$870,000 to help software company

A boost in funding for technology company Author-it will be plugged into further developments of its content management software.

The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology has invested $870,000 into the software company.

Author-it has gone from start-up to servicing more than 3500 clients around the world. Clients range from electronics giant Philips through to the North Shore City Council.

It will match the funding from FRST's TechNZ programme dollar for dollar.

The Auckland-based company, which has an office in the US, intends using the cash injection to develop a web-based version of the software.

Company president Steve Davis said the company had grown from offering one product for desktop publishing to offering large companies a content management solution.

Author-it creator Paul Trotter developed the system while working as a technical writer in the mid 1990s.

Frustrated with the cut-and-paste process while converting a written manual into a help desk system, he started work on the system in his spare bedroom.

What has developed is a system which manages content by storing it in small reusable chunks.

These components can be anything from a single word through to a paragraph, a graphic, or even a link.

When content needs to be updated, changes can be made across multiple documents wherever the information appears.

"The investment means we can concentrate more fully on our latest innovation, develop a product that is likely to be better than if we were depending on entirely our own resources, get to market more quickly and earn valuable export income sooner," said Davis.

Foundation business manager Craig Adams said the company used its own product to apply for the funding.

"As a documentation company they certainly do live by their own skills. They say they eat their own dog food," he said.

Adams said standout features of the company were its big ambitions, a company structure that helped it grow commercially at the same time as developing the technology and its aggressive international expansion.

He said many companies struggled to make the leap from attracting early adopters to cutting deals in the marketplace.

It is the second time Author-it has received funding from the Foundation's TechNZ fund.