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The business case for upgrading to today’s more sophisticated
WCMS
Marketing and communications are taking more and more control over Web content. And, as they do,
it’s no secret that the amounts of web content in the organization, along with the tools producing it,
have increased like never before. The explosiveness of social and mobile content alone has more than
doubled the number of properties that the average marketing organization is now producing.
Whitepaper
Amsterdam • Boston Follow the Hippo trail: onehippo.com
Realizing the ROI of Today’s WCM Systems
Author: Robert Rose
Get in touch with Hippo: [email protected]
North America: +1 877 414 47 76 (toll free)
Europe: +31 20 522 44 66
As the content on the web becomes more mobile
(including both smartphones, tablets and other devices)
and more social, the need for web sites to expand in
other languages also expands. More content than ever is
being added to the global content strategy. As translation
vendor Lionbridge has said “15 years ago localization
needs centered on product and documentation. Today it
extends into mobile advertising, customer care, support
documents, educational materials, ecommerce, social
media, community-generated content and beyond.”
It’s just no longer productive to publish “content” out in
some static way. Whether it’s web sites, mobile content,
wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, social media or any type of
enterprise collaboration, the key is that content (in many
cases) moves IN to the organization just as fast as it
moves out.
It’s the same level of flexibility that has made publishing
to the web so easy for consumers that has created its own
set of challenges. Organizations now have to both “stand
out” among all the noise being created – and also have
the ability to respond quickly. All of the digital content
channels need to be monitored and constantly updated as
the web has become a social conversation. Additionally,
in most cases, they also need to be optimized, targeted
and personalized so that the content is fresh, relevant and
contextual to the user accessing it.
Today’s WCM - delivering and
serving personalized content
Many Web content management systems have matured
to meet many of these requirements. Terms like Web
Engagement Management, and Customer Experience
Management are popular among both content marketing
practitioners and CMS vendors. In fact, the latest
Forrester Wave Report for Web Content Management
is focused exclusively on vendors providing “Online
Customer Experience” using content. Report author
Stephen Powers states “functionality to enable publishing
to the Web — whether internally or externally — has
become commoditized. Yet, now, the WCM market is
growing based on customer experience management.”
WCM software solutions are increasingly differentiating
themselves on a scale of how well their solution can help
a customer DELIVER a personalized “web experience” to
the client’s consumers through multiple channels such as
web, mobile and social. But the idea of WEM (or CXM)
itself is a marketing concept — defined by analysts and
vendors as a method to create more relevant experiences
for consumers using a combination of process and tools.
This is the key. The value presented by WEM/CXM is that
this process is, at its heart, about managing the audience’s
experience in such a way that they ultimately do what the
marketer wants them to do. In short — software vendors
are going down the same road they went down before.
The business case for WCM being made by many vendors
today isn’t making it “easier to manage Web content.”
Rather, vendors are now claiming that it’s “easier to
manage experiences.”.
But despite the new marketing messages, the benefits of
a WCMS go well beyond just making it easier for users to
publish content – or deliver relevant experiences. Today,
it is no longer a question of IF you will achieve ROI with
a WCMS – but WHAT and WHERE are the areas for the
biggest return. For example:
• A unified source of multi-channel management
A WCMS can help create one, unified source for
managing multiple digital channels of content in
different languages. With one system controlling
channels, languages and versions of content – a global
brand management strategy becomes much less prone
to errors and more cost-effective. For example – The
Government of The Netherlands has substantially
decreased their management and web content software
costs by unifying more than half a dozen WCM systems
down to one (see case study later in this paper).
• Single user interface for disparate teams
A single UI for ever-more dispersed teams creates one
unified set of users – all using the same toolset. This
saves costs in training for remote users – and makes it
much easier and cost-effective to support an application
across multiple offices and high creativity standards.
Businesses units can focus on their core – without
getting lost in the CMS User Experience.
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Whitepaper
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For example – Dolce & Gabbana now saves a substantial
cost and time with one unified interface for their
content authors and editors – with no sacrifice on their
extraordinarily high design standards across their web
content.
• Managing growing marketing messages
Marketers can focus on their message and conversation
across all of the different content marketing channels.
They can use a capable WCMS system to automatically
target and convert users using contextually relevant
content delivered in real-time. Additionally, marketers
can use a WCMS to optimize SEO (search engine
results) and A/B tests to continually improve the
message. For example, Autodesk is using Hippo CMS
to power its entire online App Store using dynamically
generated content.
• Manage quality and compliance
Compliance and workflow engines now make content
management much more capable of complying with
regulations and standards. Features such as workflow,
versioning, roll back, audit trails and others create
cost efficiencies and less room for error. For example
FindLaw.com – one of the most popular legal Web
sites on the Internet now has workflow to manage
the publication of more than 50 new pieces of
content per day.
• Content-as-a-Service Platforms
With the multitude of interfaces now threatenting to
bury oganizations in a constant “design, deploy, iterate”
cycle – businesses must stop focusing on how to force
content into different types of containers. Rather, savvy
businesses are deploying content-as-a-service strategies
where they are making their entire repositories
available over a REST based (or other standards based)
API. Then, it becomes easier to simply “build a skin” to
which standardized content can be managed. This fully
takes advantage of the re-use of content, components
and other elements that a web content management
system can deliver.
So, it is not a question of IF – but WHAT ROI will be
achieved with an upgraded WCMS system – the question
then becomes choosing the best WCMS that will match
tomorrow’s investment needs. It can be quite difficult
these days – especially because of the large number of
options available. And choosing the one for the best
return will be about dealing with a WCMS company that
will support your needs throughout the lifetime of the
application.
This whitepaper will attempt to show HOW the business
case for today’s more powerful WCMS is made – and
what considerations should be taken into account for
selecting the right-size CMS for your organization. We will
first look at the ROI of today’s more sophisticated Web
content management systems, and then outline some best
practices as they pertain to choosing the right CMS for
your ROI needs.
The business case for
today’s WCMS
Today it’s very easy to “over-purchase” web content
technology. Given the feature wars – especially among
proprietary closed-source vendors – today’s digital
content platforms can be oversaturated with features
that already exist within other solutions already present
in the Marketing department. This can make Web
communications extremely expensive.
But from Web sites to intranets, product catalogs, landing
pages, mobile devices, global campaign microsites and
all of them in different languages – the key is that your
content is simply everywhere, all the time. To get a handle
on all of your Web content communications – you must
deploy tools that decrease the time and complexity for
managing a unified communications strategy.
Today’s more powerful Web content management systems
can accomplish this by tackling some of the basics –
namely making it easy to create, edit, publish and re-use
content across these channels.
Amsterdam • Boston
Whitepaper
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But ROI is also achieved by the time and cost savings that
a powerful Web content management system provides
in terms of delivering a more relevant, personalized and
dynamic experience to all of the different audiences that
are consuming content on those channels.
Historically, the business case for a content management
solution started with the cost savings generated by
improved Web development and publishing processes.
These “efficiencies” are still true today – and will be the
first piece of the ROI target that any business will want to
target. Some of the most common business challenges that
have been solved by web content management are:
• Manual publishing processes that result in slow,
inefficient or duplicative content creation and
publishing bottlenecks.
• Inconsistent look and feel across web channels
• Manual processes for link management is prone for
error – causing sites to break.
• Inadequate security for Web content – meaning it’s
very easy for unauthorized editors to “break” the
entire Web site.
So, clearly, a WCMS is necessary to address these issues.
The projected benefits of CMS implementation are easy to
see and have been written about before. But today’s more
powerful WCMS solutions have adapted – and provide
even a stronger case for the business. There are a number
of benefits across a number of areas:
• Save time and cost, by automatically publishing to
multiple mobile platforms. Today’s WCMS systems
have the capability to publish to iPhone, Android or
really any other mobile device format. They also have
the ability to publish specific mobile channels – or
in Responsive Design – or even in a hybrid mode.
We invite you to read Hippo’s white paper on mobile
publishing called: “Mobile Content Optimization -
Content Marketing On The Go”.1
• Create cost efficiencies by simultaneously managing
multiple channels. Today’s organization must manage
multiple, and global web properties. A sophisticated
WCMS provides the power to manage as many web
sites as you need using one content repository, and one
implementation of the software. It should empower the
organization to share global resources such as images,
documents, web content and template designs under
one unified repository.
• Complete Marketing management under a unified
suite enables more consumer engagement, contextual
delivery and ultimately more sales. A well implemented
WCMS today should automatically deliver relevant
content based on site behavior. Hippo, for example,
is delivering contextually aware behavioral targeting
to allow audiences to consume content on any device,
anywhere in the format they choose. This includes
full integration with Social Publishing meaning that
marketers can save money by integrating social content
with web content.
• Workflow and Approval Capabilities reduce errors
and save money. Today’s sophisticated Web content
management systems can save versions of all of the web
content being managed – and different types of content
under separate workflows.
• Dynamic and Faceted Search capabilities scale Web site
design much more efficiently. A capable WCMS system
can enable faceted navigation that empowers users to
navigate, search & find content in a dynamic way that
will make sense to them.
• With Open Source CMS solutions you can avoid vendor
lock. It used to be that Open Source tools were limited
in their enterprise functionality and scalability. This is
no longer the case. Today’s Open Source Web Content
Management Systems provide enterprise scalability,
combined with support for open source and open
standards. This means the customers can avoid a single
vendor lock – and have the flexibility to always adapt &
innovate.
1 http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/
whitepapers/Subjects/mobile
Amsterdam • Boston
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• Open Innovation & Interoperability: The key to creating
a content-as-a-service platform that actually works
is, of course, interoperability. This means that the
delivery of content must conform to standards that
can be rolled out globally. In most cases, this means
conforming to already-existing standards. By doing this
– the organization is completely flexible to create new
interfaces, new content feeds – and integrations with
other back-office applications. For more on this – you
should read the Hippo Whitepaper “The Benefits Of
Commercial Open Source for the Enterprise.”2
ROI Achieved by Upgrading
CMS Solutions -
One United CMS Solution
In 2009, the Dutch central government chose Hippo
CMS to power its Web content platform. Thirteen
departments (or ministries as they’re called in The
Netherlands) all maintained and hosted their own
Web sites. These sites had grown organically over the
years, and the governmental infrastructure spanned a
number of technologies, including different Web content
management systems. Similar, if not identical, content
was maintained in different places – and editors were
often unaware of work which had already been done in
other departments. The project set out to improve the
usability – as well as the content creation process for the
Web sites – and to simultaneously reduce the number of
servers and Web sites being managed by the Government.
With Hippo as its foundation, a central access point for
governmental content was created. Existing content
from the 13 departments was migrated into one central
repository. This allowed for the introduction of a
consistent navigation across all available content, allowing
citizens to navigate content that had been spread across
the dozen web sites previously.
In the new implementation of Hippo CMS – the Dutch
government maintains more than 300,000 content
objects stored and managed centrally in the Web content
management system. More than 250 editors work with
it on a daily basis – adding hundreds of content objects
every week. Additionally, integrations with third party
external sources add hundreds of new content objects
every single day.
2 http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/
whitepapers/Subjects/opensource
Amsterdam • Boston
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Figure 1: Results website Dutch Government
after changing to Hippo CMS
Websites
CMS
Search
Hosting
Editorial staff
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9
5
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Amsterdam • Boston
The results have been amazing. The Dutch government
went from 9 CMS Systems and 5 Search Systems, 16
Hosting locations – all down to 1 CMS, delivering one
experience, in one hosting location. Ultimately, by
upgrading to the new WCMS – the Dutch Government
was able to save hundreds of thousands of Euros per
year in the time, effort and hard costs of delivering 16
separate Web sites as opposed to one. And, by switching
to Hippo CMS – they are able to take advantage of new
opportunities at a much decreased cost. Adding mobile
and other digital content channels takes much less effort
and ultimately provides much greater business benefit.
Choosing the right solution for
today’s WCMS
Like any other software project, upgrading to a new
WCMS requires a detailed analysis of the business and
functional requirements of the system. This also includes
the areas of investment that require the highest return.
Organizations should evaluate their needs first, and then
map them to a short list of WCMS candidates. Without
a clear vision of business goals, CMS implementations
can overshoot budgets, and in the long run, fail to deliver
returns that justify the investment.
There are many costs involved in building and
maintaining a Web site, and these costs can increase
exponentially as the size, complexity, and audience grows.
ROI from today’s WCM systems are realized when you
don’t over-purchase “suites” of technology that lock the
enterprise into other functions that the organization may
already have. Rather, the key is to match Web Content
Management needs across one platform that can deliver
against everything you need – and integrate seamlessly
with those other functions.
Upgrading to the right CMS solution will produce results
in several ways:
Quantifiable benefits
1. Reduced resource requirements, reduced site
maintenance costs
With the right CMS solution in place, the
resources needed for on-going site maintenance
are substantially reduced and team skills can
be redirected into developing more business
applications. In addition to these savings,
there are benefits like people productivity
improvements, document production and
distribution cost savings, increased market
exposure, faster time-to-market of new site
development to maintain competitive advantage,
and improved quality of customer service.
2. The WCMS as the main Content Marketing tool
Web content is now at the heart of your
marketing. Marketers need the ability to manage
content as conversation and so the CMS system
must be flexible, easily adaptable to change and
most importantly effective. Whatever marketing
metrics are important – lead generation, site
traffic, brand loyalty, conversion rates, customer
service or revenue - they can and should all be
tied to your WCMS.
3. Social publishing
The Web is now bidirectional. Marketers are no
longer just posting static, persuasive content
online. It’s an expectation for your end users to
be able to comment and even contribute content
on your sites using blogs, RSS, wikis and polling.
4. Separating content from design
Separation of content from design reduces costs
of site re-branding. Content managed through
open API’s (REST) will become the way that
organizations can re-skin new Web properties
and launch new channels most effectively.
Today’s sophisticated WCMS should have the
ability to integrate and publish content as a
service.
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Amsterdam • Boston
Whitepaper
7Conclusion
New content delivery channels emerge every day. And, as
you might expect – we believe that Hippo’s powerful yet
completely open content repository means every bit of
your content is available via open standards. This future-
proofs your content for whatever new interface may come
along – and is a powerful tool for organizations to create,
deliver and optimize content to create business value.
Hippo provides a truly enterprise-class Web content
platform. We believe in interfaces built for marketers
– and technology built for enterprise strength. Hippo
is built on rock solid Open Source and Open Standards
technologies in order to power performance and ensure
scalability.
The biggest benefit and ROI equation for open-source
software is not the reduced licensing costs. Rather, it is the
flexibility it brings to keep on innovating. Interoperability
and connectivity with existing infrastructure and
platforms is simply easier and less expensive to achieve
with commercial open source solutions.
The Commercial Open Source model provides enterprises
the best of both worlds: the quality-of-service and security
of professional support and the flexibility and freedom
of open-source. Business that are looking for guaranteed
support and services and advance notice of new features
and a quality assurance program can benefit greatly from
Commercial Open Source.
Hippo’s Commercial Support with guaranteed SLA
response times and 24/7/365 availability for critical
production systems provide that level of professional
support.
As an organization – if you’re considering an upgrade
to your existing CMS solution – and you’re looking to
migrate into something more sophisticated – make sure
to identify the areas of ROI that you’re looking to achieve.
Much of it, frankly, will depend on the technology you
are migrating from. One of the keys of a successful CMS
migration is a continual self-assessment. Keep looking at
the facts and “situation on the ground”.
Ask yourself at each step if you’re ready to move on
to the next step. For example, if after developing your
requirements – you see that you have not adequately
staffed the project for technical coding needed to replace
site functionality – don’t move forward until you have that
key resource in place. Or, you may determine based on
the initial pilot program that you need to go back to the
project definition and re-prioritize the sections or sites
that will be migrated.
Continually defining your goals – and taking small,
iterative steps is the way to ensure any CMS migration
goes well.
Hippo CMS will provide special tools that will aid this
process but much will depend on your unique content
requirements. To find out more – we invite you to ask us.
We’ll help you identify areas of ROI in your business –
and where a new WCM might help.
Recources
CmPros Gilbane Presentation by
Gerrit Berkouwer
http://www.slideshare.net/Geebee/
rijksoverheidnl-content-migration-cmpros-
gilbane-boston-1-december-2009
Hippo Whitepapers:
http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/
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About Hippo
Amsterdam • Boston
Whitepaper
8
At Hippo, we believe, digital is here to make our lives a
little bit better.
Hippo sets the standard for how organizations can bring
real-time relevance to their audience and is the foundation
for personalized communication across all channels:
mobile, social and web. Our purpose is to facilitate
innovation so our customers can create digital miracles.
We serve our customers, by creating a platform that is fun
to use, easy to implement and open for innovation.
Hippo CMS is a powerful, enterprise-class foundation
to deliver outstanding Customer Experiences based on
Enterprise Agility and Innovation Power.
Hippo CMS is open source, 100% Java and convinces
with its lean product architecture that is built for uptime,
security and performance.
Our dedicated, Certified Partner Network delivers Hippo
Awesomeness around the globe to our valued customers.
Hippo is proud to serve organizations such as Disney,
British Telecom, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Bahr, the Dutch
Police, Thomson Reuters and Crédit Agricole.
Hippo is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
and Boston, USA.
Curious for more? Visit www.onehippo.com
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