IA Summit 2007, March 22-26 at the Flamingo Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Main conference presentation

How does CMS and portal software *really* work?

Tony Byrne, Theresa Regli

Saturday March 24 2007, 4:00 - 4:45PM

Content Management and Portal software has been around for more than a decade, but in our conversations with information architects, we find that the inner workings of the tools remain terra incognita to many information specialists. Meanwhile, surveys by IAI and others have found that IAs have experienced substantial (and quite justified) frustration with the limitations imposed by CMS and Portal tools in their enterprises.

This session will help level-set vocabulary and knowledge about how these tools really work. In a vendor-neutral tour and critique of the marketplace, 2 independent industry analysts will describe the different types of Web CMS and Portal tools and contrast key differences in approaches among different classes of products.

Participants will learn:

  • How to describe the fundamental differences between Web CMS and Portal systems in business terms
  • Common features of both types of platforms.
  • Typical surprises IAs encounter about how the technology works on the "back end."
  • Some best practices for how IAs can effectively impact CMS and Portal implementations

The session is geared in particular for the novice practitioner who may be about to participate in her first CMS or Portal implementation and wants to be empowered to become a vital member of the team.

The session will include many contrasting screenshots of different Web CMS and Portal tools, including open source packages.

Download the presentation for How does CMS and portal software *really* work? (PPT, 2.97MB)

IA Summit 2007