Enterprise

Enterprise is the part of our system that handles content and publishing.

The basic premise

Content does not move within Enterprise. Articles and images are compiled into dossiers and eventually set into layouts for print.

Although content stays in one place, references to it move through the system all the time. For instance, an article will start with a draft status to an editor, and the author can route it to his/her editor so it shows up in an inbox. Eventually that same article—which is still in the same place, though there is now a reference to it in the editor's inbox—has a status that indicates that it's ready for the art department—and some statuses, like this one, will automatically route the art to relevant people (in this case, the entire art department).

Content Station? Elvis? What's the difference?

Think of Elvis as a file cabinet—it holds things in an organized manner so we can find them when we need them.

Enterprise, in that analogy, is the person opening the drawer and collecting the files it needs to assemble something. Enterprise holds content (similar to, say, papers on a desk) so it can push it to other channels, such as print magazines or a website. Put another way—and yes, mixing metaphors—Enterprise is the spider in the middle of the proverbial web, controlling the flow of information and keeping an eye on everything.

There are two ways to access Enterprise: Content Station and Smart Connection. To extend the earlier analogy, these are the two hands of the person opening the drawers of the file cabinet to collect the necessary paperwork.