Curated for content, computing, and digital experience professionals
This category includes editorial and news blog posts related to content management and content strategy. For older, long form reports, papers, and research on these topics see our Resources page.
Content management is a broad topic that refers to the management of unstructured or semi-structured content as a standalone system or a component of another system. Varieties of content management systems (CMS) include: web content management (WCM), enterprise content management (ECM), component content management (CCM), and digital asset management (DAM) systems. Content management systems are also now widely marketed as Digital Experience Management (DEM or DXM, DXP), and Customer Experience Management (CEM or CXM) systems or platforms, and may include additional marketing technology functions.
Content strategy topics include information architecture, content and information models, content globalization, and localization.
For some historical perspective see:
https://gilbane.com/gilbane-report-vol-8-num-8-what-is-content-management/
Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) is an open standard that allows different content management systems to inter-operate over the Internet. Specifically, CMIS defines an abstraction layer for controlling diverse document management systems and repositories using web protocols. CMIS defines a domain model plus web services and Restful AtomPub (RFC5023) bindings that can be used by applications.
For a detailed discussion of CMIS see:
Language localization (from Latin locus and the English term locale, “a place where something happens or is set”) is the second phase of a larger process of product translation and cultural adaptation (for specific countries, regions or groups) to account for differences in distinct markets, a process known as internationalization and localization.
Content Repository API for Java (JCR) is a specification for a Java platform application programming interface (API) to access content repositories in a uniform manner. The content repositories are used in content management systems to keep the content data and also the metadata used in content management systems (CMS) such as versioning metadata. The specification was developed under the Java Community Process as JSR-170 (Version 1). and as JSR-283 (version 2).
Customer experience (CX) emerged from work in the 1990s on “experience management” which was not limited to “customers” but included employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Customers became the primary focus in the 2000s and was fueled by the growth of digital marketing channels. Technology suppliers and analysts serving marketing organizations began targeting CX in their products and services with features and their own marketing and branding efforts. In particular many “web content management (WCM) systems” became “customer experience management” (CXM), web experience management” or “web engagement management” systems (both using the WEM acronym). Most of these same products and services were also applicable and in use for managing other stakeholder experiences, and became “digital experience” (DX) systems or platforms (DXPs), with CX being one component.
The 2016 edition Gilbane Conference on Content Management, Marketing, and Digital Experience in Boston helps marketers, IT, and business managers integrate content strategies and computing technologies to produce superior digital experiences for all stakeholders.
Chaired by: Frank Gilbane ∙ Organized by: Information Today Inc
Conference website: http://gilbaneconference.com/2016/default.aspx
Program: http://gilbaneconference.com/2016/Program.aspx
Speakers: http://gilbaneconference.com/2016/SpeakerList.aspx
Presentations: http://gilbaneconference.com/2016/Presentations.aspx
For posts about this conference see: https://gilbane.com/category/gilbane-conference/gilbane-conference-2016/
For additional information on our eventssee Gilbane Conferences.
“Digital Experience” (DX) covers a lot of territory – so much so that discussions about DX technology often result in a consensus that collapses as projects surface incompatible expectations. “Customer Experience” (CX) had a similar problem, getting way out of hand with expectations of “omnichannel”, including brick and mortar. If you’ve been around enterprise software for a while you’ll be familiar with software category labels outgrowing their britches and acting like they can do anything, if you’ll forgive the anthropomorphizing.
Digital experience is not a single thing that you buy. It is a solution you build with unique collections of products for a specific audience. This is not a walk in the park given the vast number of potentially-relevant components. It can help to keep in mind a few universal laws of enterprise software, and one very relevant piece of history.
Universal laws of enterprise software
A lesson from the past
Before the Web juggernaut progress had been made in building graphical user interfaces for business applications and managing and presenting digital content in increasingly friendly ways. But the solutions were mainly proprietary, which meant multiple user interface learning curves, and complex and costly integrations. The Web, with a much simplified and standardized markup language for content and a way to present it in a browser, soon became the dominant digital experience for both business and personal computing. The Web experience was so simple that the audience for digital content increased dramatically. Brochure-ware and simple intranets blossomed. Then things got complicated.
The promise of e-commerce and new business models fueled investment fever. But the integrations required between the web publishing and the backend systems necessary to support web commerce (pricing databases, supply chain, logistics, etc.), didn’t exist. Early attempts to build them were custom, complex, and costly, and the results were fragile. The technical challenges were compounded by a lack of domain and integration expertise in dot-com startups, and a lack of agility and organizational resistance in larger organizations. “Frictionless commerce” failed on the front and back-ends, and the dot-com bubble burst.
DX today
We have come a long way, but the pace of new technologies ensures integration and agility will remain core challenges. DX is riding high today and that is a good thing. DX is not a bubble. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be overly ambitious strategies, unsuccessful implementations, and weak products.
And of course, join us at Gilbane’s Digital Experience Conference in Washington DC, April 29 – May 1, 2019, where we’ll be looking at the latest DX technologies, integration strategies, and practices.
NOTE: This article was first published by eContent Magazine on November 26, 2018
“Enterprise content management” or “ECM” refers to a type of content management that is suitable for large complex organization or “enterprise” application, typically including many types of content (e.g., documents, web content, digital assets), workflows, and integrations with other enterprise software applications.
The term “enterprise content management” came into common use by 2000, and evolved from “enterprise document management” which was created as part of a successful marketing campaign by document management vendor Documentum. When Documentum added support for web content management they were able to successfully re-brand themselves an enterprise content management vendor to compete with the growing number web content management vendors.
“Enterprise content management” has always been a problematic term:
Neither of these situations are easily, if ever, found in the real world. The only reasonable use of the term is to suggest a content management application or system, is at the complex end of the spectrum.
Content management, or CM, is the set of processes and technologies that support the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. There are many types of content management systems (CMS) that include a wide variety of functions in addition to content management. Categories of content management systems include Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Web Content Management (WCM), and Digital Asset Management (DAM).
Most CMSs are currently marketed as “Digital Experience Management” (DEM or DXM), and “Customer Experience Management” (CEM or CXM or DXP) systems or platforms, and may include additional marketing technology functions.
For an extensive collection of content management news and blog posts see:
https://gilbane.com/category/content-management-strategy/
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