CM News - 23 September 2002
Since we published our paper ‘Usability of CMS’ last April, it has become a rather popular topic among the content management community. Vendors have started considering the issue, and asking us to take a look at their products as they update them to reflect ease of use, and many professionals, from analysts to consultants, now quote our work as ’fundamental thinking'. Last June a Forrester survey on content management challenges of 134 IT executives that listed usability among their concerns, reported that ‘systems are not only hard to customize and integrate but also tough to learn and administer’, confirming our findings. We are flattered to see how the CM community is prompted by our contribution, and how it can react quickly. Great to see that. Given the excellent response, and following the interest in our evaluation methods, we have developed a ‘CMS Usability Matrix’, and a ‘Usability Assessment methodology’ that we are offering both to vendors and buyers of CMS technology. We are also introducing ‘comparative usability testing’ to buyers of systems they may be short listing as potential choices. If you are an independent consultant and find our work inspirational, get in touch to discuss how can we work together. People are asking me about ‘consolidation’. Yes, CM functions, as discussed broadly over the past few months, are becoming standard components of larger IT infrastructures, but that does not mean the market will shrink. Rather the opposite, as CM product become more efficient – wishful thinking? - and more affordable, as if the concept of CM sinks in, the technology could bring ‘extended’ enterprise functionality closer to the desktop of virtual users, at more affordable prices, and higher returns. Product Consolidation is certainly happening, with CMS technology expanding functionality to embrace the lifecycle, and emphasis on applications integration. One of the reasons why I consider ‘CMS usability’ and ‘CMS unification’ two facets of the same coin, is because one of the factors affecting ease of use, is system versatility, which in turn is directly determined by the software architecture. There are loads of issues on the CMS table these days. The bottom line is: content technology is not just about IT, it’s about business processes, organizational structures, and about rethinking your business altogether in the light of a changing technology world. Once the complex interactions of all factors are understood, then CMS game is going to be ready for the taking. In the meantime, as someone says, 'it's still early days'. Just the time to make the most important decisions. Paola Di Maio content@content-wire.com
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