Springer Takes Control Of Its Online Content Delivery

Launched in 1996, SpringerLink was one of the first publicly-available online content platforms. The site was originally used as a home to some of the company’s journals, but as online content became an increasingly important part of the company’s business, SpringerLink became the hub for every journal the company published, and later, its entire library of books.

With a massive content library and a shift in revenues from print to electronic, Springer needed a greater level of flexibility and control over its online content distribution, which had grown to account for two-thirds of total company revenue. The Springer team required:

• An in-house solution. For eight years, Springer was using a third-party technology provider to power SpringerLink. As it evolved into a crucial component of the company’s revenue, the Springer team members decided that they didn’t want that strategic asset resting on a technology they didn’t own
• Rapid deployment. With the end of the outsourced technology contract fast approaching, Springer faced the daunting task of completing the project in just 11 months.
• Fast search. As online content exploded, readers came to expect better functionality from content providers, including sub-second search.

Springer chose the MarkLogic® database as its new platform because it allowed the company to deliver more rich applications to their customers, creating a user experience that went beyond simply delivering a piece of content. The Springer team had previously built and deployed some high-performing applications using MarkLogic, including a tool to track the locations of document authors, a search engine for mathematicians, a program that displays snippets of scientific language in a publishing context, and SpringerImages, a robust platform that allows users to search through millions of images stored in SpringerLink.