Looking for software - tiered architecture content management

[cadenwhitaker]

Hey all,

I've come across a situation that I've never really thought about: Where do you to find enterprise level software??? I'm looking for a particular type of software, searching the net on various key-words have proven fruitless. I hope that this is a place that can help me

I have a requirement to find a software that is like a content-management-system, like an ERP, like a data repository. Think of it like this:

It is hard to describe exactily what the company does, but let me give it a shot. In a nutshell we provide canned corporate training based on the needs of the corporation.

First someone (sales/business) goes to a corporation and understands the training needs they require based on various elements (company size, company type, structure, etc).

We have a set of pre-built templates that are used to build a new request off of, they look like this:
- Template 1: Standard Windows Training
---- Microsoft Office
-------- Microsoft Excel
---------------- Excel 101 (PDF)
---------------- Excel Beginner's Guide (AVI)
---------------- Excel Advanced (PDF)
---------------- Excel Advanced Macros (PDF)
-------- Microsoft Word
---------------- Word 101 (PDF)
-------- Microsoft Powerpoint
---------------- Powerpoint 101 (PDF)
-------- Microsoft Access
---------------- Access 101 (PDF)

- Template 2: HR/Compliance Training
---- Relationships
-------- National
---------------- Working with people (PDF)
-------- International
---------------- Working with people from other cultures (PDF)
---- Policy
-------- Corporate Policy
---------------- The Dangers of Moonlighting (AVI)
---------------- How to keep your job (AVI)


Overall we are talking about a 3-tiered architecture. What people do is for each Company they will choose one (or more) of those templates and then check the options that apply for that Client. Client A my want windows training but they may not be interested in Excel at all, but they may want some Corporate Policy included. This would get saved as a new entry with copies of each of the selected nodes. These nodes could be edited without changing the template. For example, they might want to call "The Dangers of Moonlighting" "The Dangers of working off-hours" or other such details.

Effectivley this is just data. And we need this to revolve around a super slick interface. Something that is easy for an end user to use without much training. So they can add these nodes, move the nodes around, translate the nodes into new languages. Some of those nodes are "rich text" - meaning instead of a direct link to a PDF/AVI file it is actual content stored (html) in the database. Multi-lingual is a MUST.

The company has been focused in looking for software in their industry, but I've been thinking that this tiered-data-architecure must exist in other industries, maybe there is something out there we can use as a basis. Is there a term for this type of software? It isn't really a content management system (but it kind of is). CMSes like Drupal are waaay to free-form and I haven't seen good multi-lingual support. In order to do something like this easily in Drupal, with a very slick UI, it'd most-likely need to be built from the ground up (IMHO). The same goes for most other systems. They aren't designed around this so things like Translation feel Clunky.

Again, any help would be most appreciated. And if this isn't the correct place, do you have any ideas where a question like this could be posted?

 

[johngrey55]

You probably already found the solution...

Anyway, I regularly use www.bsoco.com.
I think it's a good benchmark, because all data are from users of software which is rarely the case elsewhere.

However, do not rely only on the rating and ranking of this web. I advise you to be accompanied by an expert in the area.

 

[Alabalcho]

There are several big players in ERP - Oracle, SAP, Salesforce. But you are up for a knowledgeable consultant who can steer you toward the right company, with right products.