The Practical Guide to Selecting a New Web CMS
For State and Local Governments
Presenters
Tom Wentworth, CMO at Acquia- 13 Year CMS veteran at vendors Interwoven and
Ektron.
- @twentworth12 on Twitter
Nikhil Deshpande- Responsible for the digital presence and strategy
for the State of Georgia’s official web portal, www.georgia.gov
- User interface designer and a certified usability analyst with more than 10 years of digital media experience
- @nikofthehill on Twitter
What You’ll Learn in this Webinar
• Why Now is the Right Time to Select a New CMS- Mobile, Social, Open
• Running a CMS Selection Process- Defining requirements
- Selecting vendors
- Vendor demonstrations and presentations
- Selecting an implementation partner
• State of Georgia Case Study
2003-2010
2010 +
First Generation CMS
• Brochureware websites• Vendor pioneers Interwoven,
Vignette• CMS part of Enterprise Content
Management Suites
Second Generation CMS
• Dynamic Websites• Marketing-driven
• Business results focused
Third Generation CMS
• Mobile, Social, Personal, Cloud
History of CMS
1994-2003
Legacy CMS Challenges
• Mobile sites are an afterthought, or impossible
• They are expensive to own- High maintenance costs
- Difficult to find experienced development resources
• Plagued by Usability issues- Products were designed before the advent of modern
user interface best practices
- Return of the “Webmaster Bottleneck”
• Require multiple point solutions- Social communities
• 29% of Black Americans have no Internet access
• 51% have no broadband access at home
• 32% of Hispanic Americans have no Internet access
• 49% have no broadband access at home
• 38% of Americans who make less than $30,000/year have no Internet access
• 59% have no broadband access at home
• 46% of Americans with a disability have no Internet access
• 59% have no broadband access at home
• 57% of Americans with no high school diploma have no Internet access
• 88% have no broadband access at home
Source: Karen McGrane
Mobile First?
Yet 88% of Americans Have a Mobile Phone
We Need a Mobile First Approach:Responsive Design
One Design. Multiple Layouts.
Citizen Engagement. Everywhere.
Open Government
Open Data, Always Available
Running a CMS Evaluation
Identify Requirements +
Stakeholders
Define Vendor Shortlist
RFPVendor
Evaluations
Selections + Contracts
* Allocate 3-6 Months for Evaluation
Simplified Content Management Lifecycle
Create
• In-Line Editing
• Structured Content Authoring
• Drag and Drop Page Creation
Manage
• Workflow• Taxonomies• Metadata• Permissions
Publish
• Content Reuse
• Multi-format• Multi-
language• Multi-site
Key RequirementsContent Authoring
• Inline Editing- Edit content in-place
• Structured Content Authoring- Forms-based
• Drag + Drop Page Creation- Assemble pages
without developers
• Image Management- Resizing, Cropping
Key RequirementsWorkflow
• Approval Process for Publishing- Draft, In-Review,
Published
• Version History- Quickly compare
versions
• Audit Trails- Capture feedback on
changes
• Reporting- Bottlenecks
Key RequirementsMulti-lingual + Content Re-Use
• Separation of Content from Presentation- Create content once, re-use in
multiple locations
- Categorize content using taxonomies for automated placement
• Manage content in multiple languages- Manual or automation
translation support
- Define relationship between languages
Key FeaturesSecurity + Permissions
• Users- Authorized CMS users
• Groups- Collections of users
and other groups.
• Permissions- Define access levels
to folders and content
• Roles- Define access
privileges to users and groups
Key FeaturesSocial Communities & Collaboration
• Blogs
• Networking, Friending, and Following
• Ratings + Reviews
• Collaboration
• Content Moderation
There are Lots of Vendors…
Defining a Vendor Shortlist
• Pick a Development Platform(s)- .NET, Java, PHP
• Pick a Deployment Model- Cloud, On-Premise
• Select Vendors to Evaluation- Work with Analysts
• Forrester, Gartner, Digital Clarity Group, Real Story Group, others
- Evaluate Products• Downloads, Trials
- Engage Partners
Picking a Development PlatformAnd Does it Matter?
• .NET Framework- Microsoft-only
- Mature development environment
• Java- Cross-platform
- Popular among larger enterprises and specific verticals like financial services
• PHP- Cross-platform
- Fastest growing CMS development platform
PHP Content Management Systems Growing Fastest
Open Source vs. Proprietary CMSTop Five Myths About Open Source WCM
1. Open Source is just for blogs and simple sites
2. Open Source isn’t secure
3. Open Source won’t scale to handle the world’s largest sites
4. Open Source requires tribal knowledge
5. Open Source won’t work well with my marketing tools
Building a good RFP
• Project overview- Provide a detailed written description of the problems you
are trying to solve.
• Process- Clearly describe your end-to-end evaluation process w/
timeframes
• Requirements- Articulate your requirements. Avoid “Yes/No” questions in
favor of open ended
• Scenarios- Frame your requirements into actual real-world usage
scenarios but don’t prescribe the solution
Evaluate Scenarios
Okay Example
• The Press Release module is one of the most heavily used features of our current CMS. Demonstrate how to create and post a press release.
Great Example
• One of the major weaknesses of the current CMS is not having the ability to create a new website. Demonstrate how to create a new website including:
• Creating a homepage
• Developing templates and style sheets for the underlying pages. Templates will carry the same footer across all pages of the website.
• Creating a subsite with a different homepage but with design elements that tie it to the overall website.
• Show how subsites work with a different domain (e.g., xyz.city.gov)
Vendor Presentations… or the Dog & Pony Show
• Allocate enough time to cover your scenarios and requirements
- Typically 90-120 minutes
• Ask the vendor to bring the right resources- The Sales Engineer is your friend
• Ask the vendor to minimize the “About Us” pitch
- Important, but should have already been covered during initial diligence
• Segment the presentation by audience
- Developers/Designers vs. Business Users
Evaluate Usability not Curb Appeal
Typical License and Deployment Models• Deployment Model
- On-Premise: Software is deployed on owned servers.
- Cloud: Software is deployed in the cloud.
- Hybrid: Authoring servers on-premise, delivery servers in the cloud
• License Types- Perpetual: You buy the software up-front, and pay
the vendor a yearly fee for access to upgrades and support.
- Subscription: You rent the software, services, and support typically on an annual basis.
- Open Source: No software license fee. Vendors like Acquia provide support.
Selecting an Implementation Partner
• Working with Vendor Professional Services vs. an Implementation Partner
• Types of Partners- Global, Regional, etc.
• What is their implementation methodology?
• Do they understand your key drivers?
• What is their comfort level with the technologies?- You’d be surprised…
Don’t Forget about Training!
• For Developers- Learn the fundamental concepts and techniques for
developing CMS applications, including page design, APIs, content models, and more.
• For Administrators- Lean server administration concepts and best practices,
from installation and configuration through ongoing health, performance, and availability.
• For End Users- Teach users the basics of content management
including authoring, workflow, and publishing.
Case Study
WE NEED HELP!
• Proprietary CMS • 2 versions• Cost
Choosing a New CMS
WE <3 DRUPAL
• Second largest CMS worldwide• Worldwide community of support
and developers• Open source!
GOING OPEN SOURCE
• Security• Free• Total cost of ownership• Is it ready for “prime time”?
Community
PLATFORM • Multi-site, multi-database
• Single code base • Cloud hosting• Search • Responsive design
CONTENT FIRST • Content beyond pages
• Design based on data and user expectations
55 REDESIGNS? • Template based
• Styletiles• Demo websites
Classic Patriotic Friendly Official
Redesign