Hartlepool Borough Council switches from Mediasurface to Jadu 1.6

Hartlepool Borough Council (HBC) and Northgate Information Systems (NIS) have launched the new Hartlepool.gov.uk with the newest version 1.6 of the Jadu Enterprise Content Management System.

The latest 1.6 release of Jadu CMS introduces a wealth of new functionality and features to make web based content management simple and productive.

Suraj Kika, CEO of Jadu said: "Jadu's strategic aims are to make managing content over the enterprise simple and powerful - making the end product accessible and open to humans and machines alike. The new features in 1.6 take us a considerable step closer to a more semantic web - where information in any format is available to anyone, anywhere and on any platform."

HBC migrated from the Mediasurface CMS after an extensive selection process - involving many of the largest CMS vendors in the industry. Having seen the Jadu CMS in operation at Ribble Valley Borough Council, Paul Diaz, of HBC's Corporate Strategy Unit, made the decision to select Jadu as a potential replacement:

"We migrated from our previous CMS system because we needed a more flexible, accessible and usable system that would empower our service areas to take control over their content and allow them to publish without usability barriers."

It was anticipated that user adoption of the CMS would increase significantly after migrating from the previous CMS. After the 8 week implementation of Jadu and having tripled the amount of content on the site - HBC were also able to deploy two other Jadu powered websites.

Paul Diaz went on to say:

"After an extensive selection, it was clear that the Jadu CMS provided virtually everything we needed out-of-box. The Jadu CMS was implemented and live in less than 8 weeks - with three websites designed and launched in less than 2 weeks."

Jadu as a company is well known for its innovation and ground breaking usability within its software products. Andy Perkins, Application Architect at Jadu said:

"It's always been our way to develop sensible features with a simplistic user interface - web technology has come along way in making a more desktop-like experience within the browser - and this is something Jadu has adopted to make the very best user experience."

New features inside the 1.6 releases of Jadu CMS include the move to the IPSV category standard, an accessible table editor, spell checking, RSS feed management and publishing, enterprise site analytics, image manipulation and 'Jadu Intelligence' a new reporting system for monitoring CMS and site wide activity.

Hartlepool Borough Council have also become one of the first local authorities in the country to implement the IPSV standard integrally to their entire site.

Andy continued to say: "Jadu are currently upgrading all its eGov customers to version 1.6, with Chiltern, Rugby and Rossendale Councils having already launched with IPSV and 1.6 and we intend to have all upgraded by the end of May 2006.

The success of the Jadu CMS stands as a testament to the bold authorities that are forging ahead with online service delivery - and they have the comfort of knowing that they are powered by Jadu".

http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk