MU Web Communications: CMS Pros and Cons

CMS Pros and Cons

The Benefits:

A more consistent look and feel throughout a site.
Ability to lock down design elements (colors, fonts, navigation, etc.) and allow limited access for content contributors to manage text and images
A workflow process that will provide for appropriate reviews, edits and approval to materials before publishing to the Web
Ability to share information among many sites within the content management system
Ability to conduct “scheduled” publishing
Ability to delegate the responsibility for maintaining the content on the site to non-technical staff
Reminders to perform scheduled reviews of copy published to the Web site
Store content once, use multiple times
Built in features which include an internal link checker, accessibility checker and spell checker
Information can be delivered in multiple formats such as .PDF and Word documents, mobile applications and RSS feeds.

The Downside:

The CMS will not assume the responsibilities or judgment of humans.
The CMS will not make good writers out of bad writers.
The CMS will not make decisions that replace human decisions.
The site design will only reflect the design skills of the developer; the CMS has no role in determining design.
The organization of information on the site is still managed by people; the CMS will only reflect what it’s instructed to reflect.
There will be more time invested in initial development of a site in the CMS in order to allow non-technical users to manage content housed in the system.
There will be training required for the Web development staff and this may be a financial burden for some departments.
For continuity of service and content management, departments will need to identify a primary person responsible for content publishing and a secondary in case the primary is not available or leaves the department.
All users of the content management system will be required to apply and abide by consistent procedures for content life cycle management.

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