Tips for implementing Web content management

Tony Pietrocola, Bridgeline Software, posted on their blog seven ways to "Avoid These Common Mistakes When Implementing WCM". Two of the tips he gives have been giving me trouble lately.

2. Have the requirements from all stakeholder groups been accounted for? One of the critical issues that sink CMS investments in the organization is missing all necessary input and buy-in.

3. Trying to solve too much from the very beginning and be all things to all people is a recipe for disaster. In order to be successful, work in manageable phases. Don’t be afraid to upset the apple cart and prioritize.

What do you do when all the stakeholders buy into the CMS but see everything on their laundry list as a priority for implementation? Sometimes having all the stakeholders involved is why tip #3 can be very difficult to do and maintaining a WCM can bring no joy. There is a lot of negotiation skills involved to make WCM implementation and maintenance happen. Unfortunately, not all IT project leaders are good at the negotiation table.

I will have to ponder on these issues a bit more...