Plan before CMS implementation. It
would seem to be a statement of the obvious that organisations should
do their planning before embarking on the implementation of their new
content management system (CMS). Yet all too often this doesn't occur. Let's state this more strongly: the day after the contract is
signed with the CMS vendor, the vendor will show up asking: so, what
are we actually implementing? If there is not a clear and simple answer
to this, the project will go poorly, and the vendor will be more than a
little frustrated (which itself may have consequences). This briefing explores the specific details that should be
worked out up-front, ideally before the tender or RFP is even sent out.
Product versus project
In many cases, the selection of a new content management system
is seen as a technology project with the goal of obtaining a new
'product' or piece of 'infrastructure'. When driven from this
perspective, it is seen as reasonable to 'put a CMS in place', and then
consider how best to make use of it. The first problem is that vendors will be asked to provide a
fixed-price quote for the implementation, which will then be locked in
as part of contract negotiations. When the vendor turns up on day one
of implementation, they therefore expect that everything will be in
place for an immediate start. At the end of the day, vendors want the implementation project
to go smoothly, not least because it means that they will get paid
sooner. With a 6 week implementation plan standard for mid-market
vendors, there is only limited scope for additional planning and
design.
[CMb 2006-22, read the full article] [Column Two]
10:00:39 PM 
|
