The IT Enquirer, a leading graphics industry website, has just
released the results of a forty page in-depth report comparing the
leading editorial workflow and management systems --QPS 7, Smart
Connection Enterprise, and Softcare K4 --focusing in particular on
productivity, ease-of-use, ease-of-management, and efficiency. The aim
of the report was to ascertain how the three systems compare in
different editorial environments, and how easily they integrate with
third-party solutions.
The report finds that the open source based Smart Connection
Enterprise has superior integration with Adobe InDesign and Adobe
InCopy, thus enabling users to learn the system with virtually no
training. It finds that K4 is relatively similar in nature to Smart
Connection Enterprise, although it is more difficult to set up and
manage, and is built on a proprietary database.
Quark Publishing System 7 comes out as a radical and dramatic
break with the past. "Here is a system that performs even better than
Smart Connection Enterprise," said Erik Vlietinck, publisher of
IT-Enquirer and writer of the report. "It is based entirely on open
source technologies and integrates with Microsoft's SQL Server
database, while certification for MySQL, Oracle, etc, is being worked
on."
The report applauds Quark's decision to include a locked-down
version of QuarkXPress Server. "I was also impressed by QPS 7's
scalability, granular control, and visual feedback," said the author.
The report states Quark Publishing System 7 has more obvious XML
support, and even less training should be required than Smart
Connection Enterprise.
The report concludes that Quark Publishing System 7 is the most
flexible and all-round solution of the three systems under review,
closely followed by Smart Connection Enterprise.
The Executive Summary can be found at:
http://www.it-enquirer.com/main/ite/more/qps_sce_k4_report/
People who are interested to read the whole report, can click a
free download link following registration there.
About IT-Enquirer
IT-Enquirer is an online publication for digital designers in all
industries. It contains reviews, technical background information, and
feature and trend analyses in the areas of graphic design,
photography, layout design, web design, print production, video
production, etc.
