Manual Labor

Back when having a website was more important than having a sound business plan, Web content management systems were a must-have for large companies. IT managers bought into the idea that they needed an all-in-one system that would help them generate content, structure it, design it and publish it. But new research suggests these systems largely failed to live up to their promise. According to a recent report by Jupiter Research, 61 percent of companies that have deployed Web content management software still update their websites manually.

Surmacz, Jon. CIO Magazine (2003). Design>Content Management>Management>Web Design

Needle in a Haystack

In most organizations, data is piling up by the minute: e-mails, names, addresses, transactions, you name it. As a result, finding what you need when you need it is becoming increasingly complicated, which is why more companies are deploying enterprise search tools. According to a recent report by Boston-based Yankee Group, 75 percent of businesses with more than 100 employees have some sort of enterprise search technology in place. The study also found that the bigger the organization, the more likely it is to invest in search technologies, as 91 percent of companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue report having enterprise search capability. In 2001, a similar Yankee Group survey found that 63 percent of businesses employed search technology. In that year, enterprise search vendors generated $400 million in revenues.

Surmacz, Jon. CIO Magazine (2003). Design>Content Management>Usability

The Key Isn't ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)

For finance organizations, process and organization matter more than vendor.

Surmacz, Jon. CIO Magazine (2004). Articles>Knowledge Management>Management