I n the modern day, a successful enterprise relies heavily on the flow of digital media. A responsive and high-quality website makes a great first impression on potential customers. Likewise, company employees rely on systems to get relevant data as quickly as possible. An efficient content management system (CMS) is able to juggle both of these realms in order to keep a company running at its best.
Content management systems index and store all of a company’s data so that it can be quickly and easily retrieved by the people who have access to it. An effective CMS is capable of enterprise content management (ECM) as well as web content management (WCM). ECM is primarily concerned with the flow of data between members of a company. WCM on the other hand focuses on the flow of data between an enterprise and potential customers. Both forms of content management need to be as efficient as possible in order for an enterprise to be successful.
However, like all software, sometime a content management system simply needs to be replaced. But how does an enterprise know when it needs to purchase a new content management system?
It All Comes Down to Time
The needs of an enterprise change very rapidly. That is not to say that a new CMS should be purchased every time the needs of the enterprise shift. It does, however, mean that an enterprise needs to keep a watchful eye on their content management system for signs of a degrading service.
When considering to replace a content management system an enterprise should be asking the following questions:
- How much has the enterprise grown since the CMS was first installed?
- How does the enterprise needs to present itself to potential customers?
- Are there any significant flaws in how the current CMS is operating?
- Does the current CMS update frequently?
Growth of the Enterprise
The most simple answer for whether or not a company should invest in a new CMS is: Yes. Over time, any successful enterprise will outgrow the systems that worked for it in the beginning. This is because when an enterprise first starts out, it most likely invests in an affordable (i.e cheap) content management system. At this lower level, a cheap content management system fits the need of the enterprise just fine because it has a very low workload. However, as the company grows this cheap CMS can be strained by the sheer amount of data it has to manage.
Naturally, the larger a company grows, the more content it has to archive: transactions, payrolls, et cetera. This content is vital to the operation of the company. If the enterprise grows very rapidly, so too will this backlog of information. If there is too much content for the current CMS to operate it may no longer work as well as it used to.
All of this data inevitably piles up. As an enterprise grows it continuously needs larger and more powerful systems to keep it all in check. Record keeping is crucial to the health of an enterprise – one never knows when a year-old payroll may be needed. As such, this kind of data can not simply be deleted to make room for new data.
Changing a CMS may be more hassle than deleting old data, however in the long run it becomes an impractical and temporary solution. Eventually an enterprise has to upgrade its content management system if it wants to continue to grow. The sooner an enterprise can make the switch, the better off it will be in the long run.
Perception of the Enterprise
The most simple answer for whether or not a company should invest in a new CMS is: Yes. Over time, any successful enterprise will outgrow the systems that worked for it in the beginning. This is because when an enterprise first starts out, it most likely invests in an affordable (i.e cheap) content management system. At this lower level, a cheap content management system fits the need of the enterprise just fine because it has a very low workload. However, as the company grows this cheap CMS can be strained by the sheer amount of data it has to manage.
Naturally, the larger a company grows, the more content it has to archive: transactions, payrolls, et cetera. This content is vital to the operation of the company. If the enterprise grows very rapidly, so too will this backlog of information. If there is too much content for the current CMS to operate it may no longer work as well as it used to.
All of this data inevitably piles up. As an enterprise grows it continuously needs larger and more powerful systems to keep it all in check. Record keeping is crucial to the health of an enterprise – one never knows when a year-old payroll may be needed. As such, this kind of data can not simply be deleted to make room for new data.
Changing a CMS may be more hassle than deleting old data, however in the long run it becomes an impractical and temporary solution. Eventually an enterprise has to upgrade its content management system if it wants to continue to grow. The sooner an enterprise can make the switch, the better off it will be in the long run.
Functionality of the CMS
A major sign that a content management system needs replacing is if employees or customers report persistent issues while trying to access the content that the system manages. If content is frequently unavailable or if there is considerable lag while trying to access it then the CMS is likely due for an upgrade.
On the consumer side, longer wait times or frequent errors may be a result of a CMS that is desperately in need a replacement. If too many customers are complaining about long wait times they may decide to take their business elsewhere. So investing in a stronger CMS is a move that not only keeps customers happy – but it keeps the enterprise healthy.
On an employee’s end, a faulty content management system may often lose content or it may take too long for content to be retrieved. The slower the content management system operates, the slower the employee works. To keep employees working at their most efficient an updated CMS is key.
Updates for the CMS
Like all software, a content management system can be updated to improve its functionality. If the developers of the CMS are not updating it, odds are the content management system will become rapidly outdated. Content management is a rapidly changing environment and if updates are nowhere to be found an enterprise could be lagging behind.
Updating the CMS is always a preferable step to purchasing a brand new system. It will save money and hassle that come with changing the content management system altogether. However, if an update does not improve the functionality of the CMS or if there simply is no update then it is time to start looking for a new system.
If our team can help you with your CMS, WCM or DXP, please connect with us.
