Why CMS fails - factors to consider
It is quite common that Content Management software at one point doesn't deliver the expected results. Let go scenarios where software itself is poorly implemented as a result of inadequate business requirement analysis, or simply when there was not enough culture for using a CMS. What if failing of CMS is just a natural order of things?
100 percent of all CMSs fail at some point after implementation. Period.
Nobody wants to use a CMS
"Project worked fine, but nobody used the software once it was available". How many times have you heard that? Whats even more, people can barely afford the time it takes to learn new product. They do not have time or mindshare for software training. They do not have time to study a complex software application. Simply put, people don’t like to change the way they work.
People love to use e-mail, because with a single click you're inside environment where you do what you actually came in for. Email doesn't have editorial process.
No matter how catchy or slick UX of a CMS is - it sill imposes lots of unwanted things to most of people. Even Wordpress lost its edge in simplicity and begun cluttering publishing interface beyond point of recognition. Content authoring through a CMS requires a little knowledge of how the web works, from the simple concepts of links and images all the way to the version control of the content, the publishing process, the previewing and so on.
This is something we usually call "editorial process". And simply said - it means moving page maintenance to responsible people - editors.
Content management isn't a software, it is a process. And there's no such thing as "everything under one roof".
CMS is almost never a piece of software that you can buy and start using right away. The success of CMS software is contingent on user adoption and education.
People change... companies change... so does the CMS
During last five years working with Vivvo CMS, I was often approached by people from various industry verticals who wanted to migrate to Vivvo CMS. Naturally, one of the first questions I ask is always - "Why do you want to migrate to a new CMS?". Almost unanimously, the answer is that current CMS does not meet organizational needs anymore, it is woefully out of date, that they need more powerful system, or simply that they are not satisfied with their solution provider (company maintaining website) anymore.
Is that true?
To them - it surely is. To me...after all this time, I think it just goes down to a point that people simply need a change. Regardless of actual performance and capabilities of the "old" CMS, they want a new software to go along with improvements and changes they experience as individuals and companies in their lifecycle. They want to move on. Nothing more. Like buying a new car, or laptop.
Looking from the vendor landscape, high level fluctuation between web content management solutions is probably a very good thing. Good concepts and enhancements in publishing process are usually adopted in in other solutions as well, and this probably wouldn't happen at such high rate if people weren't so promiscuous when it comes to CMS solutions. So... Thanks guys... all of you who migrated to and from Vivvo CMS, thanks in behalf of us and everyone else :)