The concept of a Content Management System may seem simple, but understanding the CMS market can be hard. The underlying problem is that both the range of problems that can be addressed by a CMS and the range of content that can be managed by a CMS are quite large. Consequently, there is often disagreement whether an product is a CMS and there is often disagreement about what content is.

Problem Domain: several factors combined to make the CMS market large, but the internet boom was the trigger. When the boom hit, customers were in a hurry to establish a web presence. The stock market rewarded companies that provided a fast path to the web and existing Document Management companies repositioned their products to include Web Content Management. As a result, there was over population in the CMS market.

One of the lessons from Venture Capital is to look for management teams that can dominate a market and markets that are worth dominating. The search for markets worth dominating has the side effect of combining related markets whenever possible, even when separate markets make more sense to the consumer.

Content Domain: anything that can be stored on a computer can be content, this is a legacy of the Document Management side of the CMS family tree. Numerous examples of Web CMS may be viewed on the web, including this weblog. For an example of a more general CMS, let’s take a look at Corbis Professional. Although this site manages images, the images are meant for more applications than the web.

Corbis is the leading provider of Photography and Fine Art on the Internet (taken from the About Corbis page), managing thousands of digital images. Images may be available in multiple sizes, and keyword information is associated with each image. To get a better idea on this, search on the keyword baby from the home page (select Rights Managed, Royalty Free and all Categories). This should return 1000 or more images. Select “Search Within Results,” “Keywords,” and search on the keyword balloon, this should return 90 or so images. Finally, search within the results again on the keyword clown to get down to a single image: PG002513. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger rendition of the image, then select Information to view the information associated with it or Availability to view the available resolutions.

Consider the process of adding a film image to the Corbis Library. In no particular order, the image is scanned, a low resolution image and a thumbnail are generated, watermarks are added to images, images undergo QA and everything is stored with the appropriate information. Images are retrieved based upon search over keyword, usage restriction, photographer, photograph date and location. These tasks are typical of the non-web side of a CMS.

The City of Augusta has refused Martha Burk’s request to protest at the Augusta National front gate during the 3rd round of the Masters. And the ACLU has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Augusta in support of Burk. I don’t think Augusta understands that they need to keep a low profile when they’re taking a pig-headed stance.

Let’s review the situation in Augusta:

• The story starts with a spectacular brain fart by Hootie Johnson. Ignoring Proverbs 15:1, Hootie publicly proclaims that Augusta National will not be forced to do anything “at the point of a bayonet.” This was apparently the first application of the “If I make my opponents really mad, then they’ll let me do whatever I want” method of conflict resolution.
• Confident in the righteousness of their position, the Augusta National drops all sponsors for the 2003 Masters Golf Tournament.
• The City of Augusta revises the law governing demonstration on public grounds. The vote splits along racial lines.
• A splinter group of the KKK announces support of the Augusta National Golf Club membership policy.

The Knicks retired Patrick Ewing’s number last month. I was listening to WFAN, and someone called in complaining that Ewing didn’t make his teammates better. Let me start by saying Ewing is a great player. But after I thought about it, I decided that Ewing didn’t make his teammates significantly better. And after I thought about it some more, I decided that if that’s a requirement for retiring a number, then you aren’t going to retire many numbers.

Makes his teammates better is an accolade ususally reserved for the passers of the game. Players like Magic and Bird, who gave their teammates the ball in a position where they could succeed. So I started thinking about non-passers who made their teammates better.

And it’s pretty slim pickings. Russell – yes, I think his presence at the back of the defense let others take chances and excel. Kareem – no, he needed the Big O and Magic to win his rings. Jordan – that’s a tough one. A great scorer, but if that were enough Kareem would be in as well. A great defender, but a perimeter defender doesn’t really make his teammates better. Jordan makes the list, because his will to win drove his teammates to victory.

Dave Winer is trying to kick his Google habit. I understand why he feels that way - one day he was working in a collegial environment and the next day an 800 pound gorilla sat down at his table. But I think that he hasn’t thought it through.

The weblog market is validated the instant Google becomes an active competitor. Dave may not think the market needs validation, but people like Marc Andreessen would disagree. If Google moves in, then people like Kleiner-Perkins and Sequoia are implicitly moving in as well. And UserLand Software could suddenly transform from a nice house in a run-down neighborhood to a fixer-upper in the nice part of town.

A Content Management System manages the process by which content is created, stored, retrieved, and prepared for distribution. Typical reasons for deploying a CMS include:

• To streamline or automate an existing process
• To promote the reuse and repurposing of content
• To control the distribution of content

To streamline or automate a process: this usually refers to the preparation of content for distribution, but can sometimes refer to the creation of content. Examples of the former include adding author pictures and descriptions, and inserting content into a template to form an HTML page. Examples of the latter include the coordination of multiple authors or an author, fact checker and editor.

Automating the preparation of content for distribution is the bread and butter of a Web CMS. Content is typically stored with a minimum of presentation and inserted into a template to form web pages. The new pages can be displayed on a development site and then pushed to the production site. Entire web sites can be transformed by modifying the template and regenerating the web pages. Many believe that every web site should be managed by a Web CMS.

To promote reuse and repurposing of content: this is best characterized by whether the reuse is planned or ad-hoc. Planned reuse includes the sharing of content between print and web and the syndication of content. Ad-hoc reuse requires sophisticated search capabilities so that the CMS can act as an information repository.

To control the distribution of content: control is the most problematic reason to use a CMS. Control is a good thing when it enforces a valid business requirement. And control is a bad thing when it goes astray. For example, it may be necessary for legal to review some content before it goes on the web site. But if you have legal review everything, then the web site will never change.

Alinghi has announced the new protocol for the next America’s Cup. As expected, the new protocol relaxes the nationality rule to “diminish the costs and thereby make the competition accessible to more challengers.” Many expect that the new nationality rule will decrease interest in the competition in the non-sailing public. But that’s water under the bridge. On the plus side, other changes will provide for less partial race officials and a more TV friendly format.

A few days ago, Dr. Jenkins took at look at the use of the verb google in Can Google Expunge the Verb. Jenkins concluded that wordspy’s definition was wrong because the common usage of the verb google implied the use of Google™ Search. This matches my own personal observation, and I’m glad to see a more rigorous analysis back it up.

Yesterday, Jenkins observes that Google™ may have moved too late in Kill Spontaneity or Risk Trademark Abuse. I think that it has acted in time. Yes, the googleword genie has escaped from the bottle. However, Google™ is still in the game as long as the googlewords pay it homage. For example, the googlewhack rules require Google™ Search.

The biggest risk comes from those who feel Google™ is over-reacting. I believe that it has earned enough good will to persuade people to help them protect their trademark. But that requires people to believe that the trademark needs protection. Jenkins believes in that need and is relinquishing the Google Village name.

Good Bye Lloyd Ward. Now that you’ve moved on, I hope that the work of rebuilding the USOC will begin. Over the past months, it has become apparent that the USOC is seriously flawed from within.

I don’t think that it is possible to identify the good guys from the bad guys from the fence sitters inside the USOC. So at the risk of losing the good with the bad, I’d like to see everyone given a termination date (perhaps 6-24 months out) and the rebuilding work begin.

Two weeks left in the Pac-10 regular season. Must be time to complain about the conference tournament. The ACC tournament is great. Fans love it, and the ACC makes money hand over first. But it doesn’t work for the Pac-10.

The Pac-10 has a perfectly balanced regular season. The 10 teams are split into 5 geographic pairs. Each week two pairs go on the road and play on Thursday and Saturday. The odd pair out has their rivalry game and an out of conference opponent. When it’s all said and done, every team has played every other team in a home and away set. The team left on top is the true conference champion.

The conference tournament adds nothing. A great run by an underdog isn’t going to get the conference another team into the NCAA tournament - the East Coast bias will take care of that. It’s not good for the fans - not many fans from Washington and Oregon will make the trip to LA.

It’s even be tried before. But this time is’s going to be different. Pfui.