I find that enterprises continue to struggle under increasing volumes of varying types of content. Historically, you will see the enterprise architecture professionals take a product-specific approach to their enterprise content management (ECM) strategies: document management for office docs, web content management for online content, records management for corporate records, and so on. However, enterprises increasingly need to support multiple content types in different ways. The most successful content management implementations have focused on controlling and optimizing information assets using content and records management technologies, policies, and best practices.

We are finding that sourcing content management technologies are becoming increasing more difficult due to the wide array of business use cases and content technologies to support them. Merely buying a content management solution can still result in functionality gaps, or it may result in shelfware if you don’t need the total breadth of functionality. Instead, as the number of content types grows, you will find it easier to match requirements with content usage, rather than just content types. A successful content management program must:

■  Provide a consistent, predictable ECM experience.

■  Surface the content easily.

■  Increase the value and reliability of the information.

The Content Management Playbook provides guidance to implement a successful content management program. Implementing a successful content management solution is less focused on the technology and more focused on the people aspect of the project. Forrester’s approach defines the best practices for defining the goals and objectives of the program, developing an executable implementation road map, designing an effective organizational change management program, and executing the implementation of sound governance.  Start with our Executive Overview, which will be your guide to the various modules in the playbook.