Maximum PC

Future Network USA Chooses Atomz Hosted Solutions Suite to Further its Web Site Operations
The Company: Future Network USA

Future Network USA (www.futurenetworkusa.com) is a leading publisher of special-interest technology, video game and music magazines. Future Network USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Future Network plc, which was founded in the UK in 1985. Future Network USA has built its success on a strategy of "passion": serving markets where there is a thirst for expert knowledge and advice. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Future Network USA's 12 publications sell in excess of 2.2 million copies per month. Its market-leading titles include PC Gamer, PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, Mobile PC, Maximum PC, MacAddict, EZ Tech Guides and guitar titles: Guitar World, Guitar World Acoustic (bi-monthly), Guitar World Bass Guitar (semi-annual, bimonthly in 2004), Guitar World Legends (quarterly) and Guitar One.
The Challenge

In order to maintain its competitive edge, Future Network USA realized it needed to provide its Web site readers with the information they were looking for more quickly. Faced with the real challenge of keeping costs predictable and affordable while maintaining customer loyalty, the company’s goal was to find a comprehensive solution that would provide overall back-end support and optimize the company’s Web site while allowing them to remain focused on their core competencies.

“We no longer wanted to build our own publishing system or worry about a server farm and the back-end processes needed to keep servers up and running. We wanted to outsource these responsibilities to save money while leveraging the hard work someone else had already done,” said Nancy Durlester, IT Director of Future Network USA. “In essence, we needed a company to host the site, manage the servers and the entire back-end process, and provide powerful content management and site search capabilities.”
Atomz On-Demand Web Site Solutions

Following in the footsteps of another Future Network publication, Future Network USA chose Atomz Enterprise, a comprehensive on-demand solutions suite, to fit its needs to simplify Web site operations and lower IT costs.

Atomz Hosted Solutions Streamline Web Site Publishing Processes

Atomz’s Site-Centered Content Management makes Future Network USA’s Web site the center of its enterprise management operations. Atomz’s ad hoc workflow maintains site integrity and allows for dynamic collaboration among content contributors allowing consistent internal communication.

“Before Atomz, we had different magazines with different requirements, using different ways to publish to each site. Once we selected Atomz Enterprise, we were deployed within a month and it significantly streamlined our Web site publishing processes,” remarked Durlester. “Atomz’s excellent customer service and support has proven that any problems that arise are rapidly diagnosed and fixed on the spot!”
Benefit to Future Network

Since implementing Atomz Enterprise, Future Network USA has streamlined its Web site operations effectiveness and increased ROI and customer retention rate. Future Network’s dedication to customer satisfaction and unparalleled technical excellence has earned loyalty among Web developers, designers and engineers. They selected Atomz just like thousands of other leading Web sites including: TimeWarner, CBS, palmOne, Gannett Corporation, NASA, Princess Cruises and Sharp Electronics.
The End Result

Since implementing Atomz award-winning on-demand enterprise solutions, Future Network USA has experienced the following benefits:
100% uptime and availability due to Atomz’s 24/7/365 customer support and application and Web site monitoring
Internal ease-of-use and operability for all levels of proficiency
Optimized Web site operations through use of on-demand hosted solution.
About The Future Network plc

Today, The Future Network plc publishes over 100 special-interest consumer magazines worldwide, is the world’s leading publisher of video games magazines and is the fifth largest magazine publisher in the UK. Future employs around 1,000 people in offices in the US, UK, Italy and France. Over 100 international editions of Future’s magazines are also published in 31 other countries across the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FNET).