If you are tempted to replace your website using a bespoke content management solution, rather than using an off-the-shelf Content Management System (CMS), think again … and choose a CMS.
The advantages of using a CMS are numerous:
Built-in features - this is where the major benefits are. The main CMSs have numerous features built into them such as social network functionality, wikis, support for internationalisation and even shopping carts.
Easy editing - most systems will have a simple interface for editing existing content and adding new content. It should be usable by non-IT staff.
Vendor independence - most of the larger CMSs have a good selection of companies and contractors who are experienced in delivering websites based on them, and a good variety of books and training material if you want to do-it-yourself.
Workflow for approval - unless you are a small organisation, the best way of working will be for people in different departments to write the appropriate contents for approval by the marketing / communications department. The easiest way of doing this is to use an approval workflow that is part of all serious CMSs.
And CMSs don’t need to be expensive - there are a number of free or low cost CMSs - examples include Drupal, Joomla! and Plone. There are also some good resources for further investigations such as CMS Review, CMS Watch and the CMS Matrix.
Tags: business strategy, business transformation, business value, CIO, CMS, IT
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Posted by Alex McLachlan.
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