Content Management Systems As a Software Service - How to Use it to Succeed in the Web 2.0 Era

With a rapidly changing world , an abundance ofalmost overnight. Vendors are billing monthly, quarterly
information, it is a common knowledge that all websitesor annually, but the costs are spread over the lifetime
require constant updates as static content simply isn'tof the usage of the service. In a traditional product
useful to visitors and customers.model, the entire cost is paid upfront and the risk of
It is also forcing organizations to find creative ways ofproduct implementation, adoption and continuity is on
leveraging this information or content to create athe shoulders of the customer.
competitive advantage. These organizations can lookThere are serious productivity gains to a service
towards adopting a software as a service model tomodel. Any business user or any user if allowed can
manage their multiple digital assets from a singlecontribute to the content of the website, and this from
centralized interface.any location and at any time of the day and by simply
Content is king these days and websites need to beusing a web browser. The entire rights can be
managed and driven by the business people, far lessmanaged and changed depending on the needs of the
by the underlying technology that is needed to build upbusiness and the organization. Different people can be
the content.given different editing rights, depending on their
New and neat content is driving people and customerscontribution. Templates will guide content contributors
to websites and it clearly builds a long termthrough the editing cycle. It allows basically anyone with
relationships with viewers and visitors of the site.editing or admin rights to quickly and easily create, edit,
A modern business or organization needs therefore anmanage and publish unique content to the digital
engine to streamline all its digital content from onecontent of your website.
single interface and needs an engine that is scalableAnd not least, there are significant reductions possible
and manageable by different types of contentin the cost of ownership of your digital content. And it
contribution. An engine that can be used as a service,start with your proof of concept, that can now be
rather then as a software product, whether it isdone in a matter of weeks, rather then months. Then
custom build or open source software. A contentthe price of the service, whether billed monthly or
management system provided to you as a servicequarterly is substantially lower then comparable
guarantees an end-to-end responsibility of the vendorcustom made software and hardware. There is a
that the software will work according to specificationssubstantial costs, hidden in the case of open source
and that your content will be on-line in a timely mannerCMS system, open in the case of custom build CMS
and will remain there.systems that goes to upgrades, support, Helpdesk and
Adopting a software service model for building up webtrouble shooting. All those services are included in your
or digitized content, is also choosing a fast deploymentmonthly subscription if you choose the CMS service
model, a low cost deployment model, a fast adoptionmodel.
cycle within the organization, a fast proof of conceptAnd all the above is available without having to
and transparent updates and upgrades, as you willcompromise on functionality, because most of the
always be running on the latest available release ofCMS systems delivered as a service have come to
the software without additional costs.market quite recently and have a full set of modern
Important as well, is that in the cycle from proof offeatures and often include capturing, editing and
concept to launch of your digital platform, Help will bemanaging more digital content then equivalent custom
available to you in order to guide you through thebuild content management systems. And the
process. Although open source CMS system play afunctionality is growing by the day, it is adapted to the
role in the content management market place, theylatest demands in the marketplace and that
quite often lack the support resources to build up afunctionality is made available to the entire customer
feature rich and function-rich environment. Other hiddenbase as soon as it launched. Traditional software
costs coming from development, maintenance,vendors can very often have big disruptions in their
upgrades and hosting that are common for the openreleases and come up with a completely new
source CMS systems, are completely transparent fortechnology. Service models can and will never be able
CMS systems sold as a service.to do that.
The service delivery guarantee plays is an importantIn conclusion, in the web 2.0 world there are thousands
plus for CMS vendors that have adopted a serviceof reasons to move your digital content to a content
model, as all payments are predicated upon servicemanagement system. Other then the obvious cost of
delivery. Because the risk of canceling the servicechance, there is no reason not to do it. About 40% of
when it does not meet specifications or SLA's, theall businesses have adopted some sort of CMS
vendors with a service model become moresystem and by 2011 that number will be at 60%. For
accountable and are certainly driven to make your sitesmall and medium sized businesses and for all
a success for the business.non-profit organization the choice remains difficult and
By using a service model, organizations can cut downto a certain extend risky. The risk can be diminished
on their own risks, and choose different functionality asand the cost can be well controlled by choosing a
they grow their digital presence. Also the vendors areSoftware service model for managing your digital
scrutinized and evaluated on a permanent basis,content. You can enter the modern digital era without
because one can shift to another competing vendorhaving to do a major upfront investment.