What is a CMS? And Do I Need One?
By: Robert Thomson, Current Not yet Rated

Five years ago, it was common to hear that your e-business, if you had one, needed to treat "content flow" with as much respect as cash flow. Today, this is true for any business, whether it does sales through its Web site or uses it for marketing and PR purposes. Companies are now expected to keep fresh, updated information available for existing and potential customers, and will fall behind its competitors if it doesn't. That's the reality of "Internet era expectations."

As the Web has matured, so have the tools used on it, for it and with it. There are now a number of mature, stable Content Management Systems (CMS) that allow you to automate much of the process of gathering, formatting and delivering content - words, images, video, links, etc. - through your site.



If any company wants to increase their content flow while saving money and experiencing fewer problems, then a content management system is a good solution to the content development and delivery process. The World Series is a best-of-seven contest, meaning four wins takes the prize, and it's the same with figuring out if you need a CMS. If you have any four of the following seven needs, you are a good candidate for one:

- You have a large organization with Web publishing spread across multiple people or departments, and keeping content flowing properly among the different areas is very time-consuming.

- Your company site is big, even "sprawling," and you are constantly struggling to make frequent structural fixes and content updates.

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- There are various styles used - in text documents, Web pages, etc. - by different people in the company and no common standards.

- There is supposed to be content integrated between and among the Web site and remote call centers, company outlets, e-mail newsletters and other channels, but the process is tedious.

- Strong corporate requirements are in place to manage the specifications from R-D to customer service, and things are always being missed.

- Your company enables customers, clients and/or other stakeholders to contribute to the site.

- A single individual has intimate knowledge of the entire site while others have knowledge of only their own sections, so making changes anywhere typically depends on a specific person - and nothing is written down.

The cost of choosing
Even when the management need is apparent, decision makers still need to consider the alternatives - that is, what is the cost of not having a CMS? Certain other questions need to be answered at this point:

- What will your costs be if the content is unavailable?
- What other alternatives are there for distributing the content?
- What is the cost, or risk, of inaccurate content existing on your Web site?
- How much would it cost to insure against these various risks?
- How would you remove or replace inaccurate or damaging content if your webmaster is not available?

Meeting the needs with a CMS
If your company depends on the delivery of good, accurate information (and whose firm would not benefit from that) then there is no question that you need a CMS. There is simply no better way to get a content flow going, and keep it going right. There will be a learning curve as there is with any new system, but the overwhelming majority of companies and individuals that have installed CMSs report that they would never consider going back to the pre-CMS days.

The various CMS packages available, and there are many good ones, evolved to deal with a particular Web challenge, and have continued evolving as needs have continued to change. Many CMS users find that installing and customizing a system has helped them to see the pieces of the puzzle with more clarity, and new procedures and processes have been developed in the firms as a result of working in a new way. Greater efficiencies, of course, typically translate into lower operating costs - and greater profits.

Bottom line on CMS
There is simply no good reason for any Web site that needs ongoing refreshing, and is tasked with delivering a company message that needs to be current and correct all the time, not to have a CMS. You will wonder how you ever got along without one once you have it set up, debugged and running right. Again, there is some learning involved, and someone (or a few folks) will need to stay abreast of upgrades and changes to the CMS itself - but the payoff is substantial, and the alternative is falling ever farther behind in the battle with your competitors. A CMS is rapidly becoming a necessity for the majority of businesses, and the sooner you decide that your business needs one, the better off you will be.

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