This was a workshop delivered as part of the pre-conference day for Intelligent Content 2012.

1. The Anatomy of
Content Management
Intelligent Content 2012
Joe Gollner, M.Phil.
Gnostyx Research Inc.
jag@gnostyx.com
www.gnostyx.com
www.gollner.ca
Copyright © Joe Gollner 2012
@joegollner

2. The Anatomy of Content Management
Topics
A Warm-up Case Study
Content Lifecycle Model
Core Definitions
Content Solution Technologies
The Reality & Potential of
Content Management
A Wrap-up Case Study
The Iron Laws of
Content Management
Conclusion

3. Content Management at its Best
Initial Conditions 1 Regulatory Process Operational
DITA
Deployment
3
eLearning
Subject Matter Experts AJAX Editing
Emergent Requirements Environment
(2004 – Present)
Diverse Sources
Evolving Technical
Case Study: Requirements
• Regulatory agency
Transition Mechanism 2
eLearning
• Economic oversight types Evolving Requirements
User Feedback
• eLearning application XML Store
Content Transformation
• Training new staff (Sources to DITA)
• Bilingual content Initial Implementation
• Flexible infrastructure Iterative Evolution
• Emerging requirements
Online Access
• Iterative evolution Result: A Practical Education Workbench

4. Content Lifecycles & the Circle of Life
Content Lifecycle models have historically been circular – until now…

5. The Content Lifecycle Model
Content Lifecycle
Macro Level CONTENT CONTENT
Enterprise focus ACQUISITION STRATEGY
Micro Level
Content project focus
An activity diagram CONTENT
All activities run DELIVERY
concurrently
Strategy is the
instigator CONTENT CONTENT
MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION
Delivery is the
proving ground

6. CONTENT CONTENT
ACQUISITION STRATEGY
Content Lifecycle Components CONTENT
DELIVERY
CONTENT CONTENT
MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION
CONTENT
Content Strategy
STRATEGY
Mediating between the myriad of influences
to establish a vision for what can be achieved
with the right content delivered in the right ways
Validated through delivery prototyping
A vision must be made tangible to take hold…
CONTENT Content Acquisition
ACQUISITION
Creating and/or converting content to establish
the potential to execute on the strategy
Refined through pilot delivery deployments

7. CONTENT CONTENT
ACQUISITION STRATEGY
Content Lifecycle Components CONTENT
DELIVERY
CONTENT CONTENT
MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION
Content Delivery
CONTENT Publishing information products
DELIVERY
Ideally adapted to each users’ unique needs
Content Management
CONTENT Applying a formal process to content activities
MANAGEMENT
Facilitating the many activities that need to occur
Content Evolution
CONTENT Engaging the whole stakeholder community
EVOLUTION
Adapting content to incorporate contributions

8. Relative Prominence of Lifecycle Activities
Key Points
Content Delivery
Delivery is the
central focus
Value to clients Content Evolution
Efficiency to users
Returns to sponsors
Content Acquisition
Content Management
is essential as a support
Sustaining delivery Content Strategy
Enabling evolution
Streamlining acquisition Content
Not restricting strategic options Management

9. Core Concepts: Some Definitions
Concepts
Content
Information
Publishing
Information
Management
Content
Management
Intelligent Content

10. Core Concept: What is Content?

11. Core Concepts: Content & Information
Content
Is what we
plan, design, create, reuse & manage
so that we can deliver effective
information products
Content is potential information (an asset)
Information
Is the meaningful organization of data
communicated in a specific context
with the purpose of influencing others
Information is a transaction (an action)
In a sense, an information transaction contains selected content

12. Related Definitions
Publishing
The process of transforming content resources
into information products that can be effectively transacted
In order to be effective, information transactions must combine
a variety of data structures into a coherent whole governed by
the rhetorical patterns with which people communicate
Information Management
The application of management controls & measurements
to the information transactions underlying enterprise business
processes & for which organizations are accountable

13. Content Management
Content Management is the definition, application &
optimization of formalized processes to the business
of planning, acquiring, delivering & evolving content
Content Management seeks to keep everything in
sync: roles, users, content, processes, tools, models
Content Management is important because without
it complexity will overwhelm the organization
The more intelligent the content, the more important
Content Management becomes

14. Intelligent Content in Practice
A Practical Definition
Intelligent Content is designed, created, managed and deployed
using open standards [i.e., XML] so that the resulting information
products can be exactly tailored to the needs of the user and
can be efficiently maintained & leveraged by the content owner
Intelligent Content is
Portable
Reusable
Findable
Manageable
Processable Intelligent Content exposes its meaning in ways
Sustainable that both people & machines can use

15. Building Blocks of Intelligent Content
Content Components Technology Considerations
Text Modules Management Systems
Media Assets Authoring Environments
Data Sources Publishing Processes
Relationship Links Discovery Frameworks
Metadata Properties Social Media Venues
Concept Taxonomies Mobile Devices
Assembly Maps
Governing Models
Processing Rules
Formatting Instructions
Distribution Rights

16. Nuts & Bolts: Key Supporting Standards
XML – Extensible Markup Language
XSLT – Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations
XQuery – XML Query Language
RDF – Resource Description Framework
OWL – Web Ontology Language (built on RDF)
DITA – Darwin Information Typing Architecture
BPMN – Business Process Modeling Notation
XLIFF – XML Localization Interchange File Format
HTML5 – Next generation standard for web content
ePub 3.0 – Leading standard for eBooks (XHTML5)

17. Content Solution Technologies

18. Content Solution Technology Landscape
Based on the
Content Lifecycle CREATION ANALYSIS
& CONVERSION & DESIGN
Categorizes the
different tools &
techniques that PUBLISH
can be applied & DELIVER
Some areas are ASSET & WORK ENGAGE
more developed MANAGEMENT & ADAPT
than others

19. Analysis & Design ANALYSIS
& DESIGN
The tools & techniques for
Analyzing
Modeling
Exemplifying
Content resources & processes
Standards
Invaluable resources
although imperfect
The Achilles Heel of the CM Industry
Weak tools & techniques for analyzing & modeling content
Generally poor approaches to engaging stakeholders

20. Creation & Conversion CREATION
& CONVERSION
XML Editors
Dedicated tools (20+ years of history behind them)
Web based editors (coming along)
Alternatives (e.g., based on MS Word) try to hide the XML
Emergent alternatives hold great promise
Collaborative web-based authoring environments
Conversion
A variety of approaches exist to draw upon
• Manual: usually not entirely avoidable & often essential
• Automation: this is no magic
but it is largely under-utilized

21. Publish & Deliver
PUBLISH
Automated Publishing & DELIVER
Select / compile assets & render desired outputs
Dynamic Publishing
Automated publishing done according to request context
Staged Publishing
Generates outputs in forms that can be further tailored
Interchange Delivery
Can be standards-based or geared to loading target tools
Depends on high levels of efficient automation
The value of expertise & experience is prominent here
Good automation is precise, scalable & sustainable

22. Asset & Work Management
ASSET & WORK
The specific role of Content Management MANAGEMENT
Protect assets (don’t lose anything)
Facilitate work processes (don’t waste resources)
• Manual
• Automated
Maintain & enhance the quality of the information products
Provide tracking & reporting services
• Enabling management oversight & continuous improvement
Enable new products by
• Freeing up resources to perform higher value work
• Permitting the levels of complexity to be increased
• Elevating the intelligence of the content & associated products

23. Engage & Adapt: Social Media
ENGAGE
The delivery is not the end of the story, & ADAPT
… it is the beginning
Community engagement is a
tremendous source of value
Metrics Depending on the industry, this activity
Ranking can assume a prominent role where all
other activities are continuously
Feedback performed by the community members.
Commentary Community-based Docs:
Augmentation Government policies: Great
Consumers products: Good
Modification Medications: No so good
Substitution Airplanes: Really bad

24. Rethinking Content Management Projects

25. Content Solution Project Roadmap
Based on
Content Lifecycle SOLUTION SOLUTION
Solutions are a ACQUISITION STRATEGY
form of intelligent
information product
Solution Delivery SOLUTION
Continues to play DELIVERY
a central role
Prototyping, piloting
& deploying to SOLUTION SOLUTION
achieve results & MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION
learn lessons

26. Content Solution Project Lifecycle
Content Solution
Project Lifecycle
Project Lifecycle Relative Level of Investment
Execution
Management
Strategy Acquisition Delivery Evolution
Every project is different but certain patterns reoccur.
Investment in strategy formulation & prototyping pays long-term benefits.
Underfunding evolution, as distinct from maintenance, is the most common error.

27. The Stark Reality of Most CM Projects
CM Projects place an emphasis on the management activity as the initial priority
Typical Content Management Investment Curve
Cost
Aggregate Cost Productivity Gains & other benefits
begin to offset aggregate costs
between 18 and 24 months after
project initiation (in better cases)
Expenditures
Gain
Time
Offset
Productivity Hit
Typical CM project requires modernization
re-investment between 48 and 60 months
Productivity after project initiation – meaning the overall
investment is never offset

28. The Trouble with Content Management
Content Management can be expensive
Licensing costs are often high
Customization & implementation costs are substantially greater (× 5)
Impact on team members & infrastructure can be substantial
Content Management provides general benefits
Largely focused on “contingent benefits”
• Risk reduction
• Improved information discovery & reuse Hold Still for a Moment
These benefits difficult to translate into recoverable savings
Management understandably becomes interested
• And not in a good way

29. The Promise of Content Management
Intelligent Content changes the economics of Content Management – in a good way!
Target Content Management Investment Curve
Cost
A focus on the Content Lifecycle & on Content
Delivery will reduce expenditures & lower the
productivity hit while accelerating gains.
Aggregate Cost This can offset aggregate costs
in a much shorter period
Expenditures
Gain
Time
Productivity Hit Offset
Flexible architecture supports
Productivity continuous evolution instead of cyclic
re-investment in modernization – with each
evolutionary step being self-funded

30. A Content Management Success Story (Current)
Multi-Jurisdictional
Content Aggregation, Integration, Enrichment & Delivery Environment
Stakeholder Client
Governance Committee
Partner Content
Administrator
Content Content
Extensible
Aggregation & Discovery
Content Store
Categorization Interface
Process
Core Content
Administrator
Content Management System (CMS) Web Delivery Platform
Solution Data Quality Web Services
Partner & Taxonomy Interface for
Content Sources Management Team Partner
Applications

31. The Iron Laws of Content Management
Content Management must Content Management must be
transcend any one CMS if it’s to be placed into its proper context within
considered Content Management an effective Content Solution
Don’t commit to a CMS until
you fully understand
your content and what
you need to do with it
You can only understand
your content by working with it
Tailor your investments in
Content Management to what
helps you to be efficient
It’s about the content…
Be useful, or you’re
and the benefits you
not managing anything!
can delivery with it!

32. Conclusion
Content Lifecycle
Provides a model for CONTENT CONTENT
• Content Activities ACQUISITION STRATEGY
• Content Solutions
• Content Solution
Projects
The Key Point: CONTENT
Delivery is the DELIVERY
proving ground
Content Solutions CONTENT CONTENT
Content Management MANAGEMENT EVOLUTION
Systems that do
something useful

33. Questions

34. Making Connections
Joe Gollner
Gnostyx Research Inc.
www.gnostyx.com
jag@gnostyx.com
The Content Philosopher Blog
www.gollner.ca