Interview with Robert Schovenberg, CEO of CM4all
Published: Feb 22, 2009
CM4all is a leading developer of web-based applications for the Internet and its software is distributed via leading telcos, MSOs, ISPs and web hosting companies. The creation, maintenance and easy-updating of websites - even for mobile devices - are all handled by CM4all's proprietary software and infrastructure solutions. At the heart of every operation, this "CM4all Technology" provides highly scalable online file storage, management and sharing features. With headquarters in Cologne, Germany, CM4all was formed in 1999 by two friends, Robert Schovenberg and Cornel Schnietz.
We had the opportunity to meet CM4all at the Hostingcon 2008 conference in Chicago, Illinois and conducted an interview with the CEO, Mr. Robert Schovenberg.
Preeti at Web Hosting Search: Tell us a little about how CM4all started…
Mr. Robert Schovenberg: In 1997 my business partner and I began developing a CMS (content management system) for large companies. One of our other projects included offering highly scalable online applications and games. The genesis of our company Content Management AG or CM-AG was therefore a fusion of our project ideas based on hosting thousands of customer accounts on just one server.
WHS: What inspired you to form CM-AG and the CM4all products?
RS: Before the dot.com bubble reached Europe, my business partner Cornel Schnietz and I functioned as normal businessmen in traditional industries but we were both very interested in exploring the potential of the Internet. Our company was founded with a strong entrepreneurial spirit as we were highly motivated to create something unique which would also thrive as a durable and sustainable business. We knew the Internet had the power to change the whole commercial landscape for many companies but from an early stage, we recognized that not every company had the resources to enjoy and profit from the new opportunities.
In the marketplace - even at that early stage - it was not possible to compete against established high-end solutions like Vignette (a CMS and portal management software company) so we looked instead to differentiate ourselves and pioneer a brand new service. We quickly realized that there was a strong market demand for reliable and cost-efficient software to create a professionally designed website which wouldn't force small companies to hire the new breed of online specialist staff to make it and then maintain it.
WHS: What are the strengths of CM4all?
RS: Our strengths can be placed in two broad areas. The products and the provision of the products via partnerships.
Firstly, our products are backed by premium software yet save companies and private individuals a lot of money by simplifying web-based applications to the point where anyone can use them without any training, in any browser and on any networked machine. The CM4all WebsiteCreator for example, packs a lot of online communication and presentation power into highly affordable and easy to make websites. If we consider that today, there are more than 3 million companies in Germany, alone, we know that around 80% of them have experienced or will experience problems in allocating budgets to sustain a convincing online presence. So CM-AG and its CM4all products can literally make a huge difference to operating costs without sacrificing the vital qualities and features companies require from their websites to succeed on the web.
Secondly, as we have pioneered the provision of ARPU-boosting and churn reducing services on a partnership basis, we've effectively become an IT consultancy. At a time when industry experts are openly questioning the mechanics of outsourcing to multiple vendors due to quality of service concerns, we offer a unified approach designed specifically for each partner which also leaves room for future growth. In fact, CM4all Technology is open to new XML web services as it is 100% standard-based and uses SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). So not only are the solutions and software extremely scalable, customizable and comfortable for partners to brand and assimilate, but the way we deliver them is inherently profitable as we can recycle all existing resources - even in so-called legacy systems.
WHS: What makes your company different from the other website builder providers?
RS: Good question! We believe our company represents German software engineering at its best. We have steadily grown for practically the last decade so we don't have web start-up instabilities or the worry of revenue unpredictability for example. We are firmly established as an international company with a portfolio of industry-leading partners.
As our first customers were large hosting and telecommunication companies our software always had to scale and provide superb reliability. That's why we have been investing in our technology for the past 9 years and can serve 100,000+ active users from one Linux server. We also offer some of our biggest partners scalable and fully redundant cluster solutions so perhaps we also differ from other providers in our approach to serving any number of end-customers imaginable.
As I mentioned earlier, since we offer our software through OEM partners, we have to provide easy integration with provisioning and hosting infrastructures to suit every individual partner's unique requirements. This demands the provision of deep consultancy, multiple APIs and an extremely flexible architecture. Besides taking care of maintaining and updating the products, we have always invested considerable man hours to ensure we can smoothly connect products and services to any kind of infrastructure.
Thanks to this flexible consultation-based approach, we can also offer special custom features to our partners to maximize the tailoring of their releases to suit different cultures, target groups and demographics. In fact, CM4all software is already distributed worldwide across 20+ languages so it's clear that our products travel very well.
WHS: How does your software help the average person create a website?
RS: Users are guided through a wizard process to create a website intuitively and without complexity. They can choose between hundreds of pre-loaded designer templates and a huge feature set with just a few clicks to suit their tastes and requirements. It takes less than 10 minutes.
WHS: What are the demands facing content management software at the moment?
RS: Content management software should never stand still. It's an ongoing process where we have to develop new components for a rapidly evolving technology which is increasingly being influenced by the volume of mobile device users. We have to ensure that the demands for accessibility, richer forms of media, presentation and social interaction patterns are all considered, addressed and provided for. This gives us a lot to do because our whole ethos is based on releasing a fully integrated system that takes the technical complexity out of the equation for any level of user while still allowing them the freedom to enjoy the benefits of online innovations in a completely stable and safe environment.
WHS: And finally, as your company has partners all over the world, you must travel a lot. Can we ask you what your favorite Swedish brand is?
RS: Well, good question. To be honest, I don't know. But if you were to ask me what is the most familiar Swedish brand - I would definitely say IKEA. Of course, I don't need to travel a lot to say that because there is one right around the corner.
WHS: Thank you for your time, Mr. Schovenberg.
RS: Thank you, it's been my pleasure. I hope you enjoy the rest of the convention.
If you would like to learn more about the advantages, features and business opportunities offered by CM-AG, please visit their website at CM4all.
At a glance, the current Business and Consumer-specific versions of the CM4all WebsiteCreator include the following features:
- Hundreds of designer templates with thousands of design and color permutations. Flash intros and a Flash editor.
- Event planning engine with private social network community tools including premium maps with a location planner.
- E-commerce functionality in the form of an Online-Shop with PayPal connection. Corporate multimedia broadcast power is released via the updated Business Media Albums and a new Business Blog while consumer users benefit from multimedia-friendly Community Albums.
- Enhanced SEO toolset for Google Analytics along with automatic sitemap.xml creation and keyword entries.
- Websites can also be simultaneously published in HTML, .mobi and W3C Web Accessible pages in easy and intuitive steps.
- A database module and live statistics for visitor analysis and performance monitoring.
- The CM4all WebsiteCreator Editions are AJAX-based, Web 2.0-enhanced and use XML throughout the workflow.
Check out 1&1 hosting to get CM4all here at WHS.
Comments
Tom
19:12, September 1, 2009
Really in-depth interview!