The last five years have meant some rapid advancements in how Content Management Systems are built, deployed and implemented. However, these advances also come with a great deal of added complexity and understanding needed “headless!” “multi-tenant SaaS!” etc.
It’s no wonder clients are more confused than ever.
Here is our four-phased approach for evaluating a CMS:
Phase 1: Background analysis & planning
One of the most underrated phases since successful project execution requires a clear understanding of:
- Business goals
- Key stakeholders and roles
Phase 2: Capabilities auditing
Identify existing resources and constraints. This includes:
- Technology audit
- Content audit
- Skills audit
Phase 3:
Initial selection
Narrow down a short-list of vendors based on both non-functional and functional criteria:
- Onboarding / documentation
- Partner network
- Community
- Vision / roadmap
- Cost / pricing model
- Usability
- Over a dozen feature and technical criteria.
Phase 4:
Proof-of-concept
During the PoC phase it is important to test key criteria:
- Ease of authoring
- Ease of integration
- Performance
- Migration
Afterwards, consult with stakeholders to compare evaluation results.
Of course, this a very simplified view. At this point, I can offer two suggestions:
- Contact us to assist in the process
- Consult external resources such as:
- CMS Wire: Q&A – Uniform Releases Composable CMS Evaluation Guide (a 60-page document written by us outlining everything above in far greater detail – registration required)
- CMS Wire: 14 Rules for Selecting the Right Content Management System (CMS)
- Michael Andrews: How to compare CMSs, objectively