Publishing platforms case study
‘It was time for a fundamental change’
Publisher De Gruyter describes a transformation of its business, which it describes as a ‘big step forward’ into the digital age
Academic publishing has been in a state of constant flux and change for some time now. What used to be a print-focused environment has become a digital industry, and more and more publishers are realising that the traditional publishing mindset simply no longer cuts it in the data-driven world. It is little wonder that, every day, publishers are trying to interlink the old with the new and taking up initiatives to reinvent themselves. Berlin-based De Gruyter, a mid-
sized publisher with a strong focus on humanities scholarship, whose origins date all the way back to 1749, is no exception. Managing director Carsten Buhr explained: ‘Sooner or later, we will no longer acquire books or journals as product formats, but rather content in which conventional format thinking no longer plays a role.’
Change began when the challenges
around De Gruyter’s off-the-shelf platform became impossible to ignore. It was less and less able to deal with the growing volume and complexity of content and data it had to manage, and the team realised that if it was to provide a better user experience and keep up with the fast-paced digital world, it needed to take back control.
First step: a new modern, stable, accessible platform ‘It was time for a fundamental change,’ said Scott Williams, VP platform and technology at De Gruyter. The company ended its long-running technology partnership and decided to invest heavily in their technological infrastructure by insourcing platform development and adopting a “digital first” mentality based around four core pillars. Step 1 would see its entire content moved to the cloud and
24 Research Information December 2021/January 2022
“It was less and less able to deal with the growing volume and complexity of content and data it had to manage”
then step 2, the creation and build of its own bespoke modern digital platform. To do the latter, De Gruyter formed a new partnership with Oxford-based technology consultancy 67 Bricks. ‘No one gets our data quite like 67 Bricks. We found them to be a perfect fit,’ said Williams.
Feel the fear and do it anyway! A bold decision had been made, but interlinking the old with the new was not straightforward. Williams said: ‘Change is emotional. There was a fear that this technology project was bound to fail. It required a huge investment and we had to gain internal stakeholders’ trust, many of whom were skeptical at first. We had a lot to prove.’
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