Last week I attended J. Boye’s 5th annual conference in Aarhus, Denmark, which always attracts a high quality of speakers, and (unlike many other conferences) focuses on case studies and end-user implementation challenges. Since we at CMS Watch focus our research on end users and technology buyers, we were elated that the conference provided a wealth of information on the current plight of website and intranet managers. Jarrod Gingras and I attended presentations and case studies given by Wipro and Philips, as well as CMS Watch advisory clients Nokia, the UK National Trust, and The British Museum.
Several themes repeated themselves:
- Getting people up to speed on technology, and training, is vital to adoption
- Waterfall project management and development methods don’t allow for the agility needed to incorporate iterative testing and ongoing improvement of websites
- Many organizations are new to managing video and audio on websites, and these content types require special handling, and WCM technology often falls short
- Rich media improves website and brand engagement for all types of organizations
- Applying standards increases accessibility and makes code easier to maintain
For many these may seem like obvious points – and though the nodding was universal in the audience as case studies were presented, the application of change management, agile methodologies, and standards remains an ongoing challenge. It’s often what keeps our advisors and consultants involved with our clients even after they’ve picked a technology.
As a buyer and end-user of content technologies, be sure to keep these at the forefront of your plans. They tend to get under-emphasized, and will contribute more to your success than the technology you choose. Also feel free to e-mail us if you have questions about how you might best apply standards, change management, or rich media on your organization’s web site.
Also, note that J. Boye’s 2010 Philadelphia conference is already booking speakers. We hope to see you there to continue the knowledge exchange.