2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE Ranking the Top Content Management Systems in the Industry

Transcription

1 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE Ranking the Top Content Management Systems in the Industry

2 WHAT IS A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS)? A CMS is so=ware that provides non-technical users with a solulon to efficiently manage how content appears on a company website. IN THIS GUIDE, WE WILL evaluate the effeclveness OF SOME OF THE TOP VENDORS IN THE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM INDUSTRY. 2

3 BACKGROUND A SHIFT IN ANALYSIS & APPROACH CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS ARE SHIFTING Prior coverage of the CMS industry focused on basic so=ware funclonality and the ease of which a non-technical user can take advantage of the tools. Standard features are s6ll paramount to web success, like search engine op6miza6on capabili6es and personaliza6on. However, we ve recently found that a paradigm shib in the CMS industry has taken hold. Since businesses o+en rely on mul0ple so+ware pla4orms to be successful, the key to success using a CMS now lies in flexibility and capability to integrate with partner pla4orms. In the report, Market Overview: Digital Customer Experience Delivery Pla4orms, Forrester Research describes the difference between niche sobware and true web experience management plahorms: BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM Enterprises leverage numerous sojware tools in support of cross channel digital customer experiences. Market fragmentamon and integramon challenges have opened the door to integrated pla_orms. SoJware vendors have bought and/or built a range of foundamonal capabilimes for on-site digital experiences and have pushed integramon with other tools, enabling enterprises to establish flexible, heterogeneous pla_orms that address their requirements CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 3

4 ROADMAP TO SUCCESS IN WEB EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT FOCUS ON THE OVERALL SOLUTION A focus on the solulon, and how a CMS works within that full vision, has finally taken precedent when measuring what so=ware will result in the best RODI (Return on Digital Investment). In this way, analysis is moving away from func6onality checklists and is more focused on the pairing of technology and the associated services to deliver a company s digital experience vision. Many companies spend a lot of Lme and resources on finding the best technology for their business needs but then give lible more than a passing thought to how this technology will be successfully configured. Finding the right partner, in conjunclon with the right technology, Contextualized Content Management Integrated Digital Experience Features Implementation Services can o=en be the key differenlator in a successful implementalon. The implementa0on team is key to project success and definitely part of the solu0on. Overlooking that piece is folly. Tiffany Elliot, Analyst Digital Clarity Group Brice Dunwoodie, CMS Wire BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 4

5 FOCUS BEYOND SOFTWARE. FOCUS ON RESULTS. The role of so=ware is diminished in comparison to the role of the implementalon, integralon and incorporalon of the so=ware into a complete solulon. Guide to Service Providers for Web Content and Customer Experience Management Digital Clarity Group 5

6 GRADING RUBRIC SYSTEM FOR PLATFORM EVALUATION GRADING RUBRIC Using curated research conducted by analysts from Gartner, Forrester Research, Digital Clarity Group, CMSCriMc.com, CMSReport.com, CMS Wire, Fierce Content Management, CMSHarbor.com, and more, this guide will look beyond the seleclon process and examine a vendor s total ability to deliver on the promise of the engagement, by ramng pla]orms on the following criteria: FEATURES USABILITY SERVICES OVERALL VALUE For complete numeric scoring see last page. BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 6

7 FEATURES 7

8 FEATURES TO HELP CREATE MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCES FEATURES THAT POWER YOUR CMS The most important so=ware seleclon your company will make is the Content Management System that powers your website. We re not just looking at the features ingrained in web publishing that a CMS provides, but the integrated capabili6es that create meaningful customer experiences. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION A CMS should make life easier on the marketer, allowing them to easily publish SEO friendly content. To help show a marketer where to op6mize the page for relevant keyword phrases, the CMS should provide clearly labeled fields for page Ltle, descriplon, tags and meta keywords. This will maximize the visibility of your website when people search for key terms on Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search engines. ENTERPRISE SEARCH MANAGEMENT Over 6me, informa6on on your website becomes buried inside databases, folders, s or other media. The value of the informalon is largely diminished if the content can not be found. The problem is that many CMS providers charge as much as a THIRD of the ini6al purchase price for their CMS just for an addi6onal search mechanism. We believe this is an integral part of the CMS and should be included at no addi6onal charge to the customer. ANALYTICS, PERSONALIZED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES Personaliza6on and targe6ng engines are the frameworks from which the prac6ce of delivering tailored, digital interac6ons is made possible. PersonalizaLon is the first principle of relevance and a cornerstone of a sound customer engagement strategy. (Digital Clarity Group) ECOMMERCE CONSIDERATIONS ecommerce capabili6es are becoming increasingly important. Basic shopping carts are no longer a sustainable model and analysts are taking no6ce. Look for userfriendly order and product management tools and intuilve customer analylcs. Deep integralons with payment and partner pla_orms are also a must-have. BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 8

9 USABILITY 9

10 USABILITY MAXMIZE EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH SIMPLICITY POWER TO YOUR PEOPLE The whole point of a CMS is to empower your markelng team to make changes to your website without having to outsource to external vendors. This alleviates fric6on between IT issues and business context while helping to create a customer journey reflec6ve of your objec6ves. A CMS is only an effeclve tool to expedite the efforts of your team IF it can be ullized properly. Marketers have enough on their plate keeping the digital marke6ng strategy up-to-date and relevant. A CMS should reduce their workload not create another confusing plahorm to master during their daily rou6ne. This brings a few ques6ons to mind Is the CMS dashboard clear and easy to navigate? How intui6ve is the edi6ng toolkit? Can you publish content easily? Consider whether your intended CMS is an open source solu6on or developed on proprietary sobware to determine your flexibility in customizing your site: OPEN SOURCE SOLUTIONS This model to web development implies universal or free access to a product s design or blueprint for redistribulon, including subsequent improvements to the source code by anyone. PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE Proprietary So=ware is licensed under the exclusive legal right of the copyright holder, distributed to licensees under certain condilons, and restricted from other uses such as modifica6on, sharing, studying, redistribu6on, or reverse engineering. Usually the source code of proprietary sobware is not made available. Open source pla/orms absolutely have their place in the CMS market and may be a terrific solu=on for cash-strapped businesses or ones with minimal content management needs. However, enterprise-level paid systems bring a lot to the table security, compliance and document management features, for instance that free pla4orms o+en don t. No system is infallible but why not at least give your company a figh=ng chance when it comes to keeping your content safe? Lisa Hoover McGreevy, Fierce Content Management BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 10

11 SERVICES 11

12 SERVICES SOLUTIONS TO ENSURE YOUR SUCCESS WILL YOUR CMS PROVIDER HOLD YOUR HAND? Whether or not a CMS offers implementalon services has a significant influence on determining value. Also included in this component of the matrix is the help, support, training, and digital strategy services each vendor provides. You should make sure that your future CMS plahorm provider is ready to roll up their sleeves to help you get the most out of their plahorm. INTEGRATION & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Does your CMS provider have an integra6ons team to ensure that your site is connected to technologies that you ullize to conduct business? Most businesses need to connect their site to payment processing plahorms, customer rela6onship management plahorms like Salesforce, and more. It helps to know there is a number to call and a support technician standing by to help. DESIGN & USER EXPERIENCE ASSISTANCE Does your CMS provider offer services to bring your web design aspiralons to life or provide Lps to ensure the best user experience? If you don t have the internal resources available, it helps to know that there is a team that knows how to navigate your CMS and develop your site for you. CLOUD & MANAGED HOSTING SERVICES Does your CMS provider take care of all infrastructure, sobware, security, compliance, maintenance performance and capacity management? Before you develop a site on your CMS or enter a long-term agreement, it s worth checking to see if they monitor your site for updates, backups and changes. It s also worth looking in the disaster recovery op6ons available if your site gets hacked. Your CMS provider should be able to partner with customers to provide successful solu6ons that deliver real results. BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 12

13 OVERALL VALUE 13

14 OVERALL VALUE BREAKING IT DOWN BY STAKEHOLDERS QUANTIFYING VALUE Discussing the value of your CMS can get real complicated, real fast. In general, it s difficult to quan6fy or measure the value of a CMS in metrics, not to men6on aligning those metrics to the actual business value of your plahorm. The value of a CMS also depends on the stakeholder you re speaking with in an organiza6on. There may not be a specific metric to measure the value of a CMS, but we can understand the value a CMS brings to an organiza6on by discussing the costs and value proposi6ons. COSTS Costs typically include a sobware license, maintenance costs, implementa6on labor, ongoing labor, consul6ng and training. FINANCIAL VALUE Financial value can include reduc6on or realloca6on of intranet management staff, reduced website development 6me and lower cost of training due to plahorm support teams and online support channels. SECONDARY VALUE PROPOSITIONS Other financially measurable benefits of implemen6ng a CMS for your business include improved sales conversions or upsell revenue based on intranet conversa6ons or integra6on with social media, revenue from new business, revenue from sales ac6vi6es managed through the CMS, improved idea6on, reduced 6me to hire, improved marke6ng processes and cross-departmental collabora6on, improved lead genera6on and nurturing workflows, and the list could go on and on. A CMS brings value to many different members of any organizalon and requires buy-in from a varied team of stakeholders. Understanding the overall goals of your organiza6on and how they can be achieved through the use of a CMS can bring to light the true financial and qualita6ve value of your upgrade. BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 14

15 FINAL THOUGHTS RESEARCHING YOUR FUTURE CMS DO YOUR HOMEWORK Onboarding to a new CMS requires a long-term commitment that will benefit you greatly in the long run but you want to make sure it s a good fit. Research reviews and case studies before signing an agreement for your new CMS. When your selec6on commibee makes a final decision and you have an extremely helpful new CMS to assist your everyday business efforts, you ll be so glad you spent the 6me now ensuring that your business is equipped with the right so=ware. BRIDGELINEDIGITAL.COM 2017 CMS COMPARISON GUIDE 15

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