Technology Paper

Week 5

Syndication of the Web

July 23, 2003

Robert Lyons

EBUS/500.1

C. Denver Mullican

Syndication of the Web

“Syndication involves the sale of the same good to many customers, who then integrate it with other offerings and redistribute it (Werbach, 2000).” E-Trade is one such organization. They distinguish themselves from their competition by the way they package and price the information they sell not through the information itself. Syndication is a very different way of structuring the business of today. This way of doing business is very different than the way business has been done in the past. It requires small and large businesses to rethink their tactical and strategic plans, thus causing the reshaping of organizations. This will also change the way they interact with customers and partner with other entities. In addition, businesses will be forced to develop new models for collecting revenues and earning profits.

Syndication has traditionally been rare in the business world for three reasons. First, syndication works only with information goods. Second, syndication requires modularity. Third, syndication requires many independent distribution points (Werbach, 2000).

Within this syndication network, businesses can play three different roles or a company can play one role in a syndication network, or two or three roles simultaneously. The three roles are originators, syndicators, or distributors. The originators create the original product or content. The syndicators package the content for distribution to the distributors. Often times they integrate it with the product or content from other originators. And last but not least, the distributors deliver the content to customers (Werbach, 2000).

Within the structure of syndication there are syndicators and distributors. Syndicators save the distributors from having to find all of the different originators in an effort to gather all of the content that they want to package and eventually put out for distribution. The syndicators are able to collect standard formats and contracts from a variety of sources and making it readily available. This part of the process frees the distributors from having to find and negotiate with dozens or even hundreds of different originators. This allows syndicators to act as information collectors by collecting and packaging digital information in a way that adds value to it. In the physical world, it is very difficult to find a syndicator that works alone and is not associated with the entertainment industry. With the popularity of the Internet ever increasing, it is making this business model increasingly predominate on the Net.

Distributors are the side of the business world that the customer faces. The distributors use syndication to lower their costs for acquiring content and to expand the value to provide consumers. As stated earlier in this report, E-Trade is one example of an organization that provides distribution.

Syndicating the Internet opens up an endless amount of opportunities for the individual proprietor, small, and large corporation alike. It also provides an enormous amount of freedom to companies of all sizes. It enables businesses to choose where they wish to concentrate their efforts and to add on an infinite number of other businesses that can handle the remaining elements to complete the services offered. Unlike outsourcing, it does not restrict flexibility.