There are probably as many ways to deploy content management systems as there are content management deployments, which makes the technology especially suited to Labs On-Site treatment.
eWeek Labs recently visited three companies that have implemented content management systems: Otis Elevator Co., which rolled out Vignette Corp.s Content Suite to standardize the sites of more than 50 international companies; Insurance.com Insurance Agency LLC, which went with Eprise Corp.s Participant Server because of the products standard and open architecture; and Space.com Inc., which went with Open Market for its ability to allow dynamic site changes. To evaluate the performance of and return on these systems, the Labs met with the IT staff and employees who use them on a daily basis. The companies we visited also provided an in-depth look at the systems in action.
(Eprise and Open Market Inc. were both recently acquired by Divine Inc.)
Click the following links to see how Space.com, Insurance.com and Otis.com use content management.
Exploring Ways to Manage Content
Space.com Inc. needed to make sure its Web site was dynamic and flexible enough to allow it to cover space-related news in the most appropriate way.
Design Flexibility Is Key
When Insurance.com Insurance Agency LLC went looking for a content management application, the company decided the ideal candidate would be standards-based, to integrate with data from a wide variety of partners, and would be based on popular development tools, so the company wouldnt get locked into proprietary or complex code.
Looking to Unite Sites
The complexity of Vignette Corp.s popular Content Suite can be daunting, but that complexity allows the suite to do things other content management applications simply cant do.