The deadline for CMS proposals passed on Jan. 12, and the selection committee is in the process of reviewing and scoring the proposals. So I thought this would be a good time to review why we're purchasing an enterprise Web CMS and the benefits it will bring to the university.
Lately I've been talking with a lot of people about this project, both formally and informally. Beginning next week I'll be doing a CMS overview presentation as part of FDI's Campus Resources short course. In each presentation, I start with this basic definition of a CMS:
A Content Management System is a software program that makes it easy to post information to websites without having to know how to write website code. A CMS will help you and others in your department quickly create, approve, and publish content on the Web.
This is a very powerful thing. Finally, the university will be providing an enterprise solution that allows anyone, regardless of skill level, to participate in the Web publishing process. And the CMS will provide a basic structure for managing that process.
I see these major benefits to Virginia Tech:
- Allowing people across the university to move content to the Web according to enterprise business rules
- Engaging more people in Web publishing because contributors will not need to know how to write website code
- Helping departments quickly create, approve, and publish content on the Web
Other benefits:
- Production efficiencies
- Compliance with W3C/508 standards
- Improved security
- 24/7 technical support from VT web hosting
- Consistent brand, user experience
- Improved accuracy of information
- Ability to share content
- Distribution across multiple channels
Over the coming weeks and months, I'll be talking about our CMS project in much more depth, and hope to hear from many of you regarding our efforts. I also look forward to sharing news regarding our selection process. We're moving very aggressively to develop a timeline for purchase and installation.