Content Management Systems

Prescient owns no software and we have no technology partnerships or reselling agreements with any CMS companies. We find the best CMS for our clients based on their business requirements (we do not sell or re-sell any cookie-cutter or off-the-shelf solution).



Unlike most if not all consulting firms that have technology partnerships and reselling agreements (VARs) with major vendors like Ektron, Microsoft, IBM and others, Prescient is truly technology neutral. Prescient's Internet and intranet consultants work from a detailed plan based on business and user requirements to help organizations assess and choose the right content management system (CMS) to power their website or portal. We’ve worked with and evaluated dozens of CMSs of all kinds and sizes, in multiple industry segments.

CMSs are complex and expensive investments; their scope and reach should touch and positively affect every corner of your organization. The rigor and execution required to build and maintain a successful CMS intranet or website is massive – from governance to workflow and process, to templates, user administration and social media.

Prescient develops a complete plan including detailed business and technology functional requirements before undertaking CMS evaluations and vendor demos To select the appropriate CMS – whether it’s a:

  • Web content management system (WCMS)
  • Enterprise content management system (ECMS)
  • Document management system (DMS)
  • Portal solution


Failure to choose the correct CMS – one that accounts for an organization’s structure, stakeholders, and user requirements – will almost certainly ensure failure and, with it, a loss of significant time, money and effort. With thousands of technology vendors choosing the right solution can be time confusing, tiresome and frustrating.  It is critical to define and prioritize your requirements, and carefully compare vendor offerings.  A solid understanding of your company’s tactical and strategic objectives will help in ensuring a successful technology implementation.

Prescient’s CMS Blueprint © 2013 service applies our rigorous business requirements analysis methodology and includes user and stakeholder research. Prescient’s skill and knowledge in the area of content management ensures that we not only produce a successful evaluation of relevant CMS, portal and social media products (which will inevitably serve as the basis for an RFP), but also quickly attract the vendors that know Prescient as a trusted adviser.

Using a complete plan or blueprint of requirements, Prescient applies a 4-8 week methodology to determine the best CMS for your organization, which includes the following mission-critical tasks:

  • A project planning and kick-off phase to develop a detailed project plan and gain consensus on the guiding principles for the project.
  • Comprehensive business requirements analysis to ensure the end form and function meets the particular needs of all stakeholders.
  • An evaluation phase that will use the business requirements to build a very thorough Technology Evaluation Matrix that factors and weights hundreds of different evaluation criteria.
  • An RFP build and short-listing of vendors phase that will produce an RFP that will be used to go to market to find the best CMS solution.
  • Management of the RFP, which includes submission to the short list of vendors, rating and scoring the CMS vendor solutions, follow-up with the vendors, viewing demos, etc.
  • Vendor negotiations and fine tuning of the terms of the agreement and purchase of the contract/software. Prescient will lend its expertise in negotiating training, maintenance, and renewal fees among other details to assist you in awarding the contract to the winning vendor.


For more information on our CMS Blueprint © 2013 service or our other consulting services please contact us directly or phone our main office at 416.926.8800.

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