With limited technical staff, VMI chose Estrada for its Web content management system that provides a total Internet solution in one flexible platform. Estrada will allow the university to minimize routine maintenance costs and resources, and instead maximize the quality, appeal and organization of its Web site information.

“We're looking to improve the appearance and functionality of our Web site, while at the same time providing more informative and dynamic content,” said Chuck Steenburgh, VMI's acting director of public relations. “Estrada will allow us to leverage our Web development resources in order to accomplish our ambitious strategic marketing goals."

Estrada will allow VMI to work more productively and efficiently— enhancing Return on Investment and reducing costs significantly. Estrada’s built-in workflow, management reporting and development and tools reduce the time and effort required to maintain existing sites and deploy new ones.

Estrada increases productivity and efficiency by distributing Web authoring and maintenance throughout a company or organization, enabling staff of all skill levels to create and update Web information simply. What sets Estrada apart from other Web development and content management tools is its ease of use. Users can learn to author Web pages in a short two-hour training session.

Estrada also helps contain technical staffing costs and will allow VMI technologists to focus on advancing its site’s functionality instead of routine maintenance.

Estrada includes security features, including a hierarchical permission structure, stringent processes for reviewing content before it is published, and centralized control over design, navigation and other aspects of all pages within the site. Features also include taxonomy, workflow and site management reporting.

Estrada provides the stringent security and central control required to handle a large enterprise Web site. As a fully scaleable technology, there is no limit to the number of users or Web sites that VMI can create and manage. As a cross-platform and server-based technology, Estrada allows user access from Windows, Apple or Linux operating systems, or handheld computing devices—anywhere with an Internet connection.

While Estrada is ready to use “out of the box,” this total Internet solution also makes it easy for clients to create custom functionalities and integrate existing computing systems using Estrada’s flexible development platform and development kits.

The Web renovation is part of an integrated marketing package from Stamats Communications, an Estrada partner. Stamats has over 40 years in higher education marketing, providing Web design, print production, and branding services to over 200 active university clients.

U.S. News and World Report ranked VMI as the top public national liberal arts college for 2002. Located in Lexington, Va., VMI is the nation's oldest state-supported military college. Providing an education within the framework of military discipline, VMI strives to educate the citizen-soldier for leadership roles in society, individual professions and the military.

About Gandalf Development, Inc.