My KM Column article for July is on deploying a CMS. To quote: While selecting the right content management system (CMS) is crucial for success, it is not sufficient. There is also much that needs to be done during the implementation to ensure that the initial project is successful, and the CMS is viable in the long-term. Implementing a CMS is not easy. There are many aspects that must be addressed, and most of these are not related to the technology. Instead, they are focused on the people and process issues within the organisation. This article outlines a structured approach

My second CM Briefing looks at self-sufficiency in a CMS. To quote: While it is important to identify key functional requirements when selecting a content management system (CMS), some of the most important issues relate to how the CMS works, rather that what it does. In particular, the issue of self-sufficiency is one that should be addressed by all organisations looking to purchase a content management system.

This briefing provides an at-a-glance definition of terms for a range of information systems, including CMS, DMS and RMS.

At Caloundra City Council, the Customer Service Officers (who staff the front desk and call centre) have come up with a great way of keeping their intranet up-to-date. It's called the buddy system, and it works something like this: Volunteers within customer service are partnered up with key staff within the different business units. They then discuss how the arrangement will work, including who will do what, when contact is made, and who updates the intranet. The customer service staff then take the initiative, and keep in touch with their assigned buddies, to find out whether there are changes or

Just before my week away fishing, I started with a new client, a NSW Government department who are implementing a new intranet. They have all the tools, including a top-tier CMS and search tool. What they are not sure on is the best way to proceed with the very difficult task of addressing intranet issues, so I was called in as an "on-call expert" to answer questions, and help out as required. From my perspective, this is a great little project, as it gives me exposure to some interesting challenges, without getting too bogged down in actual implementation. This is

This briefing helps to dispell the widespread confusion in the marketplace between document management systems (DMS) and content management systems (CMS).

Metrics are an effective way of setting project targets, assessing success, and tracking ongoing health. This article summarises a range of practical KM and CM-related…

When in Canberra this week, we talked about CMS implementation issues. The same problem arose that has existed for all my other clients, with the potential to make the CMS very difficult to implement. Here's the issue: Before starting to develop a CMS solution, you need to deploy a fully-functional staff phone directory ("whitepages"). This should have the following features: Provides standard contact information: name, phone number, e-mail address, etc. Records which department and team each staff person belongs to. Identifies each staff person's job role. Records the relationships between staff (such as "reports to", or "managed by", etc) Accurate

Following on from my work with the government department yesterday, I've just sent through my summary of the day, and my recommendations. Looking at the options for authoring, these were my high-level recommendations: Develop a range of authoring tools, matched to the specific needs of the content, audience and authors. No single authoring tool will meet all needs, without considerably compromising the quality and maintainability of the intraweb. A long list of potential document types have already been identified. Examine each of these in turn, against the following criteria: nature of the content (length; degree of structure; formatting and layout

I've just spent the day in Canberra, doing some consultancy work for one of the government departments. With the plane flight there and back, it makes for a long day, but well worth the effort. The organisation currently has an intranet, of sorts. It has grown organically, and is developed using Frontpage. Each group has been trained to use Frontpage, and has gone away and created themselves a little subsite. Every section of the intranet looks completely different, and all changes are made directly to the live version. A scary system all round. Needless to say, they are looking at