Critical Success Factors: Separating Fact from Fantasy
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Content management success: Separating fact from fantasy, marketing from mayhem, silliness from sensibility
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Presented by Rahel Bailie at Documentation and Training West, May 6-9, 2008 in Vancouver,BCThere are many ways to skin a content management project, and the skeletons of CM projects gone awry, or even abandoned before conception, line the ditches to prove it. Of all the critical factors on a content management project, why is all the talk about technology? Separate fact from fantasy, marketing from mayhem, and figure out where to focus your energies to make your content management process a success.
Transcript of Critical Success Factors: Separating Fact from Fantasy
Content management success:
Separating fact from fantasy, marketing from mayhem, silliness from sensibility
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Purpose of this session
Look at some facts, fallacies, and fantasiesDissect some of the marketing speakIdentify the critical success pointsShare experiences, information, questions
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Finding the right tool
Changing productionprocesses
Changemanagement
Fallacy: Tools are the engine
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Finding the right tool
Process control
Change management
Fact: Tools are the caboose
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Fallacy: Easy as reading a book
Learning content management is like learning a new software language“Just read a book”
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Fact: CM projects are complex
Multiple skill sets:• Content architect• Content structure
editor• Taxonomist• Template designer• Information architect• XML technologist• XSL developer
Multiple roles:• Project manager• Content architect• CMS Administrator
Multiple phases:• Requirements analysis• Content analysis• Technology analysis
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Fallacy: Focus on features
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Fantasy: Install, input, output
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Fact: Build, buy, rent?
Do you haveenough in-house resources
What kind of contentprocessingpower do youneed
Areyourprocesses documented
How muchcustom workis needed
Can thesoftwaresupport your needs
What isthe TCO
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Marketing vs mayhem
Smart clientComponent content managementMulti-user enabled clientCross-media or multi-channel publishingIntegrates with popular translation and publishing toolsDITA-compatibleFeature-rich XML solution
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Marketing and feature speak
No standard industry vocabularyFeatures give competitive advantage:• Image resizing – Automatic? Batch?
Choices of outputs? Included or custom work?
• Authentication – What type does it refer to?
• Friendly URLs – same as “URL rewrites”?
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Fact: It’s not what, it’s how
Not: Does the product have workflow?But: Does your product’s workflow support how we need to work in our organization?
Not: Does the product have verisoning?But: How does your product do version control, and keep audit trails?
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Successful CMS projects
What does success look like?
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Silliness: Tools driven project
1. IT hears about a CMS.2. The CMS gets installed.3. Your group is told to use it.4. You find it lacks the right functionality.5. You don’t get the resources to customize it.6. The project goes sideways.7. You go back to manual processing, and IT
brands your group “uncooperative.”
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Sensibility: Process-driven project
Used under Creative Commons
(c) 2006 CM Professionals
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Insist on a project plan
Activity
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 5
Wk 6
Wk 7
Wk 8
Wk 9
Wk 10
Wk 11
Wk 12
Do this
Do this
Do this
Do this
Do this
Do this
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Handle process issues
Where will the content
be stored
Will ourdocs getrestructuredWill we
changeproductionprocesses
Whatabout our translations
Does the project fitwith our corporate strategy
Do we have totag everything
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Handle governance issues
Who owns the content
Who will enforce the processesWho
will own the budget
Is there enoughpolitical will
Who will own the process
Will ourstaff cope
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Adopt a naturalistic system
Better usability
Betterprocesses
Higherrate of
acceptance
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Consider change management
Get cross-dept buy-in
Get exec. commitment
Make it easy,easy, easy
All clear abouthows and whys
Training, follow-up,evangelize,iterate
Plan, decide, communicate
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Share information
Share experiences with other usersTalk to peers at conferencesTalk to other system usersTalk to vendors, thenTalk to more usersTalk with technical folksAsk lots and lots of questions
© 2008 Intentional Design Inc.
Contact info:
Rahel Anne Bailie [email protected]
Intentional Design Inc.+1.604.837.0034www.IntentionalDesign.ca
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