Summary: Factors to consider when selecting a content management system for your business.

 

There are a number of alternatives you can consider if you are planning on developing or purchasing a content management system:

·        Open-source applications: This is an option if you are extremely price-sensitive and do not have very extensive or complex needs. In most cases, an open-source application will require further customisation to meet your requirements.

·        Corporate portal software: These instant, out-of-the-box solutions can be built upon to create content management software that fits your needs. This is a quick and easy solution for smaller businesses, but does not meet the needs of large businesses.

·        Commercial content management software: Many vendors produce packages for medium-sized and large organisations. They tend to have a complete suite of features, and many industry developers are familiar with them.

 

Before you decide to develop or purchase a system:

·        Assess additional component requirements: Check whether there will be additional hardware or software requirements to make the system work with your current software portfolio. Factor this into your cost analysis.

·        Determine whether you need open applications: Remember that there is both an upside and downside to open framework software. While it is able to accommodate broader sets of requirements, it can be more expensive to build it out.

·        Examine need for post-purchase customisation: Find out whether you will have to carry out  post-purchase customisation. If so, factor this into your cost analysis.

·        Understand company-specific needs: Make sure you fully understand the value of the business process to your company. Look at company size, locations involved, the value of tangible savings, benefits, integration with other business applications, ease of implementation and data migration issues.

Summary: A detailed description of content management and document management systems.

A content management system is an application that can be used to organise, publish and manage large amounts of content. This content can be images, documents, and other types of multimedia files. Content management systems typically offer:

· Ability to import and develop content

· Control of different versions of files

· Detection of system users and assignment of roles

· Alerts for developers if the content is altered

· Publication of relevant content to a specific storage area

These systems are also intended to handle the logistics of collaborative document development.

Document management systems are one subset of content management systems. These can be used by organisations to trace and warehouse both electronic documentation and scanned versions of paper-based documents. These systems aim to simplify document retrieval, security, file management, archiving, distribution and workflow.

Summary: A look at the benefits a content management system can offer throughout the life cycle of your organisation’s content.

The entire life cycle of a document or multimedia file needs to be managed. This includes tasks such as storage, tracking of changes, archiving and clean up. Content management systems can do all this and also offer:

· Collaboration during content creation: This is often an extremely critical feature because there is plenty of scope for chaos during collaborative content development. It is useful to have a system that facilitates and simplifies the process by ensuring correct versioning and providing alerts to developers when content is changed.

· Easy management of versions: The management of various versions of a file, from creation to publishing, with all the editing required during the workflow, can be daunting. With reliable content management software, the risk of the wrong version reaching the final stage is greatly reduced.

· Access to mission-critical content: A good content management system ensures a business can access its mission-critical content whenever it needs to. This can increase the efficiency of the department or organisation that needs it.

· Guaranteed publication to target audience: The system will ensure that the appropriate content is published to a location where the relevant audience can access it easily when required.

· Security of sensitive information: A management system will help ensure that the information is available only to the appropriate audience. This ensures that sensitive internal information does not reside in public spaces. The content management system also provides the means for tracking any malicious activity.

· Adherence to regulatory standards: In today’s regulatory environment, it is critical for a business to ensure compliance in every aspect. Content management systems can ensure that all documentation complies with the necessary criteria.