information system

This week, I spent a lot of time in various discussions on the negatives of Web content management systems (WCM). For all the excitement us CMS enthusiasts have for WCM, there is also associated frustration that threatens to dampen our spirit and kill the mission.

At my day job, we have a WCM that was developed internally and is starting to show its age. This week's conversations made apparent to me that we not only have technical issues with the WCM to resolve but also some significant organizational and leadership issues. Some of the folks involved with the project have started to hit a wall and there is conversation taking place that we should contract the work out. I think there is always benefit to having someone outside the organization looking at the problem with fresh eyes. I'm just not so sure such decisions to contract out the job should be born from frustration alone.

I also wonder what the contractor would think once they realize the expectation is not only for them to fix our WCM but also to fix various organizational issues as well. Most WCM analysts and implementers I talk to find it no fun to work with customers that not only want them to provide a product and content management solution but also to make business decisions the customers should be making for themselves. Let's also not forget that WCM vendors and implementers are just as frustrated that there are answers to questions that still allude them despite all their expertise and knowledge on the subject.

Kieran Lal, Acquia, recently had the opportunity to give a presentation on Drupal in front of an information system's course at San Francisco State College. It's a good video for anyone that wants to learn everything they possibly can about Drupal and given only one hour to do so. I would have loved to seen more questions and answers on the video as Kieran is one of those people that responds very well when people present him with good questions and good ideas.

A couple years ago, I had a similar opportunty to give an information technology related presentation in front of an IS course. It can be challenging for students (and professors) to relate the conceptual IS models presented in the textbooks with actual systems, such as content management systems, being utilized by businesses.

Kieran Lal speaks at SF State from Sameer Verma on Vimeo.

I often think both IT and managers don't reevaluate their business processes enough. The TechRepublic has a great article in reminding us that this economy presents a great opportunity to implement 10 best practices for business process measurement.

Lean times often present opportunities for analyzing, fine-tuning, and improving business processes. In fact, the economic survival of some organizations may depend on such improvements. Here are some pointers to help you build a successful process measurement program.

I particulary like #9: Don't forget about IT metrics.

Mike Elgan has a good article in ComputerWorld, Why products fail.  He makes a point that many usability tests really miss the entire point of what people really want in a product.

When you ask someone what they really want, they won't tell you the truth because they're not aware of the truth.

Both users and product designers alike talk about user interface (UI) consistency, usability and simplicity, and system attributes like performance and stability. What's missing is that these attributes are means to an end. The real issue is always the user's physiological feeling of being in control.

In the article, he later goes on to support his argument. I think he is right, true usability is all about control. Something for all of us to ponder about the next time we participate in a usability exercise for our content management system.