It's time to recast the webmaster's role

Robert Bredlau, Director of International Business Development at e-Spirit, argues that the corporate website is no longer the domain of the IT department.

Traditionally, company websites have been the preserve of the tech wizards - the computer geeks for whom XML is a second language.

That's because, uploading, maintaining and updating online content used to be a serious technical undertaking that would faze even the most computer-literate layman.

But over the past few years, the way we view and use online content has changed dramatically.

Complex company websites are no longer a luxury reserved for a privileged few.

Maintaining an online presence is now essential for of every business - from start-ups through to global corporations.

And as the role of the website has changed, so has the role of the webmaster.

Because online content is such an important way to keep customers, colleagues and contacts updated, it needs to be maintained and updated regularly by the person who controls it.

And nowadays, this falls to departments such as marketing or sales, rather than IT - after all they're the public face of the company.

Why marketers are doing IT for themselves.

If you wanted to write a letter, would you do it yourself or dictate it to a typist? These days, very few people would rely on the latter - so why would you rely on IT to update your site? Company websites are often the first point of call for existing clients and suppliers, as well as an unlimited potential online customer base.

Similarly, the job of the updating a website has grown to encompass a number of responsibilities - from creativity of content to e-commerce and databases.

Again, the responsibility of who needs to drive and control this shift to a more transactional use of the web is falling to people outside of IT.

But without years of IT training, how can people such as marketers meet the webmaster challenge? If you don't know your HTML from your PHP, Electronic Content Management (ECM) systems are already providing business people with a more hands-on approach.

ECM tools are designed to allow business people to update online content easily and as frequently as they need - to provide up-to-date, real-time information to your customers without waiting for the IT department to get involved.

An ECM system provides businesses with vital information on compliance and regulation.

So, when that time comes and you need to provide regulatory bodies with relevant data, you can access all those trails of audits and workflow records that as they are automatically stored on your ECM platform.

With little effort the business stays in control - from the start of a strategy to its communication and delivery.

While many organisations are using ECM systems already, the change has been so gradual that many business people don't even realise they're becoming webmasters.

The nature of the net has meant that control has shifted slowly - perhaps small sections of the website have been opened up to others to update, followed by the home page, and so on.

In light of this shift, businesses need to free up IT to move on with more strategic, technology-related tasks - and leave online content to those who devise it in the first place.

And, thanks to ECM, the website is no longer the domain of the programmers.

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