Can Your CMS Handle Success? A Practical Guide to Selecting a CMS

By Tom Wentworth, CMO, Acquia

UK Central and Local Government Edition

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3The rise of digital and the evolution of the CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Georgia.gov Finds Freedom, Flexibility by replacing legacy Platform . . . . . . . . . . . 7The next-Generation CMS Must “Manage, Measure, and engage” . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Selecting a CMS Vendor: Monolithic vs. Integrated experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Key Considerations for Choosing a new CMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10There Are Many Vendors to Consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11evaluate usability, not Curb Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Prepare for the dog and Pony Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Key requirements Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Table of Contents

Can Your CMS Handle Success? A Practical Guide to Selecting a CMS

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IntroductionThe doctrine of open government, or opengov, holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight.

The united States and the united Kingdom are among the national governments using technology—especially open source technologies—to transform government services to make them more efficient and effective for users. Central and local government offices are beginning to embrace this initiative. The Cabinet Office has created a guide to present options and encourage adoption of open source software in Government. Today, 24 percent of all government and local government sites worldwide run on the open source drupal CMS, more than any other content management system.

digital, and especially mobile, have taken on new importance in the role of public safety. new York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for example, provided crucial public safety information during Hurricane Sandy via mobile devices.

As of March 2013, more than 45 percent of those visiting the HM Government e-petitions service were using a mobile device. According to Government digital Service design Principle no.7, people should be able to use digital services wherever they are, on a device of their choosing. It is critical that a CMS is chosen that can help achieve this goal—for example, it supports responsive design.

Government

agencies are seeing

the digital landscape

change dramatically.

Realisation is

dawning that

their legacy CMS

systems—many

installed before

Facebook or the

iPhone emerged

onto the scene—

cannot keep pace.

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Government organisations are finding that their legacy proprietary systems are simply no longer able to deliver the service that a modern user expects and are expensive to support, update, and maintain.

According to OnS, 83 percent of households in Great Britain have broadband Internet access in 2013 and more than half (53 percent) of uK adults use their mobile phone to access the Internet. Many legacy CMSs have limited—or no—means to serve up mobile content. Social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and a growing group of others, are also part of the daily fabric of communication for the public.

Government agencies are seeing the digital landscape change dramatically. realisation is dawning that their legacy CMS systems—many installed before Facebook or the iPhone emerged onto the scene—cannot keep pace.

This ebook provides some insights and recommendations into how to select a new CMS that meets the needs of state and local government—and their citizens.

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The rise of digital and the evolution of the CMSHistory of CMS

In less than a decade, the world has moved from the time predating either Facebook or the iPhone to a time in which mobile phones and tablets are becoming the platforms of choice.

Facebook and Twitter have become an integral part of the digital landscape—and our daily lives.

The rise of “digital” as the primary social meeting ground—and therefore the primary marketplace—has led to the need for the “next-generation CMS.” This is the CMS that can provide an engine for content in midst of the digital-social revolution.

The first-generation CMS (1994-2004) essentially served as a brochure. Its pages were static and adding content was usually done by a webmaster, thereby limiting content creation. The second-generation CMS appeared on the scene in about 2003 as digital began its ascension as the primary social communications environment.

The first-generation

CMS essentially

served as a

brochure. The

second-generation

CMS appeared on

the scene in about

2003 as digital

began its ascension

as the primary social

communications

environment.

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The third-generation

CMS is driving past

its predecessors by

providing support for

continual innovation,

native integration

with social

communities, and

open architecture

to allow for easy

integration.

As the evolution of digital continues, though, the second-generation CMS has shown that it lacks some capabilities essential for success. Those drawbacks include:

■ Mobile sites are either not possible or simply an afterthought with second-generation CMSs

■ expensive to own – High maintenance costs – difficult to find experienced development resources

■ Plagued by usability issues – Products were designed before the advent of modern user interface or uX best practices – new challenges for evolving content formats create bottlenecks in content creation

■ required multiple-point solutions – lack of social community integration – external video solutions required

The third-generation CMS is driving past its predecessors by providing:

■ Simplified content creation tools

■ responsive web design to ensure a great experience on all current and emerging platforms

■ native integration with social communities

■ Open architecture to allow for easy integration

■ Support for continual innovation

■ Capability to deliver needed functionality dictated by the needs and timeline of the organisation, rather than the development roadmap of a vendor

Putting It in Perspective

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Georgia.gov Finds Freedom, Flexibility by replacing legacy Platform

It is good to look at how government institutions in other countries are approaching the challenges of digital transformation to help shape thinking and policy. Take the u.S. State of Georgia as an example.

It’s not hard to understand why the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) decided to drop the outdated CMS that supported Georgia.gov in favour of open source drupal and Acquia Cloud. The 10-year-old proprietary platform was becoming too costly to maintain and was struggling to keep pace with site traffic.

Georgia.gov is the official website of the State of Georgia and serves as the front door to more than 55 state agency websites. The site had been running two versions of a proprietary CMS, one of which was no longer supported.

“We were in a situation where a couple of times it was extremely overwhelming to keep up with the traffic,” said nikhil deshpande, the director of Georgia.gov Interactive, an office within the GTA. “We needed something that could sustain our multiple sites without multiplying the maintenance effort.”

As part of an extensive search for a new platform for its websites, Georgia.gov put together a list of solid requirements. The agency wanted a cost-effective, enterprise-level system that wasn’t going to require a lot of upkeep. The new platform also needed to be intuitive enough so content managers and users of all levels could easily manage their individual sites. “We wanted something that didn’t require 20 clicks to publish something,” deshpande said.

rather than host locally as it had in the past, Georgia.gov wanted to leverage the agility and elasticity of the cloud. Georgia.gov’s switch to an open-source CMS in the cloud makes it easier and faster to add new online services and provide greater support for mobile devices. Officials estimate that the move to drupal and Acquia Cloud will generate savings of $4.7 million over five years. In addition, the move to cloud hosting will allow Georgia.gov to free itself from managing at least 20 servers.

now Georgia.gov can respond to increased demand and unexpected traffic spikes seamlessly. “now that we have a solid product, we are getting a lot of interest from other agencies who want to onboard. In the last few months, we have already added 15 sites,” deshpande said.

“ We were in a

situation where a

couple of times

it was extremely

overwhelming to

keep up with the

traffic. We needed

something that

could sustain

our multiple sites

without multiplying

the maintenance

effort.”—Nikhil Deshpande

director of Georgia.gov Interactive

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The next-Generation CMS Must “Manage, Measure, and engage”To truly achieve the goal of open government, the next-generation CMS must be able to provide the tools that assure government agencies optimal engagement with the public, including easy and powerful content creation tools, as well as tools to easily administer the work flows, work groups, and security of a site. The CMS must deliver the metrics and analytics that indicate digital success. The CMS must offer the controls to create great digital experiences, the tools to create and manage content, and the capability for providing a multilingual, global experience.

The CMS must

offer the controls to

create great digital

experiences, the

tools to create and

manage a marketing

campaign, and

the capability

for providing a

multilingual, global

experience.

MeasureGive insight into multichannel experience patterns and consumption

EngageContextually transform content across channels and manage transactions and social interactions

Manageenable people to create and manage digital experiences and/or associated content

Presentation management

Content targeting Social Ad

serving Transactions Id/ authentication

Content data/services repositories BPM and

workflowAuthoring

tools Multilingual Campaign management

A/B testing

Multivariate testing

Web analytics

Social analytics dashboards

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Selecting a CMS Vendor: Monolithic vs. Integrated experienceVendors Are Taking Two Approaches

Monolithic Suites: legacy CMS systems are proprietary and have, for the most part, taken an all-in-one approach. They attempt to assemble all the functionality an organisation might need in a single system. In a world defined by constant innovation, it is less likely that one system can provide one-stop shopping. In addition, adding new functionality is usually a slow process that requires months, sometimes years, of development. That slow pace of change is a non-starter in a highly competitive marketplace.

Integrated Digital Experiences: A CMS built on open-source technology offers “open architecture.” This allows the best solution—including recently emerging solutions—to be rapidly and easily integrated into the CMS. This open architecture therefore provides an ideal environment for constant innovation. Adaptation can be made without re-engineering the entire system. Creating a new drupal module, for example, or revising an existing module, may be all that is required to add that new functionality. This means a turnaround of days or weeks instead of months or years. Integration to new systems is also simple, due to the open architecture of the open-source platform.

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Key Considerations for Choosing a new CMS As an organisation begins the process of selecting a new CMS, understanding the important factors in making such a

choice can help ensure a successful outcome.

Some of the key factors to be weighed during the process include:

■ Will the CMS provide the tools to constantly innovate and adapt to the rapidly changing digital environment?

■ Can the CMS handle large spikes in traffic, so that your best day doesn’t become your worst day?

■ every organisation has its own requirements. What problems are you trying to solve? Articulate your specific requirements for a new CMS.

■ What are the licensing requirements for the software? Is it open source or proprietary? There are some significant differences in costs and resource allocation due to licensing factors.

■ Are you planning to host the CMS on-premise or are you seeking a cloud-hosted solution? What are the cost, maintenance/updating, and staffing benefits to each approach?

■ Can you work with vendors directly? Can you engage an implementation partner?

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There Are Many Vendors to Consider

narrow your list of vendors for consideration by evaluating possible platforms and deployment models. In the case of the platform, consider such factors as the skills of your development staff and the platform that will be the best fit for future development.

The following are among the most common platform choices, and their attributes:

■ .neT Framework — Microsoft-only — Mature development environment

■ Java — Cross-platform — Popular among larger enterprises and specific verticals like financial services

■ PHP — Cross-platform — Fastest growing CMS development platform

deployment can either be hosted in the cloud, on-premise, or a mix of the two known as a hybrid. Some CMS systems are traditional software installed on your own in-house servers. Other vendors offer cloud-based solutions so that servers are hosted remotely and are managed for you by the hosting firm. Some companies, such as Acquia, offer options either for cloud-based computing, or for managing on-premise software.

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evaluate usability, not Curb AppealPlan for the CMS selection process to take 3 to 6 months, though this timeframe can vary. Involve key stakeholders early in the process. Who in the organisation will need to take part in assessing CMS systems? Assemble those who can evaluate objectively based on the usability of the CMS, rather than its “curb appeal.”

In addition to department heads and key project managers, consider including:

■ developers, architects

■ designers

■ Marketing team

■ Analytics, metrics experts

■ Agency partners

■ Administrators

■ Trainers, documentation staff

■ Other staff key within your organisation

Consider working with analysts, such as Forrester and others. They can add perspective to the selection process.

Take the steps of downloading trial installations and evaluating using consistent criteria. engage your partners in the process as well. Their expertise and knowledge of your business will add further perspective.

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Prepare for the dog and Pony Show

Once you’ve narrowed the field, it’s time for the vendors to make their case to your team. Make sure that you guide the

process so that you are able to judge functionality and usability. Ask the vendor to minimise the “About us” pitch. By this point

in the process, you will be familiar with the vendor.

Allocate enough time so that the vendor can demonstrate the scenarios and requirements that you have specified in your

request for proposal. This typically will take 60 to 90 minutes. Ask the vendor to bring the right resources to the demonstration.

The sales engineer will be able to answer your questions.

Finally, schedule the audience based on the subject matter of the particular demonstration. developers and designers, for

example, probably will not want to be included in the same sessions as business users.

You are the customer. Make sure that your questions are answered and the vendor has given you the information that you and

your staff require to make a sound decision.

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www.acquia.com | SKu 0356-131016-A4-eBOOK

Key requirements ChecklistContent Authoring☐ Inline Editing edit content in-place☐ Structured Content Authoring

Forms-based☐ Drag-and-Drop Page Creation

Assemble pages without developers☐ Media Management

resizing, cropping, transcoding

Workflow Requirements☐ Approval Process for Publishing

draft, In-review, Published☐ Version History

Quickly compare versions☐ Audit Trails

Capture feedback on changes☐ Reporting

Bottlenecks

Multilingual and Content Reuse☐ Separation of Content from Presentation

Create content once, re-use in multiple locations Categorise content using taxonomies

☐ Manage content in multiple languages Manual or automed translation support define relationship between languages

Security and Permissions☐ Users

Authorised CMS users☐ Groups

Collections of users and other groups☐ Permissions

define access levels to folders and content☐ Roles

define access privileges to users and groups

Social Media and Collaboration☐ Blogs☐ Networking, Friending, and Following☐ Ratings and Reviews☐ Collaboration☐ Content Moderation

License and Deployment Models☐ Deployment Model

On-Premise: Software is deployed on owned servers. Cloud: Software is deployed in the cloud. Hybrid: Authoring servers are on-premise; delivery servers are in the cloud.

☐ License Types Perpetual: You buy the software up-front and pay the vendor a yearly fee for access to upgrades and support. Subscription: You rent the software, services, and support typically on an annual basis. Open Source: no software license fee. Vendors like Acquia provide support.

Don’t Forget About Training☐ For Developers

learn the fundamental concepts and techniques for developing CMS applications, including page design, APIs, content models, and more.

☐ For Administrators learn server administration concepts and best practices, from installation and configuration through on-going health, performance, and availability.

☐ For End Users Teach users the basics of content management including authoring, workflow, and publishing.

Call us and let’s talk about how we can get your first site up and running—today! +44 (0) 1865 520 010

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