Introduction to Web Content Management
There are almost as many definitions of "Content Management System" as there are Web CMS vendors and analysts. Here is CMS Watch's definition of a Content Management System:
"A system that lets you apply management principles to content."
That might seem self-evident, but most companies today -- large and small -- do not manage content with the same rigor that they manage data. Content moves to the center of the equation where it belongs. As in all management systems, people play a decisive role in what happens to it. What they do with content can be encapsulated into business rules and editorial processes. The goal of these efforts is to support specific business objectives. Perhaps the most important content management problem companies face is that their publishing processes do not advance business goals. The purpose of your CMS should be to put those two back in sync. In the specific domain of Web CMS, an automated platform should allow you to publish more efficiently than a manual process, but as with all other technologies, effective management is first and foremost a people issue.
In short, Content Management products are not in themselves Content Management systems. Nevertheless, technology does need to be applied in support of your rules and processes. Of course, technology costs money. Even if you just reorganize your system without applying new technology, you will expend precious resources (time, attention, and probably money, too).
Major Web content management packages typically offer canonical ECM features, although with a particular purpose: moving content to the Web according to enterprise business rules. As newer, Web-based products, these packages also tend to emphasize Web-based interfaces over proprietary, client-based tools. More so than other ECM segments, Web content management also concerns itself more closely with actual content delivery to end users. In addition to core ECM functions, Web CMS packages bring special capabilities to the mix, including, potentially:
1) Specialized Authoring and Transformation Tools: To enable business users to input content into the system and have it normalized to HTML or XML
2) Aggregation and Component Management: To combine and publish discrete chunks of content that may originate from a variety of sources
3) Templating: To ensure consistent, predictable renderings for the Web environment
4) Deployment Path: To publish to standard Internet platforms (development, stage/ testing, production)
5) Page Assembly and Delivery: For dynamic production and submission of content to end users (content consumers)
6) Personalization: To deliver targeted sets of content to individual consumers
7) Caching and Replication: To ensure high performance in public environments characterized by spikes in demand
8) Micro-applications: To provide basic interactivity to a website.
9) Syndication: To add value to content through advanced Internet-based distribution
10) Producing Wireless and Other Formats: To push content through multiple channels
Web CMS packages have been especially acquisitive in adopting key features from other technology segments. For example, WCM vendors have been increasingly aggressive about adopting Digital Asset Management (DAM) features as customers' graphical assets become more sophisticated.
Ultimately, content targeted for publishing on the Web follows a particular lifecycle. Understanding that lifecycle is the key to building your requirements and analyzing which technologies best match your needs.
For more information about requirements and tools, consult The Web CMS Report.