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A new content management system for your website is an important decision because it concerns an essential aspect of your business: your virtual presence. So prospecting the market to find the right solution for your need can prove to be an unnerving task. As CMS specialists we want to help you make an informed decision which is why we have put together a guide that explains what is a CMS, what kind of content management systems are there, what to look for in a CMS, how to select the vendor and what mistakes to avoid. You can find a more detailed explanation on our blog: www.bit10.net/company/blogs.
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How to choose the right Content Management System for your business
What is a CMS ?
A content management system is software that allows you to
manage your website without needing any coding knowledge.
The content can be either text, graphics, photos, video, audio or
even code for applications.
Making the introductions
ECM=CMS=WCM ?
WCM (web content management) or WCMS is the most familiar
term since anyone with a blog or website is using a WCM. The
system allows users to manage, edit and publish websites,
supporting tasks and tools for web 2.0 like document
management, content management workflow, website
administration, integrating social media tools, search engines,
etc.
Clearing some confusion
ECM (Enterprise content management) covers the management of
information within the entire scope of an enterprise whether that
information is in the form of a paper document, an electronic file, a
database print stream, or even an email.
Content and documents these systems manage: transactional
content, web content, social content, email, content for business
continuity, documents that are subject to legal and regulatory
controls, etc.
Clearing some confusion
Conducting an internal analysis
Start by asking these questions:
What does my business want?
What are my business’ needs?
What are my resources?
Ask the departments that will use the CMS what their expectations
are from the software, and take a note of their needs.
Getting started: step 1
Next, consider the audience’s needs:
What do my users want?
How does the costumer journey look like?
What is the reason of the visit?
How can the CMS support engagement through various
channels?
How will the CMS contribute to the overall customer experience?
Audience analysis
Open source: the background code is available for developers to use
The first decision: Open Source or Proprietary CMS
PROs
It’s (mostly) free;
Created by communities of
dedicated developers that are
constantly working to improve the
product;
No vendor lock-in;
CONs
Lack of costumer service (although
many companies now offer support);
Popular open source CMS: Wordpress, Joomla!, Umbraco, Drupal
Proprietary CMS: created and supported by a specific company, the code is only available from the vendor.
PROs
More advanced features
Dedicated support team
Offers more security and scalability
CONs
Expensive license
High level of risk
Little options for add-ons or
customizations
Really hard to move to another
provider
Popular proprietary CMS vendors: Adobe, Ektron, Sitecore, SDL
The first decision: Open Source or Proprietary CMS
Every business has its own requirements, but here are the top 9
most popular that you should look for: Core functionality
Customisation
End-user interaction
Roles, permissions, workflows
Versioning
Multiple site support
Multilingual support
Social media and web 2.0 integration
Features to consider
Getting to the final step
Choosing the right vendor
What kind of support do they offer?
How are they showcasing their skills
What reviews do they have?
Can they provide a demo or a presentation?
Shortlist by creating a requirements matrix.
Tip: Cmsmatrix.org is a tool that does the comparison for you, really easy. You
just choose the desired systems and it generates the matrix.
Getting the right CMS for the wrong problem: failing to define
your business problem and buying the wrong technology
Choosing the most popular/expensive/geek friendly solution:
again, this will not address your actual problem
Not doing enough research
Confusing ‘Requirements’ with ‘Selection criteria’
Don’t rush to get all the functionalities at once
Mistakes to avoid
If you want to know more information we have put together a
guide that explains in more detail all those steps above. Find it
on our blog.
Discover more
We are Umbraco and Sitecore specialists
We create high quality digital projects:
Content management systems
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024 7685 3222
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