E-Site Brings OEMs to Web

Electronic News, June 21, 1999 by Chad Fascsa

New York- Cahners Business Information, parent of Electronic News, today at the 36th Design Automation Conference in New Orleans is taking the wraps off e-inSITE, www.e-insite.net, a comprehensive Internet resource for OEM professionals.

The glue of a major Web development initiative at the business-to- business publisher, the new Web site blends the experience of 17 electronics publications, dedicated online editors, five market research units, and strategic technology and content partners into a knowledge network covering the entire electronics product development lifecycle.

The site's goal is to meet the engineer's information needs at each stage of the product development process through market data, breaking news, business analysis, design application tutorials, product information, and vertical market coverage.

Cahners research estimates 95 percent of engineers have access to the Internet and spend an average of 13.4 hours online each week with 86 percent relying on Web sites for design ideas and tips, 88 percent relying on the Internet for technical information, and 65 percent search the Web for comparative products.

At the same time, most OEM professionals now juggle multiple projects at once with different needs for each project, according to Steve Paul, director of Internet marketing at Cahners Electronics Group.

The average number of projects that an engineer works on in one year has increased from 9.3 in 1995 to 16.6 in 1998, according to Cahners research, with the average project length shrinking to 8 months from 12 months.

With engineers engaging the Internet to do more work in less time, Cahners believes that OEM professionals require a one-stop online shop to aid them from product conception to the design of an end product through its manufacture, distribution and ultimately its sales, service and support.

"E-inSITE is designed to provide critical information at key points in the product lifecycle, giving electronics professionals a competitive edge for their company, project and career," said Jeff Greisch, vice president and group publisher.

Based on a sophisticated content management system, e-inSITE will serve as the navigational hub for a network of sites. A dedicated online staff will deliver breaking news and product information. For more in- depth technology-specific content, e-inSITE provides content amassed from Cahners Electronics Group's niche publications tackling industry segments such as communications, DSP, EDA, embedded technology, programmable logic, and test and measurement.

To make industry-specific searches easier, Cahners has developed E-WIZ, an electronics industry specific search engine that regularly indexes more than 1,200 key industry Web sites in 18 technology categories. OEM professionals can access specialized search engine through e-inSITE.

For strategic market analysis, the new Web site draws upon the research efforts of Cahners In-Stat, Cahners MicroDesign Resources, EEMBC, Cahners Research, Cahners Economics, and CARR reports. Engineers can search the e-inSITE's industry events database and map out their career plans in the site's CareerBuilder job section. The site also provides links to the 17 publications of the Cahners Electronics group as well as Cahners Manufacturing Marketplace Web site (www.manufacturing.net).

Engineers and managers can also keep abreast of the latest technology and financial developments with an e-mail newsletter and exclusive electronics industry stock index offered on the site.

Samsung, Mentor Graphics, Xilinx and Atmel have signed on as premiere sponsors for the new site.