white paper on the ROI of WCM - Hippo

The business case for upgrading to today’s more sophisticated

WCMS

Marketing and communications are taking more and more control over Web content. And, as they do,

it’s no secret that the amounts of web content in the organization, along with the tools producing it,

have increased like never before. The explosiveness of social and mobile content alone has more than

doubled the number of properties that the average marketing organization is now producing.

Whitepaper

Amsterdam • Boston Follow the Hippo trail: onehippo.com

Realizing the ROI of Today’s WCM Systems

Author: Robert Rose

Get in touch with Hippo: [email protected]

North America: +1 877 414 47 76 (toll free)

Europe: +31 20 522 44 66

As the content on the web becomes more mobile

(including both smartphones, tablets and other devices)

and more social, the need for web sites to expand in

other languages also expands. More content than ever is

being added to the global content strategy. As translation

vendor Lionbridge has said “15 years ago localization

needs centered on product and documentation. Today it

extends into mobile advertising, customer care, support

documents, educational materials, ecommerce, social

media, community-generated content and beyond.”

It’s just no longer productive to publish “content” out in

some static way. Whether it’s web sites, mobile content,

wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, social media or any type of

enterprise collaboration, the key is that content (in many

cases) moves IN to the organization just as fast as it

moves out.

It’s the same level of flexibility that has made publishing

to the web so easy for consumers that has created its own

set of challenges. Organizations now have to both “stand

out” among all the noise being created – and also have

the ability to respond quickly. All of the digital content

channels need to be monitored and constantly updated as

the web has become a social conversation. Additionally,

in most cases, they also need to be optimized, targeted

and personalized so that the content is fresh, relevant and

contextual to the user accessing it.

Today’s WCM - delivering and

serving personalized content

Many Web content management systems have matured

to meet many of these requirements. Terms like Web

Engagement Management, and Customer Experience

Management are popular among both content marketing

practitioners and CMS vendors. In fact, the latest

Forrester Wave Report for Web Content Management

is focused exclusively on vendors providing “Online

Customer Experience” using content. Report author

Stephen Powers states “functionality to enable publishing

to the Web — whether internally or externally — has

become commoditized. Yet, now, the WCM market is

growing based on customer experience management.”

WCM software solutions are increasingly differentiating

themselves on a scale of how well their solution can help

a customer DELIVER a personalized “web experience” to

the client’s consumers through multiple channels such as

web, mobile and social. But the idea of WEM (or CXM)

itself is a marketing concept — defined by analysts and

vendors as a method to create more relevant experiences

for consumers using a combination of process and tools.

This is the key. The value presented by WEM/CXM is that

this process is, at its heart, about managing the audience’s

experience in such a way that they ultimately do what the

marketer wants them to do. In short — software vendors

are going down the same road they went down before.

The business case for WCM being made by many vendors

today isn’t making it “easier to manage Web content.”

Rather, vendors are now claiming that it’s “easier to

manage experiences.”.

But despite the new marketing messages, the benefits of

a WCMS go well beyond just making it easier for users to

publish content – or deliver relevant experiences. Today,

it is no longer a question of IF you will achieve ROI with

a WCMS – but WHAT and WHERE are the areas for the

biggest return. For example:

• A unified source of multi-channel management

A WCMS can help create one, unified source for

managing multiple digital channels of content in

different languages. With one system controlling

channels, languages and versions of content – a global

brand management strategy becomes much less prone

to errors and more cost-effective. For example – The

Government of The Netherlands has substantially

decreased their management and web content software

costs by unifying more than half a dozen WCM systems

down to one (see case study later in this paper).

• Single user interface for disparate teams

A single UI for ever-more dispersed teams creates one

unified set of users – all using the same toolset. This

saves costs in training for remote users – and makes it

much easier and cost-effective to support an application

across multiple offices and high creativity standards.

Businesses units can focus on their core – without

getting lost in the CMS User Experience.

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Amsterdam • Boston

Whitepaper

Follow the Hippo trail: onehippo.com

For example – Dolce & Gabbana now saves a substantial

cost and time with one unified interface for their

content authors and editors – with no sacrifice on their

extraordinarily high design standards across their web

content.

• Managing growing marketing messages

Marketers can focus on their message and conversation

across all of the different content marketing channels.

They can use a capable WCMS system to automatically

target and convert users using contextually relevant

content delivered in real-time. Additionally, marketers

can use a WCMS to optimize SEO (search engine

results) and A/B tests to continually improve the

message. For example, Autodesk is using Hippo CMS

to power its entire online App Store using dynamically

generated content.

• Manage quality and compliance

Compliance and workflow engines now make content

management much more capable of complying with

regulations and standards. Features such as workflow,

versioning, roll back, audit trails and others create

cost efficiencies and less room for error. For example

FindLaw.com – one of the most popular legal Web

sites on the Internet now has workflow to manage

the publication of more than 50 new pieces of

content per day.

• Content-as-a-Service Platforms

With the multitude of interfaces now threatenting to

bury oganizations in a constant “design, deploy, iterate”

cycle – businesses must stop focusing on how to force

content into different types of containers. Rather, savvy

businesses are deploying content-as-a-service strategies

where they are making their entire repositories

available over a REST based (or other standards based)

API. Then, it becomes easier to simply “build a skin” to

which standardized content can be managed. This fully

takes advantage of the re-use of content, components

and other elements that a web content management

system can deliver.

So, it is not a question of IF – but WHAT ROI will be

achieved with an upgraded WCMS system – the question

then becomes choosing the best WCMS that will match

tomorrow’s investment needs. It can be quite difficult

these days – especially because of the large number of

options available. And choosing the one for the best

return will be about dealing with a WCMS company that

will support your needs throughout the lifetime of the

application.

This whitepaper will attempt to show HOW the business

case for today’s more powerful WCMS is made – and

what considerations should be taken into account for

selecting the right-size CMS for your organization. We will

first look at the ROI of today’s more sophisticated Web

content management systems, and then outline some best

practices as they pertain to choosing the right CMS for

your ROI needs.

The business case for

today’s WCMS

Today it’s very easy to “over-purchase” web content

technology. Given the feature wars – especially among

proprietary closed-source vendors – today’s digital

content platforms can be oversaturated with features

that already exist within other solutions already present

in the Marketing department. This can make Web

communications extremely expensive.

But from Web sites to intranets, product catalogs, landing

pages, mobile devices, global campaign microsites and

all of them in different languages – the key is that your

content is simply everywhere, all the time. To get a handle

on all of your Web content communications – you must

deploy tools that decrease the time and complexity for

managing a unified communications strategy.

Today’s more powerful Web content management systems

can accomplish this by tackling some of the basics –

namely making it easy to create, edit, publish and re-use

content across these channels.


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But ROI is also achieved by the time and cost savings that

a powerful Web content management system provides

in terms of delivering a more relevant, personalized and

dynamic experience to all of the different audiences that

are consuming content on those channels.

Historically, the business case for a content management

solution started with the cost savings generated by

improved Web development and publishing processes.

These “efficiencies” are still true today – and will be the

first piece of the ROI target that any business will want to

target. Some of the most common business challenges that

have been solved by web content management are:

• Manual publishing processes that result in slow,

inefficient or duplicative content creation and

publishing bottlenecks.

• Inconsistent look and feel across web channels

• Manual processes for link management is prone for

error – causing sites to break.

• Inadequate security for Web content – meaning it’s

very easy for unauthorized editors to “break” the

entire Web site.

So, clearly, a WCMS is necessary to address these issues.

The projected benefits of CMS implementation are easy to

see and have been written about before. But today’s more

powerful WCMS solutions have adapted – and provide

even a stronger case for the business. There are a number

of benefits across a number of areas:

• Save time and cost, by automatically publishing to

multiple mobile platforms. Today’s WCMS systems

have the capability to publish to iPhone, Android or

really any other mobile device format. They also have

the ability to publish specific mobile channels – or

in Responsive Design – or even in a hybrid mode.

We invite you to read Hippo’s white paper on mobile

publishing called: “Mobile Content Optimization -

Content Marketing On The Go”.1

• Create cost efficiencies by simultaneously managing

multiple channels. Today’s organization must manage

multiple, and global web properties. A sophisticated

WCMS provides the power to manage as many web

sites as you need using one content repository, and one

implementation of the software. It should empower the

organization to share global resources such as images,

documents, web content and template designs under

one unified repository.

• Complete Marketing management under a unified

suite enables more consumer engagement, contextual

delivery and ultimately more sales. A well implemented

WCMS today should automatically deliver relevant

content based on site behavior. Hippo, for example,

is delivering contextually aware behavioral targeting

to allow audiences to consume content on any device,

anywhere in the format they choose. This includes

full integration with Social Publishing meaning that

marketers can save money by integrating social content

with web content.

• Workflow and Approval Capabilities reduce errors

and save money. Today’s sophisticated Web content

management systems can save versions of all of the web

content being managed – and different types of content

under separate workflows.

• Dynamic and Faceted Search capabilities scale Web site

design much more efficiently. A capable WCMS system

can enable faceted navigation that empowers users to

navigate, search & find content in a dynamic way that

will make sense to them.

• With Open Source CMS solutions you can avoid vendor

lock. It used to be that Open Source tools were limited

in their enterprise functionality and scalability. This is

no longer the case. Today’s Open Source Web Content

Management Systems provide enterprise scalability,

combined with support for open source and open

standards. This means the customers can avoid a single

vendor lock – and have the flexibility to always adapt &

innovate.

1 http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/

whitepapers/Subjects/mobile


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• Open Innovation & Interoperability: The key to creating

a content-as-a-service platform that actually works

is, of course, interoperability. This means that the

delivery of content must conform to standards that

can be rolled out globally. In most cases, this means

conforming to already-existing standards. By doing this

– the organization is completely flexible to create new

interfaces, new content feeds – and integrations with

other back-office applications. For more on this – you

should read the Hippo Whitepaper “The Benefits Of

Commercial Open Source for the Enterprise.”2

ROI Achieved by Upgrading

CMS Solutions -

One United CMS Solution

In 2009, the Dutch central government chose Hippo

CMS to power its Web content platform. Thirteen

departments (or ministries as they’re called in The

Netherlands) all maintained and hosted their own

Web sites. These sites had grown organically over the

years, and the governmental infrastructure spanned a

number of technologies, including different Web content

management systems. Similar, if not identical, content

was maintained in different places – and editors were

often unaware of work which had already been done in

other departments. The project set out to improve the

usability – as well as the content creation process for the

Web sites – and to simultaneously reduce the number of

servers and Web sites being managed by the Government.

With Hippo as its foundation, a central access point for

governmental content was created. Existing content

from the 13 departments was migrated into one central

repository. This allowed for the introduction of a

consistent navigation across all available content, allowing

citizens to navigate content that had been spread across

the dozen web sites previously.

In the new implementation of Hippo CMS – the Dutch

government maintains more than 300,000 content

objects stored and managed centrally in the Web content

management system. More than 250 editors work with

it on a daily basis – adding hundreds of content objects

every week. Additionally, integrations with third party

external sources add hundreds of new content objects

every single day.

2 http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/

whitepapers/Subjects/opensource


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Figure 1: Results website Dutch Government

after changing to Hippo CMS

Websites

CMS

Search

Hosting

Editorial staff

+1

16

9

5

16

16



The results have been amazing. The Dutch government

went from 9 CMS Systems and 5 Search Systems, 16

Hosting locations – all down to 1 CMS, delivering one

experience, in one hosting location. Ultimately, by

upgrading to the new WCMS – the Dutch Government

was able to save hundreds of thousands of Euros per

year in the time, effort and hard costs of delivering 16

separate Web sites as opposed to one. And, by switching

to Hippo CMS – they are able to take advantage of new

opportunities at a much decreased cost. Adding mobile

and other digital content channels takes much less effort

and ultimately provides much greater business benefit.

Choosing the right solution for

today’s WCMS

Like any other software project, upgrading to a new

WCMS requires a detailed analysis of the business and

functional requirements of the system. This also includes

the areas of investment that require the highest return.

Organizations should evaluate their needs first, and then

map them to a short list of WCMS candidates. Without

a clear vision of business goals, CMS implementations

can overshoot budgets, and in the long run, fail to deliver

returns that justify the investment.

There are many costs involved in building and

maintaining a Web site, and these costs can increase

exponentially as the size, complexity, and audience grows.

ROI from today’s WCM systems are realized when you

don’t over-purchase “suites” of technology that lock the

enterprise into other functions that the organization may

already have. Rather, the key is to match Web Content

Management needs across one platform that can deliver

against everything you need – and integrate seamlessly

with those other functions.

Upgrading to the right CMS solution will produce results

in several ways:

Quantifiable benefits

1. Reduced resource requirements, reduced site

maintenance costs

With the right CMS solution in place, the

resources needed for on-going site maintenance

are substantially reduced and team skills can

be redirected into developing more business

applications. In addition to these savings,

there are benefits like people productivity

improvements, document production and

distribution cost savings, increased market

exposure, faster time-to-market of new site

development to maintain competitive advantage,

and improved quality of customer service.

2. The WCMS as the main Content Marketing tool

Web content is now at the heart of your

marketing. Marketers need the ability to manage

content as conversation and so the CMS system

must be flexible, easily adaptable to change and

most importantly effective. Whatever marketing

metrics are important – lead generation, site

traffic, brand loyalty, conversion rates, customer

service or revenue - they can and should all be

tied to your WCMS.

3. Social publishing

The Web is now bidirectional. Marketers are no

longer just posting static, persuasive content

online. It’s an expectation for your end users to

be able to comment and even contribute content

on your sites using blogs, RSS, wikis and polling.

4. Separating content from design

Separation of content from design reduces costs

of site re-branding. Content managed through

open API’s (REST) will become the way that

organizations can re-skin new Web properties

and launch new channels most effectively.

Today’s sophisticated WCMS should have the

ability to integrate and publish content as a

service.

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Whitepaper

7Conclusion

New content delivery channels emerge every day. And, as

you might expect – we believe that Hippo’s powerful yet

completely open content repository means every bit of

your content is available via open standards. This future-

proofs your content for whatever new interface may come

along – and is a powerful tool for organizations to create,

deliver and optimize content to create business value.

Hippo provides a truly enterprise-class Web content

platform. We believe in interfaces built for marketers

– and technology built for enterprise strength. Hippo

is built on rock solid Open Source and Open Standards

technologies in order to power performance and ensure

scalability.

The biggest benefit and ROI equation for open-source

software is not the reduced licensing costs. Rather, it is the

flexibility it brings to keep on innovating. Interoperability

and connectivity with existing infrastructure and

platforms is simply easier and less expensive to achieve

with commercial open source solutions.

The Commercial Open Source model provides enterprises

the best of both worlds: the quality-of-service and security

of professional support and the flexibility and freedom

of open-source. Business that are looking for guaranteed

support and services and advance notice of new features

and a quality assurance program can benefit greatly from

Commercial Open Source.

Hippo’s Commercial Support with guaranteed SLA

response times and 24/7/365 availability for critical

production systems provide that level of professional

support.

As an organization – if you’re considering an upgrade

to your existing CMS solution – and you’re looking to

migrate into something more sophisticated – make sure

to identify the areas of ROI that you’re looking to achieve.

Much of it, frankly, will depend on the technology you

are migrating from. One of the keys of a successful CMS

migration is a continual self-assessment. Keep looking at

the facts and “situation on the ground”.

Ask yourself at each step if you’re ready to move on

to the next step. For example, if after developing your

requirements – you see that you have not adequately

staffed the project for technical coding needed to replace

site functionality – don’t move forward until you have that

key resource in place. Or, you may determine based on

the initial pilot program that you need to go back to the

project definition and re-prioritize the sections or sites

that will be migrated.

Continually defining your goals – and taking small,

iterative steps is the way to ensure any CMS migration

goes well.

Hippo CMS will provide special tools that will aid this

process but much will depend on your unique content

requirements. To find out more – we invite you to ask us.

We’ll help you identify areas of ROI in your business –

and where a new WCM might help.

Recources

CmPros Gilbane Presentation by

Gerrit Berkouwer

http://www.slideshare.net/Geebee/

rijksoverheidnl-content-migration-cmpros-

gilbane-boston-1-december-2009

Hippo Whitepapers:

http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/

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About Hippo


Whitepaper

8

At Hippo, we believe, digital is here to make our lives a

little bit better.

Hippo sets the standard for how organizations can bring

real-time relevance to their audience and is the foundation

for personalized communication across all channels:

mobile, social and web. Our purpose is to facilitate

innovation so our customers can create digital miracles.

We serve our customers, by creating a platform that is fun

to use, easy to implement and open for innovation.

Hippo CMS is a powerful, enterprise-class foundation

to deliver outstanding Customer Experiences based on

Enterprise Agility and Innovation Power.

Hippo CMS is open source, 100% Java and convinces

with its lean product architecture that is built for uptime,

security and performance.

Our dedicated, Certified Partner Network delivers Hippo

Awesomeness around the globe to our valued customers.

Hippo is proud to serve organizations such as Disney,

British Telecom, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Bahr, the Dutch

Police, Thomson Reuters and Crédit Agricole.

Hippo is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

and Boston, USA.

Curious for more? Visit www.onehippo.com

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white paper on the ROI of WCM - Hippo

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