We’ll moderate a round table that gets to the heart of the best XML/CMS initiative strategies. In a large organization, does it make sense to centralize the effort? For example, should you begin with alignment on XML formats and metadata across the organization, and then proceed to CMS implementation? Or should you begin with alignment on a CMS technology? Does it make sense to have one division or group pilot an effort so the organization as a whole can learn from the experience? And then roll out to other divisions? Or does it make sense to let all groups move forward at their own pace?

The answer, of course, is, it depends. It depend on where your organization is at the moment, its culture, and your ROI period and expectations. But, perhaps more importantly, it depends on the capabilities of the relevant technologies out there – how fast they can be deployed; how flexible they are once they are deployed; how fast they are changing in the marketplace. If you’re implementation is expected to be rigid, or the tools you have require a certain level of rigidity, then it might be best to go top down and align the organization as a whole, then implement as a whole or in a unified manner. But if you are expecting to be flexible, and your technology, formats, etc. can be flexibly configured, perhaps bottom up is the better route.

Our goal will be to develop a sense of different approaches to any XML/CMS initiative strategy, the components of that strategy, and a sense of the basic factors in your decision making.