Apr 10 2008, 03:24 PM

A False Choice for Web Content Management

Posted by David

Today we welcome a guest MythBuster. Heather Hanson, interactive project manager and our colleague at ISITE Design, offers sage advice on balancing “fast, good, and cheap” in a CMS initiative. Heather knows of what she writes: a project roster rich in CMS has gained her official (and unofficial) product-certified status on a number of platforms -- and some well-earned street cred.

By Heather Hanson
Guest MythBuster &
Project Manager, ISITE Design

You’ve probably heard this saying:

“Fast, Good and Cheap. Choose Two”

Almost every project manager I’ve run across has a version of this slogan on a poster, paperweight or, in the case of one particularly hardcore technorati, a tattoo.

As widely referenced as the expression may be, it’s worth examining in the context of content management deployments.

The truth is that CMS-driven websites have a low likelihood of long term success, if the time isn’t taken to thoroughly research the user needs, marketing goals and internal staff capabilities before determining a final schedule (and for that matter, budget).

And believe me, as a project manager, schedules and budgets are two things I hold near and dear to my heart.

So you’ve gone through many discovery sessions (at ISITE Design, we call this the “blueprint phase”) and thoroughly documented how your goals tie to your website initiatives.

Now your marketing department is asking to see the results from all the meetings you’ve put them through. You know exactly what features you’ll need to make your website sing and what internal resources will be needed to support the website once it’s up and running.

The pressure mounts to set that launch date and you ambitiously promise your team that the new site will be ready to rock in one month, before consulting the development team or agency that will produce said website.

Stop right there; remember the slogan.

You’ve spent the time to research, which puts you ahead of the poor souls who jump straight into development, but you forgot about the “good” and “cheap” parts.

Now, are you ready to tell the powers that be that the website will be exponentially more expensive than original estimates?  In order to make that schedule, your interactive agency will need to staff round-the-clock developers and designers, plus project managers and strategy personnel to keep the project within scope and marketing vision. And don’t forget to keep the team’s mugs full of extra strength espresso. Chances for an implosion are high in this situation.

Or, would you rather let the bosses know that they’ll get their site on time and on budget, but instead of that fully-interactive, web 3.0 compliant, CMS-driven website they thought they’d see, they will have a lite version with a limited feature set.

Neither option is particularly appealing given the expectations set up front.

Go back to step one and take those discovery results to your development team. Tell them you want a realistic quote on the time and budget it will take to make your ideas actualized. 

Your development team should be willing to work with you to honestly assess what can and can’t be done in the time and budget you have. In fact, they’ll probably even be happy to help you create supporting material to present to your budget-holders.

Finally, go back to your team. Talk to them about what you’ve determined they’ll be able to get based on their time/budget/feature needs, take a deep breath and get set to win that Webby.

Getting back to our phrase (fast, cheap or good – pick two). The moral of the story is to not put yourself in that situation in the middle of the project. Setting right expectations up front and scoping a project with all of your stakeholders can have you making fewer compromises along the way.

Of course, there are still the pitfalls to contend with like scope changes, content-entry purgatory and training your internal staff to use your new CMS, but those topics can wait for a future blog entry.

Mar 20 2008, 08:21 PM

Measure Twice, Cut Once with Web CMS

Posted by David

Carpenters, of all people, have a great saying, one that everyone responsible for a CMS project should tattoo on their forearm, or at least write on their office wall in big red letters:  “Measure twice, cut once.” It’s just four simple words, but oh-so-rich in wisdom and rife with pragmatism.

Precision matters to carpenters. So their little saying about measuring and cutting clicks inside their brain every time they’re about to rip into a new sheet of plywood or saw a 2x4. It reminds them: you have one shot at getting it right, or it’ll cost you time and money.

And, just like it’s impossible to fix a botched cut (well, unless you can afford an endless supply of plywood, or if right angles don’t matter in the house you’re building) it’s similarly hard to straighten out a CMS initiative whose first few “cuts” are ill-measured or hastily accomplished.

Every web project manager has had one misadventure to know: long days/sleepless nights, plus an added tariff of missing your timeline, killing your budget, shedding your internal credibility and executive support --- and for some, shedding your job.

We continue to advocate that, to do CMS right, you need at the very least a vision, a plan, and a well-defined process  --remember, measure twice, cut once -- to deliver a successful CMS outcome. Early steps of a project may seem mundane or easy to bypass for efficiency’s sake – say, astutely defining visitor personas, or properly defining content taxonomy.  But keep in mind: these are your 2x4’s and plywood, so saw them at your peril.

Feb 21 2008, 12:55 PM

Managing Website Optimization

Posted by Jeff

The promise of web content management is to enable the ongoing maintenance and optimization of a website. The worlds of marketing optimization and CMS are quickly colliding backed by vendor consolidation, integrated product suites, and more sophisticated end user adoption.

I recently wrote an article on the risks of optimization called Juicing the Brand. I thought the following excerpt was especially relevant to content administrators who rely on a CMS for ongoing optimization efforts.

Optimization May be Undermining Your Brand

There is nothing wrong with optimizing a website with a focus on the bottom line. The problem is most continuous improvement programs are trying to achieve a series of short term lifts. And these lifts are usually measured by very real and quantifiable metrics such as revenue and leads. As the optimization process unfolds, the actions taken to achieve these lifts usually takes the following forms.

• Increasing the visibility (size and location) of key calls to action
• Removing all unnecessary content that gets in the way of a sale or lead
• Adding more direct calls to action in brand and community oriented content

As each step has incremental success in driving immediate and tangible results, the tactical aspect of optimization can overtake the strategic direction of the site and brand. The employees responsible for the optimization are rewarded for the results. It becomes unpopular and difficult for internal stakeholders to advocate for strategic investments in user experience and brand initiatives. Anything that could potentially undermine the top line results is a risk. The longer this trend continues, the more difficult it is to turn it around.

Read the full Juicing The Brand article

Feb 12 2008, 04:55 AM

How Many People Does it Take to Screw in a Content Management System?

Posted by Jeff

I was in a meeting last week where someone remarked that he thought web development has become too specialized. Meaning  that us agency types may be over complicating projects by having ultra-specialized roles that create awkward handoffs, increase project costs and result in less efficient processes.

I’m the first to agree with limiting the number of cooks in the kitchen, yet it’s hard to ignore the fact that building websites today does require more specialized skills (and processes that can effectively integrate them). In fact, when it comes to CMS implementations, I’ve found that many projects go off track when the wrong people do the wrong tasks (i.e. Developer doing information architecture).

This prompted the question of ‘how many people does it take to screw in a content management system?’ A cynical myth buster may say ‘you don’t screw them in, they screw you’ – but we’re staying positive here.

Project teams will certainly vary based on project size and complexity. However, we’ve found the following roles are critical for success:

The Core Project Team
Almost all CMS implementations will need these roles.

• Project Manager: Essential to keeping the project on track, on budget, coordinating all the people and setting the right expectations every step of the way.
• Information Architect: Perhaps the most critical role in determining the website’s structure, navigation and taxonomy. Don’t start a project without one.
• Copywriter/Editor: Even the most distributed organizations need an editor to ensure a consistent voice, strategy and approach to content across the entire site.
• Front End Developer: Handles the CSS, XHML and all front end display templates, modules and widgets.  Typically a different role and skill set than an application developer.
• Web Designer: Even if you’re not redesigning the site, a web designer is key to ensuring the site brand, UI and styles get translated effectively into the new CMS.
• Developer: Responsible for the core CMS integration, custom application development and the messy technical stuff nobody else knows how to do. Prior expertise with your flavor of CMS is critical.
• Quality Assurance Engineer: Tests, tests and then tests some more. The key is having this role separate from the core development team.
• Business Users: You can’t forget the end users that need to be involved with this process from start to finish. They need education, hands-on mentoring, kind words and perhaps alcohol to get them through the process. Remember, this is new to them and not likely in their job description.
  

The Extended Project Team
Larger and more strategic implementations likely need these roles as well.

• Business Analyst: Sifting through complex organizational workflow and business processes requires careful thinking and an experienced analyst.
• Content Specialist: Responsible for handling the important tasks around how content gets classified and migrated. Works hand in hand with the Information Architects.
• Search Engine Specialist: Getting SEO right out the gate is a business critical task. An SEO expert will ensure the CMS implementation is in alignment with the SEO strategy.
• Database Administrator: As the technical complexity increases, so does the need for roles like a database expert.
• Analytics Expert: Organizations committed to measurement will need an analytics guru working alongside the development team.
• Web Strategist: A high-level strategic thinker can help guide the overall web strategy and tie it to the overall business goals. This person can also help determine how and when to implement new tactics such as social media, rss, podcasts and video.
• Flash Developer: Sites that have rich content delivery will require some expert attention from a Flash developer and/or designer.

So, add them up, and that’s a lot of folks. It’s important to realize these are roles and not necessarily unique people. However, it’s harder and harder to find those ‘Swiss Army knife’ folks that can bring best of breed thinking to each of these areas given the depth of subject matter expertise required. 

The most critical part is to understand what your project needs to succeed. Then audit your current team and prioritize how you invest in resources. The good news is there are plenty of external agencies, consultants and contractors who can augment your existing team. 

Do you agree with the above roles? Did I miss any? Bonus points for any funny punch lines to “How many people does it take to screw in a CMS.”

Jan 17 2008, 05:54 PM

Duck and Cover: Avoiding Drive-by CMS Implementations

Posted by David

Although it’s not quite an epidemic (yet), we’re encountering examples of a problematic trend that fits squarely into CMS Myth. We suspect it’s only going to grow, so fair warning.

We term it ‘drive-by CMS implementations.’ It’s a trend in which third-party web agencies and tech shops doing CMS projects, well… leave a trail of smoke and mayhem in the rear-view mirror. Too many agencies—through neglect, lack of expertise, shoddy development practices and other factors– botch the project, sometimes aggressively so. Others fail to offer a long-term strategic vision for their client, which inevitably leads to bigger issues.

The injuries inflicted by CMS drive-bys are many. We’ve seen search engine rankings drop off the face of Google; the complete content of a website stuffed into a single back-end folder; authoring environments that simply don’t work; sites whose dynamic home page barely loads; and many, many more examples.

There are many reasons for this situation. A big one is: CMS projects can be difficult. It’s not hard for a CMS project to jump the tracks, even for the most competent developers and agencies out there.

But a more critical factor that's been flying under the radar: We see a land-grab underway among agencies, big and small, that want to ride CMS momentum to big-ticket web consulting gigs. And no wonder, as hundreds of right-sized/right-priced and “easy to use” CMS systems (mid-market, low-tier, and open source) are enticing all sorts of organizations to invest in CMS. For integrators/agencies, there’s a relatively low barrier to entry to put themselves out there as a CMS consultant. 

The net-net? Anecdotally, we see integrators/agencies jumping in feet first because the initial CMS learning curve appears relatively easy. Nothing wrong with that. But many times they aren’t realizing there’s a much more challenging, long-term strategic learning curve to master to enable them (and their clients) really get CMS right. The implementation itself, or course, is very important; it’s also just the beginning of a successful' CMS project.

The situation won't get better anytime soon. As the barrier to adopting and integrating a CMS gets lower and lower (price points, ease of development, point-and-click features) and thousands of companies look for a CMS, the problem only worsens. Hence the big problem: You don’t know you have a problem until you’re done!

Been a victim of a drive-by? Let us know your story; we'd love to share your story ... and we'll change the names to protect the guilty.