Comments on: You’ll Wish You’d Had a Content Strategy Before Implementing Content Management http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/2009/05/28/you%e2%80%99ll-wish-you%e2%80%99d-had-a-content-strategy-before-implementing-content-management/ Content Strategy...Huh? (by @rsgracey) Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:07:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Rahel Bailie http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/2009/05/28/you%e2%80%99ll-wish-you%e2%80%99d-had-a-content-strategy-before-implementing-content-management/comment-page-1/#comment-69 Rahel Bailie Fri, 29 May 2009 06:16:53 +0000 http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/?p=105#comment-69 I do sympathize, and really think you got taken for a ride by your consultants. Asking "what do you want the system to do" is NOT the same as gathering requirements, and if they couldn't find a way to explain the pros and cons, within the context of your organization's framework, they didn't do their jobs. Period. I get so agitated when I see these things. There's a saying that the quality of your integrator can make or break a project. I would extend that to say that the quality of your consultants can determine whether your project will be successful. Requirements analysis, content analysis, and THEN technology analysis - the technology gets chosen to apply to what you need it to accomplish. OK, I'm going back to my work here before I melt my keyboard! I do sympathize, and really think you got taken for a ride by your consultants. Asking “what do you want the system to do” is NOT the same as gathering requirements, and if they couldn’t find a way to explain the pros and cons, within the context of your organization’s framework, they didn’t do their jobs. Period. I get so agitated when I see these things. There’s a saying that the quality of your integrator can make or break a project. I would extend that to say that the quality of your consultants can determine whether your project will be successful. Requirements analysis, content analysis, and THEN technology analysis – the technology gets chosen to apply to what you need it to accomplish. OK, I’m going back to my work here before I melt my keyboard!

]]> By: Cleve http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/2009/05/28/you%e2%80%99ll-wish-you%e2%80%99d-had-a-content-strategy-before-implementing-content-management/comment-page-1/#comment-68 Cleve Fri, 29 May 2009 05:54:41 +0000 http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/?p=105#comment-68 I really feel for you here Stephen. When starting a new project, with a new CMS, there is a lot of customer Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Then for consultants to bombard customers with question after question, is like you walking into a restaurant and the chef trotting out asking you what kinds of food you like and how do you prefer it cooked. Show us the menu already! We've paid for your experience. Build us prototypes! Guide us to where we need to go. Early access to tangible solutions, means more informed questions, that leads to real answers. As a rule, for the larger projects, prototypes are part of the requirements gathering phase. Oh, I'm with Jeff on planning. I subscribe to the 6 Ps (Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance). I really feel for you here Stephen. When starting a new project, with a new CMS, there is a lot of customer Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Then for consultants to bombard customers with question after question, is like you walking into a restaurant and the chef trotting out asking you what kinds of food you like and how do you prefer it cooked.
Show us the menu already! We’ve paid for your experience. Build us prototypes! Guide us to where we need to go. Early access to tangible solutions, means more informed questions, that leads to real answers. As a rule, for the larger projects, prototypes are part of the requirements gathering phase. Oh, I’m with Jeff on planning. I subscribe to the 6 Ps (Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance).

]]> By: Jeffrey MacIntyre http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/2009/05/28/you%e2%80%99ll-wish-you%e2%80%99d-had-a-content-strategy-before-implementing-content-management/comment-page-1/#comment-65 Jeffrey MacIntyre Thu, 28 May 2009 14:36:16 +0000 http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/?p=105#comment-65 Grim is right, Stephen. And this lesson applies with equal force to any system tool implementation: you need to evaluate it and model it in advance according to set requirements. Next to CMS "upgrades", I think content migrations are the next most common pain point where strategic planning should be absolutely prerequisite (but often isn't). Plan your work and work your plan, as the old saw goes. Grim is right, Stephen. And this lesson applies with equal force to any system tool implementation: you need to evaluate it and model it in advance according to set requirements. Next to CMS “upgrades”, I think content migrations are the next most common pain point where strategic planning should be absolutely prerequisite (but often isn’t). Plan your work and work your plan, as the old saw goes.

]]> By: Ian Waugh http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/2009/05/28/you%e2%80%99ll-wish-you%e2%80%99d-had-a-content-strategy-before-implementing-content-management/comment-page-1/#comment-64 Ian Waugh Thu, 28 May 2009 14:14:05 +0000 http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/?p=105#comment-64 Very true! It's so important to spend enough time deciding what the CMS needs to do. Also, people do forget that it is the web front end that also needs to be thought of... all a CMS does is store and deliver the content. I for one will never implement another CMS that does not include some ability to modify the user-facing parts of the website as well... or at least is partnered with a web platform that can be easily customised. All of this comes from experience though, and vendors are notoriously unreliable when it comes to discovering the client's real needs... they are understandably led by the potential features of their product. Very true! It’s so important to spend enough time deciding what the CMS needs to do. Also, people do forget that it is the web front end that also needs to be thought of… all a CMS does is store and deliver the content. I for one will never implement another CMS that does not include some ability to modify the user-facing parts of the website as well… or at least is partnered with a web platform that can be easily customised.

All of this comes from experience though, and vendors are notoriously unreliable when it comes to discovering the client’s real needs… they are understandably led by the potential features of their product.

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