Managing Content Management

A number of articles are being written recently on the care and feeding of Content Management Systems (CMS). Many of these articles discuss the fact that the users of such systems often find them more difficult to use than the way they used to do things, so they circumvent the system.

Below is a digest of some of the more interesting and well-reasoned articles on this phenomenon and what can be done about it.

Failings catch up with Web content management’s consultingware (Lighthouse on the Web): Companies are begining to get fed up with the high cost and poor results of customizing what was supposed to be packaged software. CMS vendors need to start rethinking their pricing if they plan to continue selling consultingware. Companies in need of CMS systems should consider building their own.

When is a CMS needed? (drop.org): Highlights from a discussion on when a site needs a Content Management System.

How to revive a zombie content management system (Step Two Designs): If a CMS is not designed for the needs of its users, it will cease to be used. There are a number of steps that can be taken to ensure that users will begin to use a CMS again.

Goal-directed content management (Cooper Newsletter): The failings of packaged CMS installations may not lie with the CMS vendors. Companies often hastily implement a CMS in order to gain control over the flow of information to their customers, employees, and partners. They expect the introduction of a CMS to be a panacea for bad management, convoluted workflow, and lack of ownership, like a house built on a shakiy foundation, the system will not last long.