Hi Russell
I’m the chairman and founder of Precedent, an agency many on this list might know as we work heavily with HE both in the UK and Australia. So thought I’d better declare that interest up front!
The one area of advice I’d really like to share after working on digital strategies with over 32 HEs internationally, is that too often Unis put the cart before the horse, by making technology decisions before
developing an integrated digital vision. For example a CMS selection may be selected to drive external websites, rather than asking the question about what a fully joined up, integrated experience from prospect, to student, to alumni might look like and the
technology needed to facilitate this.
My team often receives long and what appear impressive requirements lists that they are asked to match a CMS to. In reality in the vast majority of cases most good quality modern CMS solutions will tick almost
all the boxes and this apparently thorough exercise completely misses the point.
We find that more often than not there are four areas that really determine the right CMS:
1.
Licensing model and commercial structure
2.
Ease of use by editors (better done through use case based demos than requirements lists)
3.
Added value features beyond the norm in areas such as:
a.
Customer engagement, personalisation and analytics
b.
Third party integration options
c.
Social and community interaction
d.
Mobile delivery and optimisation
e.
Reporting and auditing
4.
Availability of relevant HE experienced implementation partners
My advice would be to develop a long-list of products and set aside the time to meet with and discuss these areas with those vendors. Only once you have narrowed your choice to either a preference or a shortlist
is it worth doing a long requirements matching exercise – even then I’d say in most cases this is unnecessary.
As an agency we don’t run CMS selection processes for customers as we think this is the tail wagging the dog. I’d strongly recommend finding the right strategic partner who can support you through the complete
digital visioning, road mapping and delivery process. If they have a strong biased to a particular CMS it may be with good reason – and looking at the option they have, assessing it against the criteria above and then perhaps working with a partner and the
CMS with which they have the experience to get the most out of, is whilst perhaps counter-intuitive often a good solution.
And before you ask…there are ways to do this whilst being above board with your procurement process…just needs to look at things in a different order.
I very much hope this helps with your thinking and wish you luck in getting the right solution in place.
Paul Hoskins – Founder and Chairman, Precedent
From: Managing institutional Web services [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Russell, Craig
Sent: 04 April 2013 12:39
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: CMS Selection Consultancies
Hello,
We’re planning on undertaking a formal tendering process to select our future CMS platform.
As part of this we are looking for a consultancy to help us gather requirements from stakeholders in the institution, formulate a specification and identify suitable suppliers in the marketplace.
Ideally they would be familiar with the UK HE sector, with good knowledge of the current CMS marketplace and aware of global web publishing trends in HE (particularly the US).
Do you know of, or can recommend, any consultancies who might fit the bill?
Also, do you know of a similar mailing list to WEBSITE-INFO-MGT in use in the US, where I can ask the same question?
Many thanks
-Craig
Craig Russell
Web Systems Analyst
University of Leicester
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