The Widen Collective offers a suite of Software as a Service applications developed to meet the critical demands of creative, marketing and sales functions. Five core applications in the suite serve the three distinct areas of supporting the digital media lifecycle – workflow & collaboration, management & distribution, publishing & print.
History
Widen Research & Development teams have been developing software in support of clients’ creative, production and marketing operations for 12 years. As a pioneer to the graphic communications industry since 1948, Widen leverages extensive graphic arts knowledge of Mac OS and Windows operating systems, complex file types, various file formats, and color space conversions to master digital file components. The understanding of these components has been critical to developing and providing a powerful, easy-to-use system creating accurate, usable media for immediate use in print or web channels. Learn more about Widen's history.
About Site Implementation
Once a client decides to purchase the Widen Collective, steps to implementation include:
- Site Survey that reviews all the possible features and setup of Widen Collective
- Users and Assets imported into Widen Collective
- Beta Site Testing / Experimentation done by the customer
- General & Administrative Training
- Client Feedback and Updates
- Final Review and Sign-off
- Final Training and Launch
- Custom Client Collective Release with help from Widen on making users aware of the new functionality
Site Administration and Reporting
Administration of Widen Collective gives close to full control of the entire site to Administrators. User setup and security, along with digital asset upload, organization and security can all be controlled through an Administrator application contained in Widen Collective.
Along with site setup, most actions done on Collective are tracked and can be accessed through the Reporting application by Administrators. At any time, Administrators can run reports on users, assets, and asset orders by date range. Reports can be downloaded in CSV or XLS format for further manipulation as needed. Any information that cannot be obtained through the Reporting application can be requested and Widen can retrieve data in a readable format.
Customization / Feature Requests
Additional customization to Widen Collective can be done at the request of a customer. A feature request will document all requirements by the customer and how Widen will implement a solution. All customization will be priced separately from the initial implementation based on the customer approved documentation. The price may vary depending on the complexity of the implementation within Widen Collective.
Release Schedule
Widen releases new versions of Widen Collective every summer and winter. All customers receive universal changes to the Collective and custom features are worked into the new releases. Prior to each release, customers are notified of the upcoming enhancements or changes so they can provide appropriate notifications to their user base.
Collective Integration
Widen integrates with many outside applications and databases. Each integration is evaluated and discussed with development teams to finalize the solution. Widen Collective offers Web Services integration to easily share data with other systems.
The Widen Appliance can also be purchased in conjunction with Widen Collective to integrate with local network workflows. The Widen Appliance consists of a local hardware/software configuration that stores digital asset data for local access and backup.
Quality Assurance
- All software is tested by an internal Quality Assurance team that works closely with Collective development from the initial discussion phases.
- Quality Assurance performs the following tests: Basic Acceptance, Exploratory, Feature, Boundary, Compatibility, Performance, Load, Concurrency, and Automated.
- Widen supports and tests on the following Web Browsers: Internet Explorer 6 and 7 and Mozilla Firefox 2+ on Window OS, and Safari 3+ and Mozilla Firefox 2+ on Mac OS.
- See more detailed information by downloading our full QA document.
Maintenence / Technical Support
- Technical support personnel are available via phone and email from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central Time.
- Technical systems are monitored 24/7.
System Availability
- Proven up-time of 99.9+%.
- Backup power sources, and monitored infrastructure makes this a non-issue for customers.
Security
- Application Security:
- Widen security practices follow the ISO 27001 standard code of practice for information security.
- Third party audits are conducted annually.
- SSL certificates reside on each of Widen’s web servers.
- Backups:
- Widen employs incremental nightly backups to ensure no data is lost.
- Weekly offsite backups are done to protect against any possible disaster at Widen.
- Physical Security:
- Servers are stored in a centrally located, biometrically accessed room with dedicated HVAC and FM-200 fire suppression.
- All servers contain dual power supplies with each supply connected to a separate UPS.
- The room power is backed up with a power generator if an extended outage should occur.