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Digital-Word: It's
History and Products
A software company
with a focus on web-based software, Digital-word was originally
formed in 1997 in order to create a database system called Fourth
Estate, which allowed easier communication and cooperation between
businesses and local police forces by creating a safe and efficient
way for business owners to share confidential information with the
police. Quickly thereafter, Digital-word began work on a number of
web-based software products, ranging in function from basic
guestbooks to packages of IT software tailored for specific
business's needs to innovative web-based recruitment systems. The
company today is best known for their work with "common gateway
interface", or CGI, software and is used by businesses as diverse as
computer retailers to local schools.
Digital-word's CGI software is considered beneficial by users as it
provides a more interactive experience for web browsers, and does
not require the latest in technology to work properly. It also works
without using the regularly required plug-ins of similar web sites,
which makes the site more broadly accessible. The company's flagship
product is called Shapeshifter Enterprise, a content management
system (CMS), which is allows users to quickly update their web
sites and avoid snafus such as being stuck with multiple
transcription errors until the web designer can get to them or being
unable to update a business web site as needed during the sale
season. Shapeshifter Enterprise and its sister products Shapeshifter
DB and Shapeshifter V2 combine the ability to create and manage web
sites with caching, database replication and advertisement tracking,
and has been used to develop and regulate interactive web sites for
several schools with applications such as house point tracking,
school events diaries and class work portfolios. Shapeshifter has
also been utilized by companies ranging from planetariums to
therapeutic equipment providers.
In addition to the Shapeshifter family, Digital-word also offer FMS,
or fully managed service, for web sites, which can be tailored for
individual client's needs, and includes monitoring of hardware and
software, periodic back up of data, and some troubleshooting and
support. Digital-word currently has FMS systems in a variety of
levels, from that needed by the most basic web site to full on
multi-cluster servers for high traffic professional business web
sites. They have two physical data centers, one in London and one in
Manchester, which are constantly monitored by an engineering staff,
and are equipped with powerful air conditioning, fire detection
alarms, and multi-layer security systems.
Digital-word also offer a small selection of open source software,
mostly geared towards small, utility based web applications.
Currently the company offers a simple mail transfer protocol email
software and a digital guestbook as free downloads. However, as with
all open source software, no support or guarantee is offered.
Since its genesis as a database creator in 1997, Digital-word has
undergone substantial change, and now provides a much wider array of
products. For those seeking more information, their detailed web
site, which includes an in depth description of all products along
with portfolios can be found at www.digital-word.com.
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