When you install a CMS, don't forget the human touch

I aint coming round searching for a crutch
I just want someone to talk to
And a little of that human touch
~Bruce Springsteen, Human Touch

A couple of weeks ago, I did a story [1] on a Forrester Report on web content management (WCM) growth. The good news in that report was that companies are expected to continue to invest in WCM, even in this economy, but several things sabotage these projects: A lack of communication between IT and business units, corporate politics and unrealistic expectations. This got me thinking about the power of the human side of implementing a large-scale technology project like a WCM inside an organization and how easy it is to lose sight of this key point in a sea of specs, RFPs and statements of work.

Don't forget the users

My friend and colleague Michael Krigsman writes a blog on IT Project Failures for ZiffDavis. This week, he has an interview [2] with Forrester CRM, customer experience and call center analyst, Dr. Natalie Petouhoff [3]. As I wrote last week in my column [4], there are a lot of connections between CRM and content management and when I listened to the podcast version of the interview, one thing that jumped out at me was toward the end of the interview when Pethouff talks about the need to take the employees themselves into the consideration and how often this gets left out. She said:

"...For instance, one of the top things that got cut from SOWs [statement of work], when I was a Systems Integrator, was all the people stuff, but that's when organizations will get into trouble and that's really frustrating [because] you can see the thing that's going to make the project successful get cut even before the SOW is completed."

Getting everyone on the same page

Another difficulty is just getting everyone on the same page, even getting them in the same room. Petouhoff stresses the need for executive sponsorship and getting everyone together to hash out a plan that all parties can live with. I spoke with Andy MacMillan [5], who is vice president of project management at Oracle where he oversees the content management products. He says that his company has tried to design products that provide the tools IT needs along with the flexibility to make changes as the business unit's needs change. That way, if the business unit isn't happy with the results, they can make adjustments to make it work for them.

Ancient political battles

These types of battles aren't new, and trying to design products that appeal to all sides, as Oracle seems to have done, is not just one way to approach it, but what companies really must do is what Petouhoff proscribes. Get the CIO or relevant executive on board, and let that person take the leadership role to get everyone involved in the decision making process. Once a decision is made, if all sides are heard, everyone may not be thrilled with the end result, but communication increases the chances of project success. Certainly lack of communication, and failing to take your employees' needs into account, can torpedo even the best technology. - Ron [6]