Comments on: Content Management System (CMS) ROI – Not Just About Cutting Costs Anymore http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/content-management-systems/roi/ Web Development and Strategy Experts located in Providence, Rhode Island Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:11:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mark http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/content-management-systems/roi/#comment-1696 Mark Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:21:16 +0000 http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/?p=434#comment-1696 I disagree.. I think most users are not up to the task of using a cms, and they wysiwig editors are still not friendly enough to create a nice layout for someone who doesn't know something about HTML. Most modules suffer from the same old problem one being one of two extreems: either its rigid and can't do the one off thing you are trying to do, or its very flexible and therefor not rigid enough to enforce boundries that make what you are doing look nice even though you dont know how to. I think paying someone else to do this kinda stuff is a better idea.. The clients need to get back to doing whatever it is that they are good at.. I disagree.. I think most users are not up to the task of using a cms, and they wysiwig editors are still not friendly enough to create a nice layout for someone who doesn’t know something about HTML. Most modules suffer from the same old problem one being one of two extreems: either its rigid and can’t do the one off thing you are trying to do, or its very flexible and therefor not rigid enough to enforce boundries that make what you are doing look nice even though you dont know how to. I think paying someone else to do this kinda stuff is a better idea.. The clients need to get back to doing whatever it is that they are good at..

]]> By: Misty Cryer-Davidson http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/content-management-systems/roi/#comment-888 Misty Cryer-Davidson Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:23:07 +0000 http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/?p=434#comment-888 Great article. Updates used to be a headache, but now there are so many options for content management. It is a lot easier than it used to be. Great article. Updates used to be a headache, but now there are so many options for content management. It is a lot easier than it used to be.

]]> By: Christopher Murray http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/content-management-systems/roi/#comment-278 Christopher Murray Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:39:15 +0000 http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/?p=434#comment-278 BrianT - You are right, not only has the cost of these systems gone down but the quality and usability is far superior to what we had even just a few years ago. Wordpress, for example, is free open source software and (in my opinion) one of the easiest to use web publishing tools out there. BrianT – You are right, not only has the cost of these systems gone down but the quality and usability is far superior to what we had even just a few years ago. Wordpress, for example, is free open source software and (in my opinion) one of the easiest to use web publishing tools out there.

]]> By: BrianT http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/content-management-systems/roi/#comment-277 BrianT Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:03:58 +0000 http://www.cmurrayconsulting.com/?p=434#comment-277 Great points, Chris. I've done a bunch of static content site updates for clients before and was often amazed by how much stress and effort people just assumed went along with updating their website. The e-mails, the word documents, the phone calls.... It is all effort and stress that people assume comes with owning a website - but it really doesn't have to exist. This is a very real and often overlooked intangible cost that, when coupled with the $ cost-per-static-update, make moving to a CMS even more attractive. One other big thing that has changed in the last decade or so is the quality of content management systems. I did some work years ago implementing a site in Ektron 300 for a client and it did not work out very well; The CMS interface was pretty clunky and the result took a long time for employees to adapt to. In the recent years since then, however, the technical aspects of all CMSs have gotten nailed down and so CMS designers have spent a lot of effort hardening their tools for the end user. Great points, Chris.

I’ve done a bunch of static content site updates for clients before and was often amazed by how much stress and effort people just assumed went along with updating their website. The e-mails, the word documents, the phone calls…. It is all effort and stress that people assume comes with owning a website – but it really doesn’t have to exist. This is a very real and often overlooked intangible cost that, when coupled with the $ cost-per-static-update, make moving to a CMS even more attractive.

One other big thing that has changed in the last decade or so is the quality of content management systems. I did some work years ago implementing a site in Ektron 300 for a client and it did not work out very well; The CMS interface was pretty clunky and the result took a long time for employees to adapt to. In the recent years since then, however, the technical aspects of all CMSs have gotten nailed down and so CMS designers have spent a lot of effort hardening their tools for the end user.

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