The names (and acronyms) may be similar, but there’s a huge difference between the different solution sets that can fall under the banner of Content Management System (CMS). So let’s try to clear up the confusion and explain the role for an enterprise CMS today.
CMS as a term has been around for a long time. A content management system can be defined as a system used for creating, editing, managing and publishing content in a consistent and organized manner. In many ways, a CMS can be seen as the forerunner of today’s Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions.
ECM grew into set of processes, strategies and tools that allow an enterprise to capture, manage, store, preserve, deliver and measure content throughout the enterprise and beyond, whereas a CMS has best become understood in the context of web development.
Ovum has said that ‘confusion in terminology reigns in the Content Management System space’. If you take a simplistic view, things are a bit clearer.
Today, CMS software comprises the range of website builders that help manage content for publishing on the internet, either on the public world wide web, or on an organization’s internal intranet. You know the kind of package – WordPress, Magento or Weebly. More powerful content management system solutions exist – such as Drupal – that allow you to create functional and feature-rich business websites. However, they can’t deliver the personalized, omnichannel experience that customers and staff require today.
The best CMS software solutions fulfil the extended online requirements and are called Web Content Management Systems (WCM). The WCM is a range of tools to create highly customized and personalized content that can be delivered on the website, social channel or mobile device of the customer’s choice. You can also use your web content management system to create intranets that let your employees and partners to share and collaborate on content – any time, anywhere, any device.
Powerful web content management systems – such as OpenText™ TeamSite – integrate seamlessly with complementary solutions such as Digital Asset Management, analytics and social capabilities. When taken together, such a web content management solution could be described as an enterprise CMS, as opposed to an ECM system, (so Ovum was probably right!).
Here’s some of the things you should expect in the best content management systems.
What are the benefits of an enterprise CMS?
An effective enterprise CMS can deliver multiple benefits for organizations, including:
- Enhanced personalization
Enterprise CMS software brings together content, process, and applications to create and deliver optimized and personalized interactions across the full customer journey, from awareness to purchase to advocacy and recommendation. - Omnichannel customer experience
Deliver dynamic, adaptive and content-centric experiences across every possible point of customer interaction. A mobile-first approach to development and delivery can be taken, while ensuring a smooth and consistent omnichannel experience. - Quick development of adaptive content
With enterprise content management tools, compelling and timely experiences can be tailored for personalized usage and behaviors. The content that appears on your website is specific and relevant to each individual customer and dynamically served to meet their preferences and expectations. - Advanced audience management
In addition to individual personalization, an enterprise CMS should be able to segment audiences into specific groups based on preferences and activities. You can then ensure that the right audience receives the right message. Content designed for specific audiences can have targeting and customization rules applied. - Improved customer understanding
A CMS like TeamSite allows you to apply advanced analytics to the data and content within the enterprise CMS software. You can analyze the usage of pages, content and other relevant objects to increase the visibility of any information delivered in a personalized way. Analytics can be applied to social media channels to further understand customer behaviors and conduct ‘sentiment analysis’ to aid in areas such as new product development and launches. - Increased value of enterprise content
It should be easy for non-technical staff to quickly create and share content. You must be able to efficiently locate content – based on metadata and tagging – so that content is constantly available and frequently used.
What do analysts say about CMS?
Leading analysts tend to agree that things are changing in the world of enterprise CMS with a few organizations – including OpenText – emerging as clear leaders in the WCM space.
Forrester believes that the underlying components of a web CMS are undergoing a radical transformation from what used to be static web development tools to a complete online customer experience platform.
The company comments: ‘What now defines a web CMS? One senior vice president of digital experience at an agency told us that “core CMS is definitely a commodity; but as experience management challenges grow, web CMS must support a much broader mandate.” This digital experience platform mandate demands consistent, flexible support across every customer journey’.
Why choose OpenText?
OpenText has been providing fully featured CMS solutions for many years and is a recognized leader in both the WCM and CMS spaces. In fact, in Ovum’s Decision Matrix, OpenText was the only company to have two solution sets included – and both are in the leadership quadrant. One of which is TeamSite.
The WCM system focuses primarily on the capture, management, storage and delivery of web-based content for large enterprises. It offers organizations the agility to create, customize and automate personalized experiences – rapidly – without limitations, and keep their customers at the center of everything they do.
