Specifying, selecting and implementing a content management software product can often take 9 - 12 months, and sometimes even longer. Where does all the time go? This briefing paper sets out a typical schedule for the process.

Making the business case 1 to 2 months
The first task is usually to prepare a business case for the purchase, so that the required resources can be allocated by the organisation. The total cost of implementation will be somewhat higher than the licence fee. Depending on the complexity of the product and the amount of customisation the total cost in the first year could be at least two or three times the licence fee, if not higher.

Writing the statement of requirements 1 to 2 months
This is the document that will be send out to CMS vendors. This may be given many different titles, such as an Invitation to Tender (ITT) or a Request for a Proposal (RFP). The objective is the same. There will almost certainly be no prior experience of writing a CMS SoR, unlike the situation with an HR package or a finance package, where not only is there a previous requirements analysis to go on but the requirements themselves are well defined by business process. A CMS SoR will have to be written from first principles, and there will be a requirement to meet to-date ill defined business requirements as well as a IT requirements, so the draft version will no doubt have to go through a number of versions.

Vendor response 1 to 2 months
In a corporate situation it may be possible to be quite aggressive with the date for the return of the proposal, though it should be remembered that most CMS companies are quite small, and it takes time to respond constructively to a SoR. There is a lot of merit in developing an initial Request for Information that enables a short list of vendors to be drawn up, and involved more closely in the development of the SoR.

In the public sector there are some rigorous procurement regulations in most countries. In the EU the tender may have to be published in the Official Journal of the EU, and this requires a 52 day period for responses to be set.

Initial proposal review 1 month
Because of the unfamiliarity with CMS products in most organisations it will take several weeks to go through the proposals and deal with any specific questions.

Vendor presentations 1 month
The vendors will then wish to come in and present their solution to the project team. Finding a mutually convenient time is going to be a challenge, as many of the CMS vendors prefer to sent a team that has specific industry expertise to offer

Vendor selection 1 to 2 months
Ideally it is advisable to select a preferred vendor and a reserve. A considerable amount of information will now have been gained, but more needs to added from visits to reference sites. These may take some time to arrange as dates have to be agreed with the reference site, the vendor's sales team and the organisation's project team. This may well extend the schedule.

Scoping study 1 month
Most vendors will not be willing to give a fixed price quotation in any case, but certainly not before having carried out what is often referred to as a Scoping Study. This will review the IT systems in some detail as well as confirm that all the information in the SoR is still current (remember it was written perhaps six months ago!) and also try to establish training requirements and the issues around migrating content from the current intranet.

Contract negotiation 1 month
This is where the costs start to sink in for the first time, as the amount of customisation involved starts to become apparent. There will a considerable amount of discussion at this stage, especially if the vendor is basing the price on the number of users, a number which may be difficult to establish at the contract negotiation stage.

Implementation 2 to 6 months
This is the most difficult part of the project to forecast. Much will depend on the extent of changes to the information architecture of the site, how well developed the metadata and security models are, and the quality of the file/page management of the original site. Many vendors do have a 'quick start' package, but this may only implement part of the site, or be very dependent on there being a 'clean' site to migrate.

Not included in this analysis is the work that may be required to design a new information architecture, design and implement new page layouts, develop metadata schemes and perhaps change business processes to take advantage of the CMS. Also excluded is the selection and purchase of search software.

Among the implications of such an extended procurement schedule are

• Change of personnel in the project team
• Change of project sponsor
• Budget has to be set out over two financial years
• Requirements may change
• Expectations will change