Content Management: When do we need it?

We all use content management to some degree. When we start out our companies we use what I like to call the "unknown folder system". This folder hierarchical system is set up by one person and as the company grows the location of content within the folders is passed on via written procedures or more likely through word-of-mouth.

It is cheap and easy to use when the amount of content is small. As the company starts taking on more projects, developing more products, and hiring more employees the amount of content increases and so does the amount of people needing access to that information.

Posted to an RFP by the District of Saanich, BC Canada (which closes March 18 if you are interested in tendering a bid District of Saanich: Bid Opportunity)

"Information is an important strategic asset for the Municipality of Saanich and like other corporate assets it must be managed in order to meet strategic goals and to deliver programs and services. Increasingly, local governments are fully recognizing the value of their information assets and looking at how standards and procedures can be developed to support decision-making, minimize costs, and maximize the value of information."

Here is a municipality that understands the value of the information they have and the costs involved in writing and maintaining it. But unlike most of us they have 100's of thousands if not millions of tax dollars to take on a large project like this.

So the real question is at what point does implementing a content management system become viable. Well, like I said, you probably already have one. What needs to be implemented is a document system that can be used throughout the evolution of the change in your information as the organization grows. Yes good practices and a core understanding of the purpose of your company and its direction will make that leap easier and cheaper when the time comes.

Questions like "how can we justify the costs of implementing a CMS application", will transform to "how can we not justify the cost of implementing a CMS", which will make the time to act more clear.

In an upcoming webinar hosted by Just Systems called "Transforming Manufacturing Processes through Dynamic Documents" the speakers will be describing how "The static nature [of documents] can result in design, development and maintenance delays, mistakes, rework costs and compliance issues that can rapidly erode profit margins, customer loyalty and time-to-market advantages."

I think this goes to the thought that your documents are not static pieces of paper but living, growing, and changing pieces of information that get used and reused whether or not a process to take care of your documents has been defined. By ensuring a document process is put in place and all people in your company know where to find information, how to request changes, update, and distribute new content, and who has the permission to manage the content you will be well on your way to having a viable content management system. Adding the software to automatically manage the content will only come when core principles of the organization require it.