Squiz

Austereo: Tender Love at First Squiz!

Only one CMS vendor tuned into Austereo's needs

Sydney, Australia, 20th June 2006

When the Austereo Group - Australia's largest commercial radio broadcaster - decided to extend its online business strategy, it needed a new web content management system. The winner of a closed tender process was Squiz, with its MySource Matrix open source product - beating out a Microsoft system provider, an IBM provider and two specialist developers.

Austereo new media strategist Mark Neely says the radio station operator's main requirement was self-sufficiency. He wanted to run the web business completely in-house, without having to create the technology himself.

Prospective vendors were hit with a 50-page tender document to consider. Three months were then spent in investigations and review. Then one of Austereo's web team downloaded and installed MySource Matrix at home and attended Squiz's public seminars.

The task was to rebuild 15 websites which were being run by radio stations around the country - each with its own web master hand coding in Dreamweaver. All these were to be centralised in Sydney, with all properties running the same content management system.

The goal was to provide a robust platform that could accommodate rich media such as video clips, animations and multimedia games.  Neely says Squiz's tender demonstrated that it saw itself as a technology provider, not a marketer selling valueadded services.

That was a telling point because of a previous experience we had with another vendor," he says.  A standard checklist of key requirements was developed for the contenders to demonstrate live in front of the Austereo web team - as they asked pointed questions. Neely says his requirements were all to do with business.

The Problem

Fifteen hand-coded websites spread around various radio stations could not be easily managed or expanded.

The Process

Web development was centralised using a best-of-breed content management system.

The Result

Open source MySource Matrix was installed on US-based servers and nine web developers were trained to manage the site from Sydney - saving on software costs.

"The IT department had a voice and that voice was respected," he says. "While the tech team member preferred to remain a completely Microsoft shop, at the end of the day the Squiz system provided the best fit."

After several months sizing up the project and negotiating a service level agreement, work began in earnest.  At its core, the new system was MySource Matrix - open source software provided free of charge.

Around that were several modules belonging to Squiz, which Austereo paid for. Then there was a consulting contract to set up the system on US servers running Red Hat Linux, and to train the staff in using it.

Because the system is open source, no additional licence fees will be levied as the site expands - a requirement with other options that Neely described as "a real friction and a real cost".

Austereo was also impressed that Squiz's licence model made no attempt to lock the company in. At any time another company could be used, which Neely found to be "very refreshing".

"They had to meet our business objectives, which was in their tender's favour," he says. Austereo is coy about the costs involved but says the project was "a substantial investment", yet still cheaper than other products it compared MySource Matrix with. The group's Today Network went live on the new system in August. Next it's the Triple-M network's turn, due for relaunch shortly.

Neely says the company's nine web developers are happy in their open source enclave.  "The team loves its flexibility and don't need much supervision," he says.