Website Pros: Plans for NetObjects Fusion
and the User Community

As most of you know, at the end of August NetObjects abruptly closed its doors and "ceased operations". It was quite a scary thing considering that thousands of users had invested thousands of hours building thousands of websites using the Fusion product. It was also particularly bad news for the Coolmaps Components Club whose sole purpose of existence is to support Fusion users.

But, as most of you also know, last month Florida-based Website Pros formally announced that they were buying many of the assets from NetObjects, including Fusion and Matrix.

After the news was announced, many of us expected to start hearing bold announcements and definitive statements from the new owner. However, when no such announcements were made, we became worried that the deal was not for real, or that the only true interest this new company had was in Matrix. At coolmaps.com we received many emails from worried Club members who began believing that "no news was bad news".

Last week, Peter Sklar, founder and Chief Navigational Officer of coolmaps.com had the opportunity to talk with the individuals on the Website Pros management team who are now in charge of the NetObjects acquisition. The managers talked openly with Peter as they shared new developments, plans and intentions.

The news is good, very good.

Peter reports that the deal is now on track to close formally within the next couple of weeks. SEC approval is still required, but appears likely.

Peter also reports that Website Pros is so confident that the deal is a "GO" that they have taken the initiative to hire some former NetObjects employees, including key members of the Fusion development team, and the VP of products at NetObjects, Jim Calhoun.

In a conversation with Jim, Peter was told that a new version of Fusion is due this spring.

Jim also said that live technical and customer support would be back online by the time the deal closes in early December. He said it will include an expanded support team operating out of a new call center outfitted with the latest and greatest gear for tracking and resolving customer issues in a timely manner.

Of course, a state-of-the-art CRM system cannot offer the same level of personal attention and caring that is provided to members of the Coolmaps Components Club, but it certainly is a step-up from what we have seen from NetObjects in the last year. :-)

Overall, Peter was quite impressed with Website Pros and their resolve. It was reassuring that the new company is deeply committed to continuing with the development of Fusion. It is also reassuring that Website Pros understands that software development is not just about releasing regular software updates, but about meeting the needs of the user community. Coolmaps is sincerely excited to be working with Website Pros and we expect great things in the future.