Blogging applicance for corporate communications

A company called WhatCounts has just announced the first "blogging in a box" applicance for companies that want to incorporate blogs into their communications strategies.

BlogUnit is "tuned to network security requirements and can be up-and-running in 15 minutes." It can be used to "author, manage, measure, deliver, and syndicate" blogs.

According to E-Media Tidbits, which pointed me to this news item, the appliance helps resolve one concern companies often have with blogs: employees posting unreviewed content. An approval and permission system is built in.

The president and CEO of WhatCounts says, “Blogging is a growing reality for corporations worldwide as they look for ways to improve communications with their key audiences...But there are a myriad of issues, such as accountability, accuracy and security that corporations have to address as they get into this new territory.”

At a quick glance, it seems as if this could be a good solution for companies that want to get into blogging but are nervous about the security and permissions issues. And blogging can be a KM solution, as explained in this T+D blog post and the additional posts listed at the end.