Standardize on One CMS

Should You Standardize on a Single CMS?

There’s too little conversation about standardization regarding content management systems (CMS) - and too much business value lost in not considering it. We’ve written an eBook discussing the topic... but how do you know if standardizing is right for you?

Standardizing is choosing to keep all your online assets – apps and websites – on the same CMS. There are many reasons why thinking about standardizing matters – we’ve provided some of the reasons below and offer more depth in our eBook. To determine if the concept is even relevant to your business, think about these questions:

• How many different sites and apps does your business manage?
• How many different content management systems are you using for those sites and apps?
• What is your team’s expertise across those CMS platforms?
• Who manages it all?
• How complex is the maintenance of your online presence?
• What app and website projects are in your pipeline?
• Is your site/app doing what you need it to do?

Business Goals, Technical Needs

When it comes to answering the question about standardizing on a single CMS, we ask our clients to approach the question from two additional, important perspectives:

1. What’s the business value to standardizing?
2. What’s the technical impact?

The answers to both questions must help you make your brand’s digital experiences purposeful, and deliver a meaningful, useful and engaging experience to your audiences. It’s an approach to enterprise-level digital experiences that are packed with intention and are outcome-based. Enterprise-level apps and sites do something, acting as a destination where users can not only find information they need, but perform a useful action with that information.

To determine if your business would benefit from a single CMS, consider your current platform and whether it can be used for all your apps and digital assets going forward. Standardization has significant advantages when it comes to achieving business goals.

Why Standardize?

Seven reasons to standardize are:

• Improved cost and efficiency.
• Streamlined skill sets.
• Increased ancillary benefit.
• Improved standards. Many organizations have a standard base setup as a starting point for all new apps. Working with one platform allows the establishment of a ‘base installation profile,’ allowing new projects to be spun up very quickly. Only the specifics about an app’s requirements (e.g., what makes it different from other apps in the organization) need to be addressed, significantly reducing both cost and delivery time.
• Better security and updates.
• Easier exchange of information.
• Customized user experience.

Talk to us to learn more about standardization on a single CMS (we advocate for Drupal). Download our full eBook to learn about the benefits, and any potential drawbacks. Exploring this issue requires an in-depth examination of your digital business goals and your team’s technical acumen. We’ll help you form strong answers to both questions.

Organizations that are purposeful about their digital business tools understand the mix of business strategy with web strategy.