CMS stands for Content Management System. It is a term and has not been endorsed with a solid definition. A CMS can have multiple meanings depending on the scenarios and the person's or project objectives.
To add to the confusion, an organization named AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management) claimed the acronym ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and WCM (Web Content Management) as their creation and came up with their own definition that suites their organization's services. AIIM changed their definition of ECM a few times and submitted their definitions to Wikipedia, which is now published.
At the time of this writing, for most scenarios, when someone in the web development industry is talking about CMS (Content Management System), or ECMS (Enterprise Content Management System), he/she is more likely referring to either the first or second definition below.
CMS Definition
The definition of a CMS is an application (more likely web-based), that provides capabilities for multiple users with different permission levels to manage (all or a section of) content, data or information of a website project, or internet/intranet application.
Managing content refers to creating, editing, archiving, publishing, collaborating on, reporting, distributing website content, data and information.
An example of a CMS application is a Web Application that provides the following administration, control panel or website management functionalities:
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive web pages
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive articles
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive press releases
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive blogs
- Add/Edit events into an Event Calendar
- Add/Edit Inventory (products), description, product specifications, prices, photos, etc.
- Enter/Edit/View orders and print packing slips and invoices
- View reports and statistics site data
- Create and Edit system users which have different permission levels to different section(s) of the above administration
CMS Definition #2
In this definition, when someone refers to CMS, he/she is referring to a web application that provides capabilities for multiple users with different permission levels to manage web page (content) without the need to have HTML knowledge.
Below is an example of a simple CMS Application which provides web page editing capabilities:
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive web pages
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive articles
- Create, Edit, Publish, Archive press releases
Enterprise Content Management System (ECM/ECMS)
When someone refers to Enterprise Content Management System (ECM/ECMS), he / she may be talking about any of the following definitions:
1. A Content Management System (CMS) application with a credible track record designed to serve and support the needs of a large size organization or a large scale Content Management System.
2. An application with multiple functionalities that provides a full-scale Content Management System tailored for a company's organization and processes.
3. An application that provides the tools and capabilities to manage, store, and deliver content and documents tailored for a company's internal organization, workflow and processes.
CMS Purpose
The main purpose of a Content Management System (relating to web) is to provide the capability for multiple users with different permission levels to manage a website or a section of the content.
CMS Misconceptions
1. One of the largest misconceptions about CMS is that it is the main ingredient for a website's success. That is completely untrue. A CMS should make it easy for a website owner or webmaster(s) to manage and distribute content, but a website's success has nothing to do with CMS; it has to do with the quality of content, quality of services, marketing and many other factors.
2. The second misconception about CMS is that it will eliminate a need for hiring a web developer or programmer to make changes to a website. That is not true in many cases.