12. What is a content strategy, and why do you need one?
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18. Your content without an effective strategy... What is a content strategy, and why do you need one?
19. With a content strategy in place... What is a content strategy, and why do you need one?
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21. The ultimate goal user needs (what’s desirable) business drivers (what’s important) technology capabilities (what’s possible) the sweet spot in the middle What is a content strategy, and why do you need one?
22. Six points to consider What is a content strategy, and why do you need one? business goals user needs information to create users existing information content strategy user goals
43. Making your content strategy work Figure it out Vet it with your deparment Get senior managment buy-in Communicate Enforce Making your content strategy work
If you won’t be using a CMS’s capabilities for workflow (automated approval processes) If you have only a few content contributors If you have a lot of content, but it doesn’t need updating often One rule of thumb: more than 1000 assets, more than 10-12 contributors What is the cost of publishing content without a CMS? (A VERY important thing to calculate!!!!)
#1: Technology supports a strategy -- without a strategy, tech decisions have a high risk of needing LOTS of customization or, worse, of not being used. #2: Only if you believe the hype. In order for content owners not to see the file structure where their content is stored, you’ll need a LOT of custom interface development. #3: Again, technology is the enabler, not the doer. Your content owners still have to take the initiative to update the content and tag it properly in order for correct, up-to-date information to appear on the right pages. #4: again #5: Knowledge management is about capturing, improving, and distributing this knowledge within an organization based on set rules for access and publishing. Especially useful in tech firms (“knowledge base” seen on software/hardware site) and in professional services organizations where applied knowledge IS their product. Most widely used as more of a front-end tool for content delivery … on the “other side” of the CMS Document management most widely refers to systems that help organizations streamline the creation and management of “documents” or discreet files. Often thought of as pre-cursor to CM. Useful in document-intensive environments like insurance companies (applications, policies, disclosure documents, etc.) and drug companies (patent applications, etc.). Mention Xerox/Documentum and how they first built this business by focusing on on a very small niche-regulatory affairs departments of Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies. Many DM systems are not tweaked for managing Web content per se, but of course in the age of the Internet, vendors do support Web publishing capabilities.
#6 without metatagging -- as well as the business logic built into the pages to use that metadata -- content from a CMS can’t be found any more easily than non-CMS-generated content #7 -- you knew I was joking with that one. #8 -- According to the CMS list, there are many open-source systems that are inexpensive or even free to download. However, that’s just the code that makes the system tick, without any front-end or templates at all. So you will still pay dearly for the finished product, however you look at it. Bottom line: your ultimate cost depends on how much you need. Build usually cheaper than buying, though, especially if you consider the top players.
Why am I stressing this point so much? What happens without a CM strategy? (Refer back to group points)
Why am I stressing this point so much? What happens without a CM strategy? (Refer back to group points)
even though content management is technically a business process, I believe that it’s much more than that and can’t really be reflected accurately in this way. Why? content people don’t speak “business process” language the content creation, review, publishing process tends to be more fluid than other business processes -- and needs to be this way If content owners aren’t involved in the process, you’re making a big mistake!!
“Get it” about what? What content management is Why the non-CM state isn’t good enough What CM will bring them What kinds of investments they’ll need to make in order to have CM
Did I leave anything out?
Without governance... technology won’t work buy-in won’t happen content will get out of date By governance, I don’t mean policing as much as policy setting and often, modeling. If you think of governance as policing, you’ll be posing it in terms of questions like “who is in charge of various sections and types of content?” “what rules will exist, and what is the process for enforcing those rules?” Instead, if you govern by example, it’s more like “who shows what the processes are?,” “who oversees our content management?” and “who promotes opportunities for us to reuse, train and evangelize content and content management?” More than just a semantic difference! Oversight by multiple disciplines ensures that technology people can discuss content, that business users understand how the technology can improve their lives, and content people can translate the benefits of technology for business users. To some degree, this is a translation effort, and an issue of representation. Users need a contact who understands them, developers need a liaison in order to prioritize requests, and content owners need a representative so they can get to developers. Governance is not intended to complicate the publishing process...quite the opposite: governance makes sure that whoever needs to touch the content (to review or approve it) has the opportunity to do so, enabling the smoothest possible publishing process.
What departments and roles belong on a CM strategy team? Do all of those need to be involved in ongoing governance also? (probably not -- various team members roll on and off, or have their roles grow & diminish over the course of the project, to make the most of their expertise)
what do I have? where is it? how do I create it? how do I find it? how do I change it? when is it obsolete? who created it? who changed it? who can see it?
content management has two faces: one for content owners & contributors, one for site users a CMS needs to take both into account. Two types of metadata element of a template/content type -- defines style, display rules, etc. subject matter -- in order to group related content together, make it findable
also consider relevant content currently existing but in other repositories/formats
what does CM mean in your organization? Break into groups again and discuss your corporate culture open/control proactive/reactive centralized/decentralized budget restriction levels new ideas vs. tradition follow up: how do you know??????