Step Two Designs

There are many enterprise social tools, which vary greatly in their capabilities, and it is important to choose carefully.

It should not be automatically assumed that the one CMS will ideally serve both the intranet and website.

There are three groups involved in the selection of a new CMS: steering committee or senior sponsor, the stakeholder group, and the evaluation team.

There is a simple answer to the question: how long will it take to choose a new CMS?

More than just about finding the right CMS product, it’s also about obtaining a vendor who can support your needs for the lifetime of the solution.

Content management scenarios provide a ‘day in the life’ description of how the CMS will be used in practice.”

If a CMS is not usable then it will not be successfully used by authors, and this can be assessed during product selection.

Organisations often make the selection of a CMS much harder than it needs to be. They do this by running into common pitfalls that impact on the selection and success of the CMS project.

Organisations are almost always better served by separating out the design and the CMS, and sourcing these from different providers.

How good are the search capabilities built into CMS products, and when should you make use of them?

We are looking for the product that is the best fit to the organisation’s needs. What is rarely recognised, however, is that while we are evaluating vendors, CMS vendors are also evaluating us.

One of the greatest fears when selecting a new CMS is that the vendor will go bust, but more must be done that just purchasing from a ‘big’ vendor and hoping for the best.

The requirement for self-sufficiency should be addressed by all organisations looking to purchase a content management system.

AGIMO Better Practice Checklist, for those given the responsibility to determine CMS requirements and evaluate products.

Open-source CMS has now matured to the point where it should be considered alongside commercial products, but is not without its weaknesses and issues.

In the context of limited budgets and timetables, organisations must identify the most uncertain aspects of a CMS project, and concentrate management efforts on them.

There are two main publishing models used by content management systems: dynamic and batch publishing, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.

An important first step is to gain an understanding of the CMS marketplace. This briefing outlines a few of the practical ways of doing so.

There are real problems with many tenders released, and it is valuable to revisit the purpose of a CMS tender.

While a CMS tender should focus on business requirements, technology issues will need to be specified, but in a way that ensures the best system is not knocked out of the running.

Gives a practical introduction to content management systems, and how they can benefit an organisation.

The success of a CMS depends it being used, and whether authors create content. It these two challenges makes the usability of the CMS critically important.

By following a requirements-focused methodology, instead of feature-driven approach, the right CMS can be selected to meet your unique business needs.

Content management systems should be made to meet specific business goals. Without a clear vision of these goals, it is impossible to track the success of the project, or ensure that the benefits are maximised.

There are a huge number of vendors and products in the CMS market, and comparing them is difficult. This paper describes tools, techniques and tips for selecting a CMS that meets your needs.