Category Archives: Web Content Management

(20)11 content technology lessons learned

The more traditional ‘weblog’ post I did last year on lessons learned in the content technologies arena during the preceding 12 months proved popular and as 2011 has been pretty eventful, I guess it’s worth giving it another shot …

1. In times of uncertainty be very wary of over-buying software solutions…

There’s a website I still visit from time to time that saddens me somewhat. In some ways it was one of the more successful web projects I have been involved in over the last 15 years or so, and in others the least successful.

The requirements gathering and evaluation process was smooth, with the preferred CMS solution and implementors ticking all the boxes and jumping through the hoops relatively easily. The design phase went very well with great buy-in from all stakeholders and a lot of positive feedback on the direction it was all going. The implementation was progressed expertly by the project manager, technical architect and development team and delivered within the agreed timescales and budgets. The content migration was fast and accurate and provided the main mastersite and complete framework for 5 additional languages within 2 weeks. So, with everything lined up and ready to roll, we waited…and we waited…and we waited.

Unfortunately, the product range this new multi-lingual, web marketing platform had been implemented for (as a pilot for a much wider deployment) never materialised and, to my knowledge, is still not launched over two years on from its original planned debut. It was/is a potentially great product but, realistically, there was always a relatively narrow window of opportunity to get the new range launched and established with resellers and consumers successfully.

Without the revenue stream this new product range was designed to generate, there was no budget available for expanding the new web platform further and so it remains like an iceberg – with a fraction of its capability visible above the waterline and a massive potential capability hidden passively beneath. What a sad waste of everyone’s time and efforts for something that is now being used just as a basic (and expensive) email marketing tool but also a reflection of how tough it is to develop and market consumer electronic products efficiently and effectively 😦  Based on the same requirements I’d probably stick with the original recommendation but with the benefit of hindsight I would certainly have recommended directing the money elsewhere …  Continue reading →

How to Select a Web CMS Solution – CMS Connected Event

Back in September I attended an excellent CMS Connected webinar that essentially debated the pros and cons of proprietary software versus open source.  I wrote a running commentary on it that received some good feedback and also a suggestion I do similar for other such events.

The original ’round table’ on display in my home county of Hampshire UK

Today’s event was a round table discussion in a sparkling new format – a live video stream and Twitter ( #cmsconnected ) as the back channel. As I was transfixed by the folks in the virtual studio (which I assume was a very ‘green’ room/box for the participants) and following the Twitter hashtag stream I didn’t take many notes and this format rather negates the type of commentary I did for that previous event.

So… for the second time this year I’m finding myself somewhat redundant 😦 Awwwwww 😉

What I will say however is that it was great to see these folks whose written commentary I have followed in recent years talking live. Scott was as clean-cut and sharp suited as I imagined and Irina was – well how do I put this … razor sharp, with some wonderful quips about workflow and training –  (together with fabulous outfit and hairdo too of course). I found myself relating most to the Skype participant Carmine Porco from Prescient Digital and the useful role they can play in proceedings as ‘bad cop’ – asking those awkward questions that might make the real difference between a good choice and a not so good one.

In summary, the key takeaways for me …

1. The importance of describing scenarios that transcend yes/no checklists and getting hands-on with the tools to test these scenarios for yourself

2. It’s more about selecting the right implementation partners than the tools, particularly with the breadth of offerings available today

3. Don’t just take up the references provided by vendors and implementors, go through their client lists and talk to others about their experiences

4. You need a project sponsor with some authority and also the support of the IT folks to ensure what you select for business objectives plays nicely in their patch too

5. Never underestimate the time it will take to migrate content – automation is not all it’s cracked up to be  (although I’ve personally had some good experiences recently with Drupal Commerce 😉 )

Finally, I think it would be useful to get some clearer answers on budgeting as I found the responses today somewhat skewed towards proprietary based projects with the ‘three times licensing cost’ model.

Well done to all participants – Looking forward to the next one 🙂

(20)12 predictions from the CMS frontline

Around this time last year, I wrote a predictions piece about how the content technologies arena might develop during 2011 from the perspective of a CMS practitioner. I called it (20)11 predictions from the CMS coal face and it received some encouraging feedback.

Back then I was writing from the relatively comfortable position as an employee and approaching the Christmas break knowing that I had a job to go back to in the New Year and that the bills for the ‘present mountain’ and over-consumption of food and alcohol would all be covered.

This year is different …

Continue reading →

11.11.11 – The start of something

On 11.11.11 I launched a new venture called Webwiser – http://www.webwiser.co.uk @webwiserUK – a stake in the ground for something that I hope will grow to be worthwhile and fulfilling. I think this particular date had been planted in my head through a blog post I wrote earlier this year about my car hitting the 111111 mile mark and it being an omen of some sort. I’m sure this is a self-fulfilling prophecy but the timing for this move felt right for quite a number of reasons.

Anyway, it seems others had the idea of using this numerically significant date to make announcements… Continue reading →

Drupal vs Sitecore – a points win in the 10th round

Ahhh – there’s nothing warms the heart of an old europhile and CMS veteran more than listening to three Americans debating the pros and cons of web solutions that were created in that other world across the pond from them 😉 .  And so it was as Drupal went head to head with Sitecore during 10 rounds of bruising questions for the latest CMS-Connected event 🙂

Drupal had the much greater reach but Sitecore was able to land some low punches

In the blue corner we had Bryan House from Acquia representing Drupal. In the red corner Darren Guarnaccia from Sitecore. The referee was Scott Liewehr from Outsell Inc and the delightful compere was Veronica Cooper from CHEK TV.

Early in round one it became clear that this wasn’t a straightforward product bout but more a philosophical battle between open source and proprietary web platforms in which the names could be swapped out across different levels of  competition by any number of commercial and GPL offerings.

However, taking the Real Story Group’s recent re-classification of Sitecore as an upper-tier solution and the growing reputation of Drupal as an enterprise capable platform then I would pitch this as a heavyweight title match.

Before entering the ring, a quick review of the competitor’s stats had Sitecore talking thousands of implementations and Drupal talking millions so the relative sizes giving open source an immediate advantage in terms of reach but perhaps the smaller fighter being more nimble, agile and packing a stronger punch? On stats alone this looked a little like a David and Goliath scenario…   Continue reading →