When deciding on which CMS is best for your organization, you’ll likely find quite a selection of choices. One common question we are asked is how an open source CMS compares to a commercial CMS. Here, we offer a comparison of these two options:
We’ve given tips in previous articles about what to consider when choosing a CMS. Now, let’s take a look at the flip side and consider what NOT to do when choosing a CMS. It’s good to know what to avoid, too, rather than learning the hard way (and the expensive way!). These tips were derived from experiences we’ve seen with organizations in the past that made a few big mistakes in their quest to buy a CMS. Take a lesson from them and do not follow in their footsteps:
How do you know if a CMS is right for your organization? Many people struggle to find the answer to this question. Often, these are the questions we hear: Is my content base too small to make it worthwhile? Is the cost of a CMS too expensive for my organization? Is my staff too small to benefit from a CMS? What is the breakeven point for adopting a CMS?
You may be looking in all the wrong places for justification for a CMS. The size of your team, the size of your content base, and the cost of the system may only play a small role in the decision to implement a CMS. The more important factor is: how much will you save in time and costs if you implement a CMS? Here are some criteria to consider:
When thinking about moving your content into a content management system (CMS), there are a few key principles to consider. The first principle is single sourcing. A CMS is a great place to store one copy of your content so that it can be shared with many users. By single sourcing your content, you eliminate all duplicate copies of the content and consolidate your content base down to one trusted source of content. Now, all users who access the content will always get the most current version, and older copies won’t be floating around anymore. In addition, single sourcing your content leads to higher quality documents since the content that is being reused across your publications is current and consistent.
You want a content management system (CMS) to get a better handle on your content base. The purchase is a bigger expenditure than you have the authority to approve. Now, you have to go to your management team to get funding for the project.
Shopping for a content management system (CMS) can be an intimidating task, given the many types of CMSs and all the decisions that must be made to choose the right one. RFIs (requests for information) and RFPs (requests for proposal) can help make the right choice. But what’s the difference between RFIs and RFPs? Should you do one or the other, or both? Here are tips for navigating through the buying process:
