When trying to select a content management system (CMS), do not start by researching the features of numerous systems - that would take years! Instead, conduct a proper requirements analysis. This article will explain how to do that.
Before we begin, these are a few things to consider:
Time – Six to nine months from starting needs analysis to actually selecting a product; 20-40% of overall development time if building your own.
Product range – According to CMS Watch, more than 2,000 products purport to manage Web content.
Building CMS literacy – Building up your knowledge of capabilities, tech requirements, product updates.
Risks – Brainstorm and plan how you will handle should they arise. Examples: Total cost of ownership higher than expected;
System not flexible enough and must be adapted Business case – Vital! Plan to complete this as your first step. Why is a CMS the answer to your issues? What are those issues? What does the organization lose by not addressing them? What will it cost to address them with a CMS?
The 8 Steps:
- Establish the business case & get authorization to proceed - opportunity, justification (ROI), scope, constraints, functional areas & functional goals.
- Establish the requirements team - a broad-based, interdisciplinary team with web site technical team, web site content reps, users, finance and management
- Analyze the organization deploying the CMS - - Identify all stakeholders (anyone with a vested interest in the CMS) - Who are they? Top management ($$) immediate supervisors, Web team, IT support, end users within the organization, etc. - Securing support from stakeholders at the outset is critical; keep their needs clearly in view from start to finish - Seek to disclose all relevant business issues (mission, strategy, operations, tactics, critical success factors)
- Analyze the end-users working with the CMS - Identify user “types” and how each type interacts with the system - Consider the kind of interface (s) your users will need - Consider the kind of documentation and training your users will need - Do some users only require reports and other informational output from the CMS (rather than directly interacting with it)?
- Analyze all the work flow processes carried out in the CMS - Work flow (and therefore CMS interactions) may differ from functional area to functional area - Study each area—What is the sequence of tasks? How does information flow? - Can the processes be improved? Now is the time to change them! - Graphically depict the “as is” workflow
- Process research data gathered - Perform “Gap Analysis”—the difference between the “as is” and the “desired” - Develop use case diagrams (or data flow diagrams) and scenario descriptions - Analyze everything you gathered to date; stop when you feel there are no open issues remaining between you and documenting the requirements
- Determine all functional and non-functional requirements
- Functional requirements – What the system must do from the end-user’s perspective; capabilities that must be present and fully adequate
- Non-functional requirements – Technical, such as system performance, but also constraints, restrictions, other characteristics imposed on the system
- Document all requirements - Because requirements are specific and numerous, they must be written down, both for definition and for communication to stakeholders - Consider using scenarios to document your requirements - For formal documentation, consider using Concept of Operations (ConOps) as a guide
- CMS evaluation and selection begins!
