Defining Requirements
Solid requirements will tell you what type of system you really do (and don't) need. Learn about how to do the upfront analysis that underpins successful content management and search projects.
Article: E-mail Archiving and Management Healthcheck
Does Your Company Have an E-mail Archiving and Management Problem?
Nearly everyone gripes about the effectiveness of their e-mail archiving and management tools, but just how bad is the problem at your enterprise? Take our handy e-mail archiving and management "health quiz" and get a custom diagnosis...
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Article: DAM-Trends
Innovations in Digital Asset Management, Circa 2008
The Digital Asset Management (DAM) marketplace doesn't receive a lot of attention, but DPCI's Joseph Bachana argues that some very interesting developments are transpiring. The problem is, no single vendor has a lock on how to combine all these innovations into a comprehensive offering...
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Article: Converging Content and Data
Love Your Local Data Warehouse Manager
Within most enterprises, the worlds of "data" and "content" remain far apart, despite recurring business needs to converge different types of information. Tony Byrne argues that data specialists have a lot to teach content specialists -- and vice-versa. The trick is finding common ground, allied interests, and a common vocabulary...
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Article: 2008 Predictions
Twelve Predictions for 2008
It's that time of year again. The CMS Watch analyst team ponders what to expect next year, and offers 12 predictions that we think will shape content technologies in 2008 -- from Google to Microsoft, Web/Enterprise 2.0, Enterprise Search, Archiving, and more...
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Article: Search Trends
Enterprise Search: Trends for 2008
What's new in enterprise search? Very much and very little, argues CMS Watch Contributing Analyst Adriaan Bloem. Based on just-completed market research, Adriaan concludes that enterprise search customers and vendors alike are still grappling with key usability and technical challenges. But 2007 saw substantial marketplace ferment, and 2008 is likely to bring more...
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Article: Vignette Demo
Vignette, Ajax, and Usability
Web CMS vendor Vignette recently released a new, dashboard-type interface featuring several Ajax controls. CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne demonstrates some of the ups and downs of this new approach, and poses some larger questions about usable interfaces...
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Article: ECM-WCM-Portal
Do you need an ECMS, WCMS, or a Portal?
In a world where content technology categories overlap, how do you figure out which type of solution do you really need? CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne argues that the best approach to distinguishing among Web CMS, Enterprise Content Management, and Portal solutions is identifying the specific business scenario you're trying to address.
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Article: Document Analysis
A Lexicon for Document Analysis
Content analysis is a key pillar of successful content technology implementations. But a challenge comes, says CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne, in figuring out what to call content types and elements, when analysts, consultants, and vendors use different terms to mean the same thing...
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Article: Portal Must Haves
State of the Art for Enterprise Portals
CMS Watch evaluates technology according to common business scenarios. But is it possible to identify a set of baseline capabilities and attributes for tools in a reasonably mature marketplace like enterprise portals? Janus Boye thinks so, and lays out "state of the art" for portal software, circa 2007...
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Article: Enterprise IA
Information Architecture, Meet the Enterprise Web
The first edition of Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville's famous "Polar
Bear Book" taught us how to think about information architecture for
a website. But what about website IA that spans multiple business units across
a distributed enterprise? The book's new third edition provides some practical
advice for IAs trying to negotiate the enterprise thicket...
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Article: Localization in the context of taxonomies
When you need to localize and categorize
Targeting content to different geographic regions seems easy enough: just set up a locales attribute in your CMS and you're done, right? Not so fast, argues Molecular's Christian Donner. You need an information architecture that will make localized content accessible for the right audience in the right region, but enterprises frequently underestimate the complexity here...
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Article: Records Management
Specifications, Certifications, and Compliance: There is a Difference
If records management software is "certified," does that mean it will work well for you? CMS Watch contributing analyst Priscilla Emery offers a tour of various certifications efforts around the world and concludes firmly: specifications, certifications, and compliance are different things...
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Article: Web Publishing
Placed vs. Dynamic Content
How do you want content to appear on your website? Should your authors "place"
content items on a specific page, or can you make your content smart enough
to just know where to go? Theresa Regli and Christian Donner explore the pros
and cons of "placed" vs. "dynamic" content management.
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Article: Feed Me!
Headline Syndication for Intranets
Are your employees hungry for a better and fresher intranet? Web content guru Amy Gahran returns to CMS Watch to show how headline syndication capabilities can significantly improve internal information exchange. It's easy to supply webfeeds, says Amy, but you'll have to work a bit to help employees ingest all that new food...
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Article: Structured CMS
Introduction to Structured Content Management with XML
Kay Ethier and Scott Abel offer an introductory primer on how to think about and define structure, then apply XML for better management of your documents...
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Article: Metrics
Build Analytics into Your CMS
Many CMS vendors build in useful, lightweight add-ons -- like collaboration, asset management, and search -- to their solutions when the alternative of integrating a 3rd-party solution proves too complex or costly. John Girard argues that likewise, website analytics should become part of your Web content management system as well...
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Article: Web Accessibility
Content Management Systems Can Improve Accessibility
Is your website accessible? Jim Howard returns to CMSWatch to argue that you should achieve accessibility by leveraging a content management system to output multiple versions of your content...
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Article: XML Authoring
Considering Fluency in XML Design
XML-based authoring and the application of semantic value to your content can speed publishing and enhance text retrieval. Mark Baker returns to CMS Watch to argue, however, that this becomes a pyrrhic victory if the quality of your content suffers as a result...
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Article: CMS Workflows
Workflow or Workclog?
Are your managers' in-boxes overflowing with messages from your CMS? Martin White of Intranet Focus Ltd. argues that your workflow system may have become more of a hindrance than a benefit. Fortunately, Martin also has some helpful suggestions for you to unclog your system...
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Article: Scalability
Interface Scalability
Finding your CMS interfaces bulging at the seams? You're not alone, says Clickability's Jeff Freund. Just as your content management infrastructure must scale to meet your growing web publishing needs, explains Jeff, so must the interfaces of your CMS scale to meet the ongoing needs of your editorial team...
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