 software developers each. These off-shore teams work with on-shore consultants who handle customer-facing tasks.
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"I want technologists who know content, who understand how to develop content management solutions specific to a client's needs," says Batra.
While there are courses upon courses that teach content development and management, the tech leader says real life experience in managing Web sites, working with new content forms such as podcasts and Webcasts, and creating customized content systems are skills he's looking to pull into his tech team.
A good IT content specialist not only knows the tech side, says the CTO, but they understand both the client and the end user and incorporate those needs into the development process.
"Our IT staff needs to be able to develop content applications and build them to customer requirements and that means being able to translate a customer's vision into an application," he says.
Starting as a niche firm in 1988 specializing in reprinting textbooks, Techbooks now provides technologically-advanced and integrated content transformation solutions thanks to its highly skilled workforce capable of handling the most complex operations.
According to the company's
Web site, Techbooks opens up new digital revenue opportunities for customers by utilizing XML throughout the entire production process, making content accessible at no additional cost for seamless repurposing.
Techbooks pioneered the use of SGML technology (a precursor of HTML and XML), so that content could be created simultaneously for both print and CD-ROM formats, and specializes in XML/ SGML/HTML publishing and DTD development.
Batra sees a huge demand for content consultants as more companies are getting a stronger understanding of how vital content is to online business and communications.
He recommends that tech professionals interested in working for his company, and other content solutions providers, become familiar with both the technologies, such as XML and the content itself. In a recent
career profile his advice also included learning "how to manage the mindset change as technology-led initiatives try to replace human beings in tasks."
"My advice to IT professionals who want to succeed in this industry is to not get too focused on the technology itself. You must be involved in the entire lifecycle of the content development, providing the end user with what they need."
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