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Content Management

Keep Up or Fall Behind

7/1/2007

By Rama Ramaswami

BUYING A CMS

Top 10 Factors to Consider

WITH SO MANY—and increasingly affordable—applications to choose from, it is all too easy to make a decision based solely on price. But price often blinds buyers to other considerations, say the experts at Hannon Hill, an Atlanta-based content management software provider whose clients include Duke University (NC), Carnegie Mellon University (PA), and Vassar College (NY). Hannon Hill content management pros recommend doing the following before buying a system from any vendor in the CMS space:

Ask whether the price includes all the features you will need. Many vendors will not inform you up front that the functions you require are only available at an additional cost. Make sure that you understand exactly what you’re paying for.
Obtain input from non-technical users. If you allow the IT department to choose the system, you will lose one of the major benefits of the purchase: the ability to place more control in the hands of non-technical users who will create the content.
Consider the institution’s future goals. Don’t buy a CMS to fill a highly specific, short-term need; do look for one that provides as much flexibility as possible.
Understand access permissions for assets within the system. Which users need access to the system, and what level of control do you want them to have? For example, you wouldn’t want editors to break the design of a template or update the pages of departments that are not their own. Investigate the types of access permissions that the CMS offers.
Evaluate the level of product support. Despite their seeming ease of use, content management systems are highly complex applications that need troubleshooting from time to time, so make sure help will be available when you need it.
Factor-in search engine optimization (SEO). All that money you’re spending on a CMS is wasted if online consumers are unable to find the site because of poor search engine optimization. Pay close attention to the content management system provider’s SEO strategy.
Ask if you’ll be locked into specific content formats. Although HTML pages are the most common format, online users are beginning to access the internet through other means such as mobile devices that do not handle HTML very well. Consider: Should your CMS be able to support a variety of formats?
Ask if you’ll be locked into pre-defined templates. You may lose an all-important benefit—flexibility—if you buy a low-end CMS that requires you to use prebuilt templates that come with the system. Consider: Do you want your CMS to be able to support any type of design and layout?
Ask: Is the system standards-compliant? The CMS you’re considering may offer great features, but if it’s not written according to universal standards, you may have trouble integrating it with existing systems.
Test the CMS in your own environment. After you’ve done the research, watched the demos, and asked the questions, get a trial license and take the system “home” for a tryout. This will give you a much more realistic idea of the performance you can expect.