According to a report from Step Two Designs, the most important thing to consider when evaluating Content Management Systems (CMS) is what organizational goals will be achieved by adopting the system. A clear understanding of what goals will be met helps you to evaluate different systems and to evaluate your success down the road.

Once you're clear on your goals, you will need to define the requirements of the system:

• Include all stakeholders
  
• Structure your requirements. Categories might include: creation, management, publishing, presentation
  
• Identify key requirements in each category

Before you get too far down the road on determining requirements, you should be sure you understand what content you're producing and what its purpose is.

The total cost of running a CMS includes the skills and resources needed, not just the initial dollar outlay for the CMS software.