Pros & Cons of requiring WCMS

[Matt Carter]

I was recently asked to put together an overview of what it would take to require the use of our WCMS system on campus. I see both pros and cons to this but mainly feel it is not an ideal approach for our campus.  

We are historically decentralized when it comes to the web.  Each department runs their own website and has always had basically free reign to do what they want. Obviously this has had issues with branding and with departments not updating open source WCMS tools etc.  Much of this is being addressed in our Web Policy now by certain branding requirements, some basic security requirements, accessibility, and some other high level items.

We began rolling out our WCMS to campus about 2 years ago and have since gone live with over 150 different websites and have approx. another 100 in progress right now around campus. I have been happy with the adoption rate given our resources. The types of departments adopting the WCMS are varying.  We have had many Schools switch over, several academic programs, and lots of administrative departments.

My concern is that the WCMS is not the best fit for every situation. Have other school made the WCMS a requirement and if so what hurdles did you face?  I am interested in hearing the pros and cons from anyone willing to share their opinion.

Thanks

-Matt