Intentional Design Inc.

Life After Launch: Web Operations Management

I wrote an article for the Duo Consulting blog on what used to be generally lumped into the change management phase of a content management project. The gist of the post is that preparing for the launch of a CMS is like preparing for the wedding day itself, rather than thinking of the coming together as a long-term committed relationship – in other words, a marriage.

When the project budget starts to get iffy, what gets cut is usually the planning for after The Big Day. There seems to be a blind faith that either (a) the romance of the new system will make everything work just fine – I call this the starry-eyed bride approach, or (b) that staff will adopt the arranged marriage by edict – the bullying husband approach. We know the outcomes of these approaches; some of us have been subjected to them ourselves.

The good news is that now we have a name for the line item in the CMS project budget: web operations management. The bad news is that more organizations still prepare for a wedding than prepare for a marriage. With the wonky economic situation and a greater need for fiscal responsibility, will 2009 finally be the year of responsible coupling?

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