iPlus Frequently Asked Questions

What is iPlus?

iPlus is an integrated publishing, workflow control and content management product created by Integrated Publishing Solutions Ltd. (IPS).

Why is iPlus useful?

iPlus has particular benefit in the production of marketing documents and statutory reporting within a highly regulated environment, such as the Pharmaceutical and Financial Services industries. The iPlus approach has been particularly successful with clients such as Theadneedle Asset Management and Mellon Global Investments (MGI), in dramatically lowering costs, increasing productivity and increasing the variety and depth of reporting. In the case of MGI, this has equated to the very dramatic cost saving of 75% per annum in their document creation costs, causing a Return On Investment (ROI) within 3 months, and a ten fold increase in the variety of their reporting. These figures are taken from the MGI case study. A further case study developed by both MGI and Adobe can be seen here on Adobe’s US website.

What does iPlus do?

iPlus transforms publishing efficiency, reducing document creation cycles from hours, days or weeks… to seconds. Data can be repurposed in one cycle, creating multiple outputs from the same data at the click of a button. Valuable time is saved for better use, and production costs are significantly reduced.

iPlus enables enterprises to deliver continuously changing information and knowledge more rapidly, more accurately and more efficiently—to build their brand and maintain customer relationships; accelerate information to market; and reduce the publishing cycle. Documents are published on demand or automatically. Document publishing costs are dramatically reduced. Full automation of data processing, document composition and output reduces labour and other step-process costs, while enhancing quality and brand coherence.

iPlus provides powerful, industry-leading professional layout, typographic and formatting functionality combined with a sophisticated content management system and authorisation and authentication system. Data can be drawn from multiple sources, including: databases, XML, HTML, Word, PDF, text and image files. Drawing on common data, multiple outputs can be generated simultaneously, including: Low-res PDF for screen or desktop printing, XML, HTML, PostScript®, PowerPoint®, or Highres PDF four-colour separations for high-quality print, for multiple markets, in one process. Different document versions, for different markets and in different languages can be generated. Create separation between form and content: Data and information can be repurposed easily and dynamically.

What is the iPlus 'Direct Edit' feature?

This feature allows data to be edited in its source format (such as Excel, or Word) whilst being viewed in its output format (such as PDF or HTML). Seamless integration with MS Office provides all the ease of use of Office applications whilst storing data within a structured data model to readily allow for its use in a variety of final output formats. Please view the iPlus demonstration movie for an example.

What output formats can iPlus produce?

iPlus produces output in PDF (print or screen quality), HTML for direct delivery to web sites or Intranets, Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets, CSV spreadsheets, Microsoft Powerpoint® presentation, and XML data output to power any other XML-enabled application. All of these outputs are generated at publishing time from the same common data sources, ensuring consistency.

How did iPlus come into being?

iPlus is the result of over seventeen years of acknowledged pioneering work in database publishing, beginning in the late 1980’s with the production of the world’s first multimedia encyclopedia. These data publishing skills have long since been joined with Java application development skills, beginning with the UK’s first large scale Java application development in the early 1990’s, for DOW Jones Telerate. iPlus is a new product, which draws together these skills and the resulting software components, which had, previously, only been applied in bespoke system development for a broad range of corporate clients.

What are the technical and system requirements for iPlus?

O/S: Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP/Vista, or Solaris.
Data bases: Oracle, MySQL, Embedded 100% Java Data bases.
Core Technologies: Miramo® (including xsl translator) and Adobe FrameMaker®

What are the key financial benefits?

  • Large scale reduction in Production costs
  • Massive decrease in personnel hours for production process - valuable personnel time can be redirected to a better purpose
  • Rapid return on investment - typically we provide a ROI within 6 months
  • Fast implementation of system - we understand the need for a quick and streamlined change-over to a new process

What languages does iPlus support?

iPlus fully supports the unicode standard, enabling production of documents in Chinese, Japanese and Korean as well as Central European and Cyrillic.

Is iPlus a DTP Package?

No, in effect we take the 'Desktop' out of the publishing process. We provide a server based publishing process in which the user has zero exposure to any DTP package. Page composition is abstracted out of the process. A client will apply a style guide and template definition, these are then built into the automated process. Should the scope of the publishing system be extended, then the system can be readily extended to match. For example, a Major US bank began with a single publication type in a single language and now the system covers 53 different styles of report, in 6 languages, to support all client types in 15 global regions (And growing). All this by a team of 3 people!