Your college is getting a new CMS and they want your input. Best day ever! But here’s the thing: Most large, modern CMSes have hugely overlapping feature sets. Vendors will take one look at any list of feature requirements and tell you that their system can handle all of them with its eyes closed. So when making your recommendations, nuance is critical. The good news? You don’t need to be a CMS expert to give meaningful input. You DO need to know how to identify your key content management needs and communicate them to decision-makers in an effective way.

1. Your role in CMS selection
Kerry-Anne Gilowey
Confab Higher Ed · Atlanta · 14 November 2014
Getting Your Specs In a Row
@kerry_anne

2. O frabjous day!
Callooh! Callay!

3. This is Myra

4. This is Myra
She’s excited.

5. This is Myra
Her university
is getting a
new CMS.

6. This is Myra
Her university
is getting a
new CMS.

7. This is Myra
They want
her input!

8. This is Myra
They want
her input!

9. Myra’s rollercoaster ride

10. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair

11. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair
Excitement

12. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair
Excitement
Uncertainty

13. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair
Excitement
Uncertainty
Fear

14. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair
Excitement
Uncertainty
Fear
Self-doubt

15. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair
Excitement
Uncertainty
Fear
Self-doubt
Confusion

16. Myra’s rollercoaster ride
Despair
Excitement
Uncertainty
Blind panic
Fear
Self-doubt
Confusion

17. “Ideally, a content
strategist is on board
at the very start of a
CMS project.”
Paula Land
Strategic Content LLC

18. CONTENT STRATEGIST
^

20. Imagecredit:www.flickr.com/photos/dey

21. The PROCESS
seems intimidating.

22. You’re not a CMS expert.
So what?

23. Content management is the
systematic planning, development,
organisation, distribution, evaluation,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

24. Content management is the
SYSTEMATIC PLANNING, development,
organisation, distribution, evaluation,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

25. Content management is the
systematic planning, DEVELOPMENT,
organisation, distribution, evaluation,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

26. Content management is the
systematic planning, development,
ORGANISATION, distribution, evaluation,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

27. Content management is the
systematic planning, development,
organisation, DISTRIBUTION, evaluation,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

28. Content management is the
systematic planning, development,
organisation, distribution, EVALUATION,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

29. Content management is the
systematic planning, development,
organisation, distribution, evaluation,
and PRESERVATION of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

30. Content management is the
systematic planning, development,
organisation, distribution, evaluation,
and preservation OF ALL INFORMATION
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

31. CONTENT MANAGEMENT is the
systematic planning, development,
organisation, distribution, evaluation,
and preservation of all information
within an organisation.
Erik M. Hartman
@erikmhartman

32. You’ve got this.

33. GATHER
Your role is to...
content
requirements

34. UNDERSTAND
Your role is to...
content
requirements

35. PRIORITISE
Your role is to...
content
requirements

36. COMMUNICATE
Your role is to...
content
requirements

37. Your role is NOT to...
know the feature set of every CMS in
existence, be able to recommend the best
system, know all the technical ins and outs
of CMS integration, know what Gartner
thinks about all these CMSes, know how
your CMS will integrate with the other
platforms your institution is using,
understand what hardware is required to run

38. What should you focus on?

39. Information architecture
What should you focus on?

40. Information architecture
Metadata
What should you focus on?

41. Information architecture
Metadata
Authoring and review
What should you focus on?

42. Information architecture
Metadata
Authoring and review
Governance
What should you focus on?

43. Information architecture
Metadata
Authoring and review
Governance
Analytics and reporting
What should you focus on?

44. Information architecture
Metadata
Authoring and review
Governance
Analytics and reporting
Publishing and distribution
What should you focus on?

45. 1. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

46. Information architecture

47. Information architecture

48. Information architecture

49. Information architecture

50. Information architecture

51. Information architecture

52. 2. METADATA

53. Metadata

54. Metadata

55. Metadata

56. Metadata

57. Metadata

58. 3. AUTHORING AND REVIEW

59. Authoring and review

60. Authoring and review

61. Authoring and review

62. Authoring and review

63. Authoring and review

64. Authoring and review

65. 4. GOVERNANCE

66. Governance

67. Governance

68. Governance

69. Governance

70. Governance

71. Governance

72. 5. ANALYTICS AND REPORTING

73. Analytics and reporting

74. Analytics and reporting

75. Analytics and reporting

76. Analytics and reporting

77. 6. PUBLISHING AND DISTRIBUTION

78. Publishing and distribution

79. Publishing and distribution

80. Publishing and distribution

81. Publishing and distribution

83. Three words:
nuance, nuance, nuance

84. Image from www.cmswire.com

86. Gartner Magic Quadrant

87. “Do not simply select vendors in the
Leaders quadrant; vendors from the
Challengers, Niche Players or
Visionaries quadrants may better
match your business goals and
requirements.”
Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management, August 2010

88. CMS 5
CMS 2 CMS 3
CMS 6
CMS 7
CMS 9
CMS 10
CMS 1
CMS 4
CMS 8

89. “Dear CMS vendor, can your
CMS do XYZ?”

90. “Dear CMS vendor, can your
CMS do XYZ?”

91. “DEAR CMS VENDOR,
CAN
your CMS do XYZ?”

92. “DEAR CMS VENDOR,
HOW DOES
your CMS do XYZ?”

93. Traditional requirements-
gathering PROCESSES
are problematic.

94. Identify and prioritise

95. Discovery
Getting at the information you need.

96. Run group workshops
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/australianshepherds

97. Do one-on-one sessions
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/levendis

98. The questions
How to get the most out of your
workshop and interview sessions.

99. Process and workflow
Who are the
authors?
Who are
the
reviewers?
What are
the
workflow
paths? Where are
the
bottlenecks?
What tools
are being
used now?

100. Other existing systems
Are we
going to
keep using
them?
What
content
needs to be
pulled in?
What
content
needs to be
pushed?
In what
format?
Who is
responsible?

101. Other new systems
What new
systems need
to be
integrated? What
content
needs to be
pulled in?
What
content
needs to be
pushed?
In what
format?

102. Prioritising needs
CMS selection is a series of trade-offs.

103. How does this
feed into our
overall business
and content
strategy?
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/tambako

104. What happens
if we don’t
have this
feature/
functionality?
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/photolibrarian

105. What are we
prepared to
give up to have
this feature/
functionality?
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/annabelb

106. Do you speak
technology?

107. Pretty up your spreadsheet
Charlie Peverett
(@cpev)
quoting a colleague
Dare Conference 2014

110. Explain WHY
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank

111. Discuss compromises

112. Reasons to compromise

113. LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
Reasons to compromise

114. LEGACY
SYSTEMS
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
Reasons to compromise

115. TECHNOLOGY
STACK
LEGACY
SYSTEMS
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
Reasons to compromise

116. SYSTEM
DEPENDENCIES
TECHNOLOGY
STACK
LEGACY
SYSTEMS
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
Reasons to compromise

117. SYSTEM
DEPENDENCIES
TECHNOLOGY
STACK
LEGACY
SYSTEMS
PLATFORM
CHOICE
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
Reasons to compromise

118. SYSTEM
DEPENDENCIES
TECHNOLOGY
STACK
INTEGRATION
EFFORT
LEGACY
SYSTEMS
PLATFORM
CHOICE
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
Reasons to compromise

119. SYSTEM
DEPENDENCIES
TECHNOLOGY
STACK
INTEGRATION
EFFORT
LEGACY
SYSTEMS
PLATFORM
CHOICE
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
LICENSING
COSTS
Reasons to compromise

120. SYSTEM
DEPENDENCIES
TECHNOLOGY
STACK
INTEGRATION
EFFORT
LEGACY
SYSTEMS
PLATFORM
CHOICE
LACK OF
INTERNAL
SKILLS
POLITICAL
REASONS
LICENSING
COSTS
Reasons to compromise

121. Don’t be IDEALISTIC.
You’ll end up miserable.

122. Be willing to ask questions
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/audiolucistore

123. Devise use cases
Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/vegard

124. Putting it in writing
A spreadsheet the whole team will love.

125. ID*
Category
Weighting/100
Short name*
The CMS should...
Priority
Explanation and extra notes
Columns

126. Category and ID

127. Sample requirement
Short name The CMS should...
Explanation and
further notes
Reviewer
role
Offer a specialised
reviewer role, with
commenting/
annotation capability,
but no editing
capability.
This is distinct from an
editor role - an editor
can edit content inline; a
reviewer can't edit inline,
but can annotate
content with comments.

128. Priority
Medium High Essential

129. Putting it all together

130. Let’s go over that again...

131. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A CMS
EXPERT.

132. SPEAK TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS
YOU CAN.

133. IDENTIFY, UNDERSTAND, AND
PRIORITISE CONTENT NEEDS.

134. COMMUNICATE REQUIREMENTS
EFFECTIVELY.

135. BE PREPARED TO COMPROMISE.

136. ASK QUESTIONS.

137. Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/dougbrown47

138. Image credit: www.flickr.com/photos/mtsofan

139. Thanks for listening!
Kerry-Anne Gilowey
kerryanne@augustsun.co.za
http://augustsun.co.za · http://about.me/kerryanne
@kerry_anne