I spent time last week at the UPenn Wharton UI Conference 2010 in Philadelphia, where I was treated to a session that was music to my ears.

“Your CMS is Not a Toaster,” led by Jen Yuan, an IT communications analyst in Penn’s IS and computing department, hit the nail on the head: CMS is NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s a tool to help you achieve your website goals. Nothing more, nothing less.

There was a lot to take in from her session (more in a later post) but it was her research into CMS systems currently being used on campus that really made my eyes pop out.

A few months ago, Yuan conducted a survey targeting anyone who manages CMS or CMS-like systems on campus. In all, 64 people responded. The slate of questions included one asking which CMS a given group or department was using.

Care to guess how many CMS systems are in play at Penn? Five? Ten? Go higher.

Yuan’s survey identified approximately 20 (yes 20) CMS or CMS-like systems in play at Penn. The leader by far: open-source Drupal, being used by at least 14 separate departments or groups on campus, followed closely by “custom systems” (eight) and Joomla (seven).

And, old friend WordPress was cited six times by respondents, recalling for me the debate we sparked here at the Myth a few months back with our post, “Is WordPress a CMS?”  But I digress.

Rounding out the remainder of the systems consisted of a who’s who of systems and tools: Adobe Contribute, Documentum eRoom, Open Text/Red Dot CMS, Expression Engine, DotNetNuke, Sharepoint, PaperThin CommonSpot … the list goes on.

Granted, Penn’s like any other large, decentralized university operating with many, many fiefdoms that don’t easily roll up into a central web authority. But it would seem a natural to try to rationalize at least some of the systems in an attempt to standardize, save on costs, reduce the range of programming expertise required, and so on. I know – easier said than done.

It begs the question: How many CMS (or CMS-like) systems are in play at your organization? And, what are you going to do about it?

Related posts:

1. Is WordPress a CMS?
2. Does it Matter Which CMS Product You Choose?
3. CMS Marketing Suites: Sweeter in 2010?

In the discussion of what ECM is, we’ve seen a few analogies lately of comparing ECM (Enterprise Content Management) with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)- me included. Most of this discussion is around the ‘E’ (such as this by Jon Marks) but I thought I’d have a look at the M. Management. Yes, yes.. I know there is no ‘M’ in ERP – but bear with me..

My observation is that the problem with pairing these two together is that while they both ‘manage’ assets, we define ‘manage’ differently in these two scenarios – in ECM ‘manage’ also includes the storage of the asset, whereas in ERP ‘manage’ is just to know about it. I think in the CMS world we should learn from that.

In other words – an ERP system isn’t the warehouse, it isn’t the specialist paint line, the drying oven, the big thing that goes kachugga-kachagga that spits out a new thing or the people that crank the handle.

In Enterprise Content Management (or whatever you call your CMS implementation) – it is often all of those things – it is the tool for creating content, for storing content, for checking,  and for publishing. We overlay onto management and understanding of the thing – with the doing things with it.

So, while making content has a small bill of material (people and knowledge) we assume that our systems will cover everything from harvesting the raw material to arranging it neatly on the shelves. It’s the combine harvester, kachugga-kachagga machine, the shelf, the store etc.

Whereas ERP just lets you know the cost of the thing, where it is, how many you’ve got, that it passed through testing, how many people bought one yesterday and what it will take to make another one.

If we think about what an ERP system knows about things, with content we obviously call that meta-data, work flow processes and web logs.

And when we talk about audience engagement or ECM – what we know about things is as critical as the thing itself.

But how many organisations know how many items of content they have that features the name of their CEO?

Or how many feature the main keyword that describes the thing they want to be known for?

Or have any description at all?

Or how many are incomplete or broken?

Or even simply how many content items they have?

Lets make it easier – lets ignore the morass of content stuffed into virtual cupboards in the office and think about the stuff that the audience can see.

How many do you think Google, your employee, or your customer can find of these?

It’s not ERP if you can’t do a simple stock take.

If you still can’t get over the fact that there is no ‘M’ in ERP, those guys have an identity crises as much as we CMS folks do – don’t believe me – read this!

“M” Image is from a Fritz Lang film  poster, read more about that film here.

Content management technology, evolving and morphing continually over the past decade, shows no signs of slowing down. (It’s like they say about the weather here in New England: give it a few minutes and it’ll change.)

You need either a CMS Sherpa to guide you through the morass of products, pitches, platforms and promises – or you need an event like the twice-yearly Gilbane Conference, whose spring conference hits next month in San Francisco. (For East Coasters, the Boston event usually hits right after Thanksgiving.)

If you’re looking for CMS and related tools as well as strategies for managing content, collaboration, social and other hot web topics, make your way to Gilbane May 18-20.

The CMS Myth is an official media sponsor – you get a $200 discount registering with code CMSMYTH. If you go, bring along our ultimate CMS mix tape to keep you company and set the mood.

And, congratulations to our colleague, Melissa Casburn, director of user experience at ISITE Design, who was chosen to speak on “How to Mold the Customer Experience.” We’ll blog more about her presentation before the event.

The conference used to have a ponderous CMS tech slant; now it feels far more centered, with sessions targeted at marketers and social media types as much as the core CMS folks –  not a bad thing. The keynote panelists include social media leader Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter Group and workplace researcher and author Dan Rasmus.  

Tracks cover:

• Customers and Engagement
• Colleagues and Collaboration
• Content Technology
• Content Publishing

The conference has something for everyone involved in the web, and we can get behind anything that recognizes that  CMS touches many diverse parts of web experience, marketing, technology, content strategy, social – and your overall business and marketing initiatives. We’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating: CMS isn’t just about the technology.

Related posts:

1. Gilbane Boston 09: Focus on Content, Collaboration and Customers
2. Who will provide your business social apps?
3. Is CMS the Jan Brady of the C-Suite?

Forgive the cheesy title, but yes I gave a presentation at the Technology for Marketing and Advertising (TfMA) show last week where I talked about the place of content and in web or digital engagement. Or as marketing put it in the show guide synopsis:  ”The importance of good content management and governance as a [...]

After hours of tedious research across decades of music spanning all genres, we are proud to release our CMS Mix Tape (think John Cusack in High Fidelity). We believe it can go Platinum, but we’ll settle for Gold.

Our 15 handpicked songs strike at the emotional core of a web content management rollout. From the upfront planning to vendor selection to implementation, we’ve got it covered. Consider it required listening before your next project.

Think we missed some tunes? We’ll send iTunes gift cards to our favorite comments on this blog post.

Download the CMS Mix Tape on iTunes

What’s on the album?

1. Out of Control (U2)
2. Master Plan (My Morning Jacket)
3. You Can’t Always Get What You Want (The Rolling Stones)
4. Think I’m in Love (Beck)
5. Money (Pink Floyd)
6. Today (The Smashing Pumpkins)
7. There’s Never Enough Time (The Postal Service)
8. Accelerate (R.E.M.)
9. The Final Countdown (Europe)
10. Song 2 (Blur)
11. Use Me (Bill Withers)
12. Rollercoaster (M. Ward)
13. It Should Be Easier Now (Willie Nelson)
14. Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
15. Don’t Stop Believin’ (Journey)

As you can see there is something for everyone here.

The boys from Ireland kick it off right with Out of Control–A feeling we all have without a solid web publishing system in place.

You’ll first need a Master Plan. And that means clear success metrics, user experience planning, technical requirements and content strategy. Please don’t forget content strategy.

When you start looking at potential CMS solutions, most organizations will likely agree with Mick that there are trade offs in evaluating vendors. You truly Can’t Always Get What You Want.

In fact the Stones very well could have been sitting through back-to-back CMS vendor presentations when writing:

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse

But as you look at more options, you will likely find you can get what you need. In fact, once you find that ideal solution, you’ll probably nod your head with Beck saying you think you’re in love, but it makes you kind of nervous to say so.

After all you haven’t gone through the contracting or budget approval process. And that’s where Pink Floyd comes in. Because it’s all about Money at this point. Internal budgets, software licensing, implementation costs–These things add up.

And some of the tactics CMS vendors will use to try and close you by month’s end may definitely fall on the Dark Side of the Moon.

But all that eventually gets ironed out and Billy Corgan speaks for many CMS project leads when he sings Today is the greatest day. After all, when you get your hands on those fresh license keys, you just want to turn it on.

But slow down cowboy because implementations take time. And even The Postal Service can tell you There’s Never Enough Time.

The fur is certainly flying as you charge into that implementation. You’ve got internal teams, external agencies, internal stakeholders and gantt charts going in all directions.

Under the stress of tight timelines, you only need to hear R.E.M.’s Accelerate to understand there’s no time to question the choices you make in development. In fact, you may be looking for that rip cord because you’re incomplete. Feature incomplete that is.

It may take long nights and a few pushed deadlines, but you’ll eventually be ready to launch. And Europe’s Final Countdown can help you charge through those last minute activities.

Launch day for a new CMS is a thrill. All that hard work comes to a close and you get to unveil the new site to the world and a new CMS to the organization.

Blur’s Song 2 captures that euphoria. And at just two minutes long, it’s an appropriately short lived high. After all, now the real work starts. Supporting the implementation.

Bill Withers’ Use Me highlights the fact that everyone will want to use your new shiny object. Content needs to get published and it’s showtime for the new CMS.

Despite those months of planning and all your new workflow magic, there will still be bumps in the road. It may not be quite as mellow as M. Ward’s Rollercoaster, but he’s right that you’ll certainly hit some highs and lows. CMS can lift the organization up or send it spiraling down.

However, with perseverance, those bugs can be ironed out. What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. Willie Nelson’s It Should Be Easier Now has a valuable message in that the lessons you’ve learned here are ones gold can’t buy. Although a sharp agency partner on retainer can certainly help.

You don’t need to be in the middle of the eighth inning at Fenway Park to agree with Neil Diamond that success with CMS can feel so good, so good, so good.

Any CMS veteran will tell you CMS is an ongoing process and the mix tape appropriately leaves you with an inspirational power ballad from Journey. Don’t Stop Believin’ indeed.

Get your copy of the CMS Mix Tape on iTunes, and drop us a comment below on any songs you think should be on the album. There’s always the B-sides edition. We’ll send iTunes gift cards to our favorite comments.

Related posts:

1. Is Your CMS Project a Dead Monkey?
2. Gilbane Boston & planning for a CMS
3. Should you throw out the CMS or just the implementation?

Best part about driving on chaotic roads of Delhi (and India) is that you will never get lost. Okay you will – but there are so many people out there that you can always stop anywhere and ask for directions. But if like me, you don’t like stopping every 100 meters to ask an auto [...]

I smiled at this the other day -”Software Developers: The New Rock Stars of Marketing” - it comes from the article  ’Out of the Box’ published a few weeks ago in the UK Financial Times, that talks about the role of technology in marketing in the new media age. The smile is because this is pinned up [...]

The CMS-focused website Fierce Content Management asked me this month to write up my 2010 advice for finding a web content management system. (Hat-tip to FierceCM editor Ron Miller for inviting me to contribute; his site and newsletter are must-reads for anyone tuned into content management.)

My advice rolled up several of the key ideas we espouse here at the CMS Myth, including our central belief that you shouldn’t just throw software at your website. As we tell people every day, CMS isn’t a silver bullet.

The article (“Finding the right web CMS in 2010”) was a quick hitter, packing a lot of ideas into a short column. But the CliffsNotes version of our 2010 CMS buyers’ tips goes like this:

• Think about strategy first, technology second
• Bury the CMS feature matrix
• Don’t expect to find “the best” CMS
• Measure CMS against your key fit factors
• Tap the community for validation
• When in doubt, ask the experts

Anyone who’s needed to identify a web CMS solution knows it can be daunting work. If you’re in the CMS buying market in 2010, things aren’t getting much easier. You’re sitting at the nexus of hundreds (thousands?) of potential solutions. Marketing thinks it wants this set of features, IT needs that. Execs just want a new site running with CMS. You’re managing a budget and a timetable. Vendors sound more and more alike the more you read about their products and see their demos.

Stay tuned to The CMS Myth. Over the next few weeks we’ll dive more deeply into some of the advice in the Fierce Content Management article.

And, offer your feedback and ideas in the comments section. If something’s worked for you, let others hear about it. If you’re stuck, we’ll do what we can to offer our ideas.

Related posts:

1. In CMS agency search, are you commodity shopper or strategic investor?
2. Life After the redesign with CMS
3. CMS Marketing Suites: Sweeter in 2010?

As the year comes to an end it’s time to look at the future.  While many are looking to major predictions for next year, I thought I’d focus on the most obvious ones.  These are the top five ECM assumptions that loom ahead in are day-to-day work lives 2010

#1 SharePoint and Traditional ECM Won’t Get [...]

The emergence of social media apps for business, a.k.a. Social Business Software (collaborate, chat, follow, feeds) is turning into an exercise in convergence, as in: where will your social media apps converge with your other content-centric apps?

The larger question is quickly becoming: who will (or should) eventually provide your social media tools and applications? Your existing or new web CMS vendor? ECM software vendor? CRM vendor? An upstart social media company? What about Microsoft SharePoint?

Traditional web CMS vendors are racing at breakneck speed to expand their platforms to offer intranet-focused social media apps in conjunction with traditional content management. Yet look at the upcoming Gilbane Content Management conference in Boston and you’ll see a high-tier sponsor is Jive, a solid leader in the emerging class of Social Business Software providers speedily making inroads into enterprises and department-level deployments.

And now here comes Salesforce.com with the pending 2010 launch of its Chatter social platform, which promises to meld collaboration, profiles, feeds, status updates, and more, with its widely used CRM (and marketing automation!) tools in the expanding Salesforce cloud.

Want a glimpse into what’s already a maze of confusion? Check out the recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace, which tries to position social app vendors into a coherent array of available choices. And there are no lack of choices – we see web CMS, enterprise CMS, social business software apps, portal vendors, large suites, standalone apps all over the grid.

Is it possible to make an educated vendor selection with these widely scattered options? Or is the diversity of providers offering up more confusion than clarity?

Related posts:

1. CMS Marketing Suites: Sweeter in 2010?
2. CMS and the Expanding e-Marketer’s Toolbox
3. What’s happening with mid-market CMS vendors in 2009?