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Almost half of content management system deployments end in failure. This inevitably raises the question - is the failure the result of the CMS product or the implementation approach taken by the service provider you've retained? This short slideshare gives you the questions you need to answer to find out. Because until you identify the source of the problem, you can't begin finding a solution.
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Your CMS Implementation is Failing – Why?
Product or Partner?
Prepared by: Randy Woods
A Too Common Conundrum
• After years of struggling with a website that has outgrown its infrastructure, you make the hard decision to replatform to a new content management solution.
• Now the project is off the rails and you don’t know whether to blame the CMS product, or the integration partner you have selected
Toronto | Ottawa | New York | Calgary | São Paulo | Florianópolis 2
The “usual” process
Gather Requiremen
ts
CMS 6
CMS 2
CMS 3
CMS 4
CMS 5
CMS 1 CMS
3
Long and painful CMS procurement exercise
The WINNER
Integration Partner 1
Integration Partner 2
Integration Partner 3
Integration Partner 3
The WINNER
The “usual” process
4 to 6 months pass and then…….
The “usual” process
4 to 6 months pass and then…….
Quickly followed by
How do you find the problem and get back on track?
Do you know what success looks like?
Do the major issues stem from integration with existing systems?
Do you recognize the faces at the table?
How has communication been on the project?
Are non-technical issues at the heart of the issue?
Are you asking the CMS to be something it isn’t?
Are you using the CMS the way that others have? The way it’s intended?
Might this just be Kanter’s law in action?
Kanter’s Law
“Everything looks like a failure in the middle”
Kanter’s Law
“Everything looks like a failure in the middle”
Step back, take a deep breath, and try to imagine the world 8 weeks in the future - is it likely the world will get better?
Are you using the CMS for the purposes advertised?• You probably matched your needs to the CMS
product during procurement
- Have your needs changed?
• Review case studies from your industry on the website of the CMS vendor
- Have others successfully used the CMS to meet the requirements that you have?
Are you using the CMS for the purposes advertised?• You probably matched your needs to the CMS
product during procurement
- Have your needs changed?
• Review case studies from your industry on the website of the CMS vendor
- Have others successfully used the CMS to meet the requirements that you have?
If your needs have changed or if you can’t find a reference to a similar successful project on the vendors site, then begin questioning if you’ve selected the right CMS
Are you asking the CMS to be something it isn’t?• CMS products live in an ecosystem of other technologies:
- Digital asset management systems
- CRM
- Email marketing platforms
- Web analytic systems
- Directory services etc.
• Most CMS vendors have “extended” their product to provide limited functionality in each of these categories
Are you asking the CMS to be something it isn’t?• CMS products live in an ecosystem of other technologies:
- Digital asset management systems
- CRM
- Email marketing platforms
- Web analytic systems
- Directory services etc.
• Most CMS vendors have “extended” their product to provide limited functionality in each of these categories
If you are expecting your CMS to solve the problems around which other software categories have developed, question if your expectations are realistic
Do problems reside in non-technical decisions or processes?• About 1/3 of the activities required to replatform have
nothing to do with the underlying CMS:
- Strategic objectives
- Information architecture
- Content creation
- Governance workflow
- Graphic design activities
- Search engine optimization
- Content migration
- Web analytic frameworksIf the challenges you face stem from any of these items, then it is definitely not thefault of your CMS – begin looking hard at your partner and your internal team.
Do problems reside in non-technical decisions or processes?• About 1/3 of the activities required to replatform have
nothing to do with the underlying CMS:
- Strategic objectives
- Information architecture
- Content creation
- Governance workflow
- Graphic design activities
- Search engine optimization
- Content migration
- Web analytic frameworks
Have communication lines been open?• Project management approaches vary but one
aspect is crystal clear – communication is essential
• Key questions:
- Do you know what your partner is working on this week?
- Do you know what your team should be working on this week?
- Are you clear what happens next in the project flow?If the project management process is not completely transparent, than the problemis probably not the technology – it lies in the implementation process
Do you get the sense you’ve been handed the “B” team?• Key question: are any of the team members that
impressed you during the pitch on the project?
- Does the service provider team seem uniformed about the project history?
- Do you find yourself repeating key information you thought you had already conveyed?
Do you get the sense you’ve been handed the “B” team?• Key question: are any of the team members that
impressed you during the pitch on the project?
- Does the service provider team seem uniformed about the project history?
- Do you find yourself repeating key information you thought you had already conveyed?
Everyone has employee turn over – but if at least one person from the pitch teamisn’t working on your project on a daily basis, your problem is the service provider.
The bane of integration
• Do all the challenges you are facing seem to stem from integration with legacy systems?
- How adequately documented are these systems?
- How much information about these systems did you share during the partner selection process?
The bane of integration
• Do all the challenges you are facing seem to stem from integration with legacy systems?
- How adequately documented are these systems?
- How much information about these systems did you share during the partner selection process?
If your problems stem from integration issues, then it may be neither partner nor CMS product – it might just be the reality of dealing with complexity
Be honest – are you set up to succeed?• It’s always difficult to assess the readiness of your project
team – but partnership with an implementation firm requires competency on both sides.
• Does your team have clarity about:
- The business objectives the site is to deliver
- How tasks and features will be prioritized and how trade-offs will happen
• Has this team managed a project of this complexity before?
Be honest – are you set up to succeed?• It’s always difficult to assess the readiness of your project
team – but partnership with an implementation firm requires competency on both sides.
• Does your team have clarity about:
- The business objectives the site is to deliver
- How tasks and features will be prioritized and how trade-offs will happen
• Has this team managed a project of this complexity before?
It’s hard to stomach when you are paying other people money to perform, butsometimes the source of your challenges lies much closer to home
Flowchart and Blog Post
http://bit.ly/cms-failure
