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May 28, 2001

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Vendor Selection: Beyond The Hype

These 7 criteria will help you choose the best application for your company--and estimate the cost, too

By Tony Kontzer (tkontzer@cmp.com)

hoosing a content-management vendor involves much more than a price comparison. While cost may be a driver in your final decision, other serious considerations should include how well a content-management package fits your company's content objectives, as well as the software's ability to integrate with existing applications.

Too often, however, companies are swayed by a vendor's market position, an impressive array of product features, a who's who list of customers, or even a flat-out great sales effort. In such cases, the end result will be a company with more content-management capabilities than it needs or wants. Thus, making the right decision can come down to looking beyond the hype.

"There are plenty of lower-end solutions that will do everything that's needed," says Jim Kreider, managing director at Guidance Solutions Inc., an E-business consulting firm that helps clients select content-management vendors.

When assisting with vendor selection, Kreider helps measure prospects based on the following criteria, with more detail sought as the number of vendors is reduced:

Feature set. Does the system in question deliver the functionality the business needs?
Technical architecture. Is the software scalable, reliable, and extendable?
Easy-to-use, powerful interface. Does it put maximum control in the hands of the content contributors rather than the engineers?
Market position. Who are the vendor's other clients? What industries are they in and what types of content are they managing?
Viability. Will the vendor be around for the long haul?
Short-vs. long-term cost of ownership. Will the system cost you more than you've budgeted?
Market research. What do analysts and product reviewers say about the software?

Once you whittle down the list of prospects, Kreider recommends becoming aware of potential hidden expenses. For instance, you may want to choose a vendor that distinguishes between content and delivery. Some vendors may require additional software licenses when a customer adds content-delivery servers due to increased traffic, thus adding long-term costs.

What should you expect to pay in the end? Here's what Guidance says companies should expect for a complete purchase and installation, by vendor. (Note that this list represents only a small fraction of content-management vendors.)

Less than $200,000

$200,000-$500,000

FatWire's Update Engine
Percussion Software's Rhythmyx
Merant's PVCS Content Manager (formerly NetObjects Collage)
Mediasurface
eBT's entrepid
eGrail Enterprise Content Server
Eprise Participant Server

$500,001-$800,000

More than $800,000

Clearly, determining the right vendor is no easy process. The best rule of thumb, says Kreider, is to determine comfort levels--in terms of budget, the appropriateness of the technology, and the cultural fit--and try to strike a balance. "Basically, you want to pay as little as possible to get what you need."

Discuss this article: Are you feeling the pain of content-overwhelm, but afraid that the medicine is worse than the disease? Maybe, by sharing your experiences in the Listening Post, you can save someone from the pain you encountered.

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