How to Use, Not Abuse a Web CMS Features Matrix

By Barb Mosher (@barbmosher) Dec 9, 2009

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The web content management feature matrix can be a useful tool, if you use it wisely. Here's how.

Web CMS Requirements Matrix Defined

If you've ever had to evaluate a solution then you probably know what a requirements matrix is. Typically in the form of a spreadsheet, it is a list of capabilities — or requirements — a given product or service needs to have for you to consider it.

The capabilities are listed, usually by high level category, down the first column on the left. Across the top, you can list the various vendor solutions you are evaluating. In the middle, you start marking which requirements the solution meets, making notes if necessary.

In some cases, the requirements matrix is used as a grading tool, where a team of business and technical users vote (between say 1 and 5) on how good a vendor meets each requirement.

Sample Section of WCM Requirements Matrix

Components of a Typical Matrix

A WCM Matrix generally has a number of categories including:

Content Entities: This area concern the root format of content in the system (i.e., is it a page or item); what content types are available out of the box and are they customizable; the ability to add new content types and metadata; how you can reuse content; how is rich media content handled etc.
Taxonomy Features: Is there support for tagging, can you have more than one tagging/taxonomy model, is there support for categorization, etc.
Versioning: Is content versioned, versioning structure, can you view previous versions (including side by side redlining review), revert to a previous version, is there versioning for a complete site and more.
Workflow: Is workflow supported? What workflows come out of the box, can you create custom workflows, are there notifications/alerts, can you have parallel workflow (i.e., sending content to print and translation at the same time).
Multilingual Support: Is there support for multiple languages, is there a default language (which is displayed if the requested language is not available), can the CMS be localized, etc.
Editorial Features: How can content be created (WYSIWYG editor, in-content editing, MS Office), spell checker, adding images and other media to content, work queues, what browsers and mobile devices are supported, is there desktop integration?
Social Media/Web 2.0 Integration: What Web 2.0 features are built in? Comments, tagging, user generated content, support for blogs, wikis, social networking, forums, etc.. What 3rd party vendor solutions are integrated (including widgets and/or complete solutions).

In addition to these important considerations, you also need to assess the WCM on technical points, such as the core technologies used (Java, PHP, ASP.NET), ability customize the system and presentation (availability of APIs, etc), templates and theming available and the content delivery architecture (caching models, technical architecture, etc.).

Creating Your Custom Requirements Matrix

The WCM requirements categories listed above are general — they are not specific to any WCM nor to the needs of any particular organization. What you have to do is understand how the WCM solution you select must function in order to fit your specific requirements, and then create your own version of the matrix. This task is not easy for a couple of reasons.