Content Management System

A content management system (CMS) is software used to manage organization's information of to  present it as a portal type web site. Typically, a CMS consists of two elements:

1. a content management application (CMA).
2. a content delivery application (CDA).

The CMA element allows the authors, to manage the creation, modification, and removal of content from the  Web site. This can be done by staff without specialized training in HTML, and no need for a Webmaster.

The CDA element uses and compiles that information to update the Web site. The features of a CMS system vary, but most include

• Web-based publishing allowing users to use a set of organization approved templates, as well as wizards and other tools to create or modify Web content.
• Format management permitting word PDF and Scanned Materials to to be formatted into web-ready form and presented on the Web.
• Revision control allowing content to be updated to a newer version or restored to a previous version. Revision control also tracks any changes made to files by individuals.
• Indexing, Search & Retrieval - A CMS system indexes all the data it contains. Individuals can then search for data using keywords, which the CMS system retrieves acting like an search engine.

Two factors must be considered before an organization decides to invest in a CMS. First, an organization's size and geographic dispersion must be considered especially if an organization is spread out over several countries. For these organizations, the transition to CMS is more difficult. Secondly, the diversity of the electronic data forms used within an organization must be considered. If an organization uses text documents, graphics, video, audio, and diagrams to convey information, the content will be more difficult to manage.