Content Management: What's in it for me?

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What does my current / planned IT environment look like?
You must understand is how technically prepared your organization is to adopt the CM implementation you are considering. By prepared I mean, is your IT infrastructure and technical plans compatible with what you are considering. You might not know, but this is very important to find out. Make sure you consult with IT. Its one thing for the business side to think that CM will be great for the business; it's another thing to have IT tell you that it can't be implemented.

At this point you might not have a clue which CM system you want, but you can be prepared with your technical prerequisites or desires. Are you a Microsoft only environment (e.g., .NET, ActiveX, SQL, Server, C++. etc)? Do you use Oracle as a company standard database? Are you an IBM shop (e.g., Java, DB2, etc)? Are your plans focused on e-business and the Internet? What are your network bandwidth concerns? Does IT develop internal applications, i.e. an investment in developers? If your CM purposes are to support your websites, how is it done today? Along with your vision for CM, are there any other IT biases you need to know about so you can develop your checklist for potential CM candidates.

Should I build or buy?
Along with your budget, this is related to your organizations IT capabilities and the type of CM you have planned to implement. There are organizations that have a preference in developing in-house. Some feel they can develop exactly the solutions they need at a better costs benefit than purchasing commercial off-the-shelf software that may be overkill for them.

Keep in mind costs to development from scratch versus costs to purchasing commercial off the shelf software. Even if the software doesn't do everything the way you may like, almost all of them provide application programming interface sets to allow for deeper modifications to the core systems and integration to other systems.

And for future support of the system, determine your risks. Is the software company viable for the long term? If they are purchased or go under, how would you support your CM system? If you develop in-house, is there enough documentation for future support? Was it built using standards and methods understandable by future developers and maintenance personnel?

Development from scratch needs to be carefully reviewed, unless there is some compelling reason to do so, this may put you at the most risk. Although a commercial off the shelf software implementation may be the way to go, make sure it is as configurable as you need it to be and that it aligns itself with your developers' skill sets.

What are the issues I need to think about if I'm transforming the business?
What are we talking about here? Well, almost always, and no matter what form of CM you are considering, there is an impact to your employees, your partners, and your customers. This needs to be considered and planned very carefully. More than likely, you already have some form of method in communicating and sharing information amongst interested parties. Now you are thinking about introducing a CM solution to replace or augment that communications and sharing.

Whatever CM you decide on, you need to work with your implementation team in assuring the rollout doesn't 'surprise' anyone, especially you. There are methods to plan your CM project to include appropriate and timely communications (internal and external) about the coming changes and their benefits and training plans.

It is never to early to start the internal transformation process, get an early understanding where your resistance might come from and plan a strategy for it, look for internal champions who will rally the troops to this new great thing, and explain the benefits to the organization and to the individual (i.e. what's in it for me?)

How will I measure success and value?
After you've received commitment to do the project, you've received funding, selected a project, and implemented the project there's still more to do You have to be able to demonstrate how the CM solution has returned or will return the investment.

Start from square one "What am I trying to do with CM?" Even though you may not have thought in terms of ROI then but its there, somewhere in your head. You must have been thinking of something that triggered your interest in CM. Think it out.

Maybe you thought about saving costs, e.g., space, materials, printer/mail/fax costs, employee productivity, etc. Maybe you thought about the ability to increase sales by giving customers another way to interact with you to buy your products and services and save costs, i.e., e-business and e-commerce.

There are many ways to measure success and your ROI. Think about how life is today and how what you are looking for CM to do for you in terms of hard and soft savings compared to the initial CM investment and recurring costs, e.g., maintenance. And just as significant, what it could mean in developing new business.

Summary
No matter which CM direction you may choose, if planned well, you can be almost guaranteed you will be better off with it than without it. Put an internal team together; make sure you have representation from all groups and departments that would be impacted. The thought here is to be clear on what your CM goals are, do your research, understand your current and future IT environment, decide whether you want to build something yourself or purchase, appreciate the impact on your organization, customers, and partners, and most importantly, know how you will measure the success of your CM implementation.

About The Author : Thomas Lites is a project manager and consultant with the Systems Consulting Group of Crowe Chizek. His 20-year IT career has been focused on content management and e-business. He is a Certified e-business Solution Advisor and can be reached at tlites@crowechizek.com.