essful publisher, you cannot afford to start out with, or use 30-year-old technology that was developed before the arrival of the commercial Internet. You need a business support system speciHow much has the publishing industry changed over the past 30 years? A lot! So why are most publishing companies using business support systems that were built in the 70's and have been obsolete since the 80's? Because someone has convinced them that it is easier and cheaper to put lipstick on a pig than to breed a new animal. Let me tell you, it is not easy and it is far from cheap...it can take a lot of lipstick!

The point is, you can put lipstick on that pig but underneath it is still a pig. Likewise, the old technologies and platforms can be patch-worked, ported, made to work with a mouse, and dressed up with attractive screen images, but they are still old technology systems underneath. As a successful publisher, you cannot afford to start out with, or use 30-year-old technology that was developed before the arrival of the commercial Internet. You need a business support system specif

ete since the 80's? Because someone has convinced them that it is easier and cheaper to put lipstick on a pig than to breed a new animal. Let me tell you, it is not easy and it is far from cheap...it can take a lot of lipstick!

The point is, you can put lipstick on that pig but underneath it is still a pig. Likewise, the old technologies and platforms can be patch-worked, ported, made to work with a mouse, and dressed up with attractive screen images, but they are still old technology systems underneath. As a successful publisher, you cannot afford to start out with, or use 30-year-old technology that was developed before the arrival of the commercial Internet. You need a business support system speci

t is far from cheap...it can take a lot of lipstick!

The point is, you can put lipstick on that pig but underneath it is still a pig. Likewise, the old technologies and platforms can be patch-worked, ported, made to work with a mouse, and dressed up with attractive screen images, but they are still old technology systems underneath. As a successful publisher, you cannot afford to start out with, or use 30-year-old technology that was developed before the arrival of the commercial Internet. You need a business support system speci

technologies and platforms can be patch-worked, ported, made to work with a mouse, and dressed up with attractive screen images, but they are still old technology systems underneath. As a successful publisher, you cannot afford to start out with, or use 30-year-old technology that was developed before the arrival of the commercial Internet. You need a business support system speciessful publisher, you cannot afford to start out with, or use 30-year-old technology that was developed before the arrival of the commercial Internet. You need a business support system specifically designed for publishing enterprises. Some systems are built from the ground up in this century on a modern platform that takes full advantage of the native Windows environment. Their centralized, integrated, scalable design will enable you to navigate the changes ahead for the publishing world...from automated Web orders to the ISBN-13 transition.

If the challenge of keeping your old system modern is becoming difficult and expensive, it is time for a change. There are a number of systems to choose from but be sure to examine the software thoroughly. In addition, make sure they have a maintenance program that will continue to service and update the software. Or else down the line you will end up putting lipstick on your new pig.