Content Management Systems
High Monkey has extensive experience architecting, integrating, and delivering content management solutions using Sitecore, Kentico, SharePoint, DotNetNuke, and other CMS applications. HMC has also been engaged to analyze and "roadmap" existing WCM environments and recommend WCM strategies and CMS solutions.
Content Management Systems, or CMS products, have made some phenomenal strides in the past few years --both in ease of use and depth of functionality. Most of the current generation of CMS products include Web 2.0 features like social networking integration, blogs, discussion forums, and RSS feeds with the capability to create both a public website and a secure portal or Intranet site. E-commerce functionality and media galleries (for managing audio and video clips) are also typical features of CMS products. The ability to update web content anywhere and anytime via a web browser as well as "ease of use" for content editors are also important features of CMS products. Many of the clients who have asked High Monkey to help them architect and implement a CMS usually find themselves in one of the following situations:
Content Chokepoint
Regardless of size, many organizations decided to centralize content updates for their internal and external websites with one or two people. Traditionally the content editor is also the technical webmaster for the organization. As an organization's use of the web as a strategic tool increases, the workload on the webmaster / content editor becomes heavier and usually results in delays and inconsistencies in web content. A CMS allows an organization to disperse the role and responsibilities of the single content editor among multiple individuals while limiting their access only to designated content areas. Workflow for content approval can also be implemented with a department, workgroup, or other organizational structure. The implementation of the CMS usually results in the webmaster focusing on the management of the website's architecture, search optimization, and other technical issues instead of content.
Outgrown Homegrown
We frequently see organizations who have a DIY (do it yourself) or homegrown content management tool. Some of these applications are sophisticated, some are very simple. One thing they all have in common is the challenge and cost of updating them to offer greater usability and features. Another shared pain is the dependent relationship a custom CMS application creates with internal programmers or external code developers. Most organizations with a DIY content tool cannot make the same investment in development that a commercial CMS product company can. We also see DIY content tools have been developed on older code bases that contain security risks. Replacing a homegrown content application typically results in lower costs, more features, as well as regular code and security updates.
Independent Editors
Some organizations have taken the route of installing multiple single copies of web content editing tools like Macromedia Contribute or Microsoft SharePoint Designer (formerly FrontPage) on the computers of those individuals who are designated as content editors. While this approach can work well, many organizations find over time that look and feel of their websites and content becomes inconsistent. Content editors often are not able to make updates from any location other than their primary computer. A CMS product improves the web content updating process by centralizing the management of content, permissions and roles, content approvals, and formatting and content standards.
There are a number of important steps to consider for a CMS implementation. We recommend a thorough analysis of our client's current website's information architecture from the perspective of how people actually seek for and use information. We also look at the organization's standards for content format, security, and web-content work processes. The number of pages of content and documents that our clients plan to manage in a CMS also requires transition planning. We also typically recommend usability testing for content layouts and navigation to ensure that the end result is "usable". (Learn more about usability!)
As you might have guessed, putting a CMS in place takes more than a snap of the fingers. As with all the projects High Monkey undertakes, we recommend solid planning and the development of a CMS "road map". Please take a look at our portfolio and you will see the variety of CMS projects High Monkey has delivered for our clients.