Switched Keys

In my first year as a student at UT Tyler, I had to write a paper, essentially recommending an improvement for the campus. My paper was about the UT Tyler website, and in the end I suggested that they need to have a content management system. Last year, that was in the planning. This year, it is being implemented.
I've seen several attempts at implementing a content management system elsewhere, and there are some common problems with CMS in a larger organization. I'm not talking about personal and specialty CMS. Wordpress is a CMS that's used for blogging, and it's used effectively. Similarly, last year I implemented a CMS system to manage a newspaper site, and it works well. In fact, personal and specialty CMS sites are almost easy. The thing is, they are supported by a knowledgeable "staff" willing to learn and apply CMS to their need.
When it comes to organizational CMS systems, instead of employing a few knowledgeable users willing to learn and apply the tools, employees are roped into maintaining the website as best as possible. In the end, compliance is spotty. There are a few that can handle the challenge, and their part of the project meets the expectations. There are two other groups, however, that fail to perform as hoped; those that try and are not able to improve the site, and those that don't do anything for any number of reasons.
It's a common management problem. When upper-level management tries to save time and money by employing some new technology, they are often under the impression that the current staff has the extra time to implement the new technology for them. What happens is that the current staff must do less of their normal work in order to accommodate these new duties, and since they are not adequately trained, they become even less efficient for the company.
From a project management perspective, this problem is an elementary principle. In evaluating a project's potential, it is essential that project managers consider the staffing; not only the project team, but the staffing involved at every level, hierarchically and chronologically. When this is not done in implementation of a CMS, the site will be plagued with errors and omissions. If a company's IT department is going to successfully implement a new CMS system, they must have the freedom and resources to actually see that the work is completed. It's not until the system is fully implemented that the cost savings can be honestly evaluated. And the costs are not limited to what's shown on IT's budget sheets.