5 CMS Predictions for 2012

Thursday, December 8th, 2011 at 11:45am -- Kat LiendgensBookmark and Share


As 2011 comes to a close, it’s a good time to think about and discuss what the new year will hold in store for us. As the CMS arena is constantly and rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated, we can see several emerging trends and brace ourselves for a few surprises as well. Here are some of my content management predictions for 2012:

  • CMS providers will focus more on collaboration. These days, collaboration has become a more integral part of people’s work than it has ever been. The “de-silofication” of organizations has commenced and will continue to gain momentum. As a result, content management systems need to be flexible, provide easy and at the same time granular user administration, and, from a licensing standpoint, increase the number of users allowed in the system. In addition, CMS providers will need to look at workflow with fresh eyes. While the need for linear workflow will not completely go away, it’s safe to say that systems also strive to accommodate the way most people work these days - by collaborating in real time and in a less rigid manner.
  • Accessibility will continue to be a priority. Accessibility has always been a top priority for organizations, but now more than ever, it has become more than just something that the webmaster takes care of. It is crucial that content contributors gain a more thorough understanding of accessibility, because their knowledge directly affects the way they create the web experience. It will be interesting to see how content management providers will facilitate this process moving forward.
  • Mobile is going places. Most organizations have either already implemented a mobile site or are at least planning their mobile strategy for the near future. Therefore, it’s no surprise that in 2012, the ability to manage mobile sites with minimum effort and overhead will become a mandate. Which content management systems will provide the easiest way to re-purpose content for mobile use? How will they address Responsive Design?
  • Content strategy will capture the spotlight. Content management is only the first step. Most organizations have the human resources (IT, web team, content contributors, etc.) and the technical resources (CMS, social media accounts, and analytics) in place to create, update, and promote their content, but how many of them actually have a content strategy in place? Providing value with original, helpful, and interesting content is the best thing you can do for your website and for your target audience, which is why we will see an increased emphasis on quality content, content strategy, and tools to help contributors identify which type of content works best.
  • Stronger focus on inbound and content marketing techniques. There's more to content management than just being able to easily create pages. These days, organizations need to be empowered to leverage modern marketing best practices with regard to campaign management, SEO, keyword analysis, social media, and comprehensive reporting on trends and ROI. We understood these needs fairly early on, which is why our solutions help our customers meet those emerging challenges. I believe and hope that more companies will seize the opportunity to provide tools that really help organizations optimize their content marketing and their campaigns.

Of course, there are many more trends to look forward to. We are excited about the future of content management systems in general, and about our Cascade Server roadmap in particular. (Check out the Cascade Server roadmap video from the User Conference.)

Let’s hear from you. What are your predictions for 2012? Please add your comments below.


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