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While Jupiter Media Metrix reports that companies have already overspent on content management systems (CMS), the Yankee Group predicts that sales in this software category stand to triple in the next two years.

These findings seem at odds, but there's a simple explanation. Most of the money spent on CMS software has gone, and will continue to go, toward enterprise class systems from top-tier vendors. Unfortunately, companies often fail to make the most of these expensive solutions.

In other cases, an organization will deploy several seemingly redundant systems. In our sampling of about 800 companies that use content management packages, we discovered that almost 15 percent had implemented more than one CMS, often from competing vendors. That's astounding, especially when you consider that an organization that deploys two content management systems can rack up more than $1 million in licensing fees and as much as $300,000 in yearly maintenance costs. Buying a second CMS should certainly raise a red flag for any CIO or CFO about to approve a purchase order.

What's more, Jupiter's recent report on CMS indicates that some companies spend an additional $25,000 in operating costs per nontechnical employee to maintain simple Web sites. Do every three contributors to a Web site really need the financial equivalent of their own Webmaster?

The answer is obvious, but that doesn't damn the functionality of content management systems. The technology plays a vital role in most Web-based initiatives. Rather, Jupiter's findings indicate that IT managers should weigh their options carefully before implementing any CMS.

Please read the complete story: http://www.newarchitectmag.com/archives/2002/10/