Founded and run by veterans of companies like marchFIRST, the offering of technology like content management into the middle market is like a chapter out of an old television series as CrownPeak boldly goes where no technology has gone before.

On a Kia Budget

According to the company, CrownPeak's Advantage CMS will deliver some top-notch content management features -- system control, versioning, spell checking, link checking, comprehensive workflow, security monitoring, multilingual interfaces, database management and wireless capability -- all in a simple browser-based interface.

Recognizing that few if any mid-sized business have IT experts in-house, CrownPeak said it has designed the application so it can be run easily -- it is geared to nontechnical "subject matter experts," giving a business greater access and control over its Web presence.

To put the technology within reach of smaller budgets, clients do not buy or license the software. Instead, clients pay an initial software setup fee, which includes setting up templates and interfaces, and then lease it on a monthly basis. While officials did not disclose the actual cost of the package, they did say it was one-half to one-tenth the cost of established "best-of-breed" packaged systems and could be installed in one to three weeks.

"This is Porsche performance on a Kia budget, delivered as a service," said Jim Howard, a former senior executive at marchFIRST who became chief executive officer for CrownPeak on May 1st.

Exploring Strange New Worlds

While the number of mid-sized and small businesses in the United States dwarfs the number of major corporations, most smaller firms have been slow to step up to the plate when it comes to technology. There are no solid numbers on mid-sized business, since the category is not well defined. But reports on small businesses -- companies with fewer than 500 employees -- indicate that slightly less than half have even gotten to the point of having an Internet presence.

CrownPeak's showcase customer, Workforce.com, the online property of Workforce Magazine, has more than six years of accumulated content to manage, making it a very rare exception. In the brave new world of online content, a lot of companies don't last six months, let alone six years.

While the market share and numbers of mid-sized businesses are certainly large enough to warrant interest, it remains to be seen whether there are enough of them with the need and know-how to foster a whole new level of technological adaptation.