This post may be a bit longer than my other ones, so bear with me, lots to chat about on this one.
There seems to be lots of people (I'm referring mainly to customers who are heading down an implementation path) who are confused as to what the CMS is/does/doesn't. To their credit, there isn't really a lot "out there" to help dispel the myths beyond some technical stuff. Hopefully we can start down the path together today and try to paint a clearer picture with my main objective being to try and show the amazing power that you have at your disposal with CMS.
Is it a Content Management System, really?
The answer to this is: yes and no. Great answer, right? Let me explain. Behind the question is a desire to align with previously used CMS platforms. Someone who is coming from an AdobeCQ or even Wordpress background is going to try and filter the conversation through that lens. Yes, it is a CMS in that in will manage content, serve up pages and images, render content, has workflows for approvals, etc. It's not a CMS (in my opinion) in that it was not built solely for the purpose of building content pages — it's just an application with a much larger platform. Functionally, it is going to work like the ServiceNow platform, but has the elements needed for enterprise level content management. So I would say it's more aligned to the term "Content Management Application" being that it's not just one complete system for just serving up content.
I realize a lot of this might just be a battle in semantics, but what I'm trying to convey is that yes, the CMS application within ServiceNow can be used to manage exceptional amounts of content (and not just articles, you can include anything from the rest of the platform!), but people do get thrown off based on their history with the term 'CMS'.
How does it compare to other CMS platforms out there?
For the majority of the last 14 years or so I have mainly been working with or on CMS platforms at varying levels. From open-source platforms (Joomla, Wordpress, Drupal) to large-scale enterprise CMS (AdobeCQ, Limelight, to name a couple) I have found one true fact: your CMS is as good as you are at using and understanding it. After almost 2 years now of working within the ServiceNow CMS I can say without question that it can hang with any of the 'big boys'. You won't have pretty/clean URLs and it might be laid out a bit differently than you would think, but there is so much power available because you have access to so much incredible data.
Here's a list of things you can do right now within the CMS application:
- Create content with the use of an editor, so no code-writing is necessary
- 100% custom theming including building responsive, dynamic layouts that fit any device
- Version control for roll-back or reference
- Dynamic / role-based / location-specific content
- Categorization, tagging and meta data functionality
- Create workflows for approvals and publishing
- Publish or delete items based on a date/time
- Localize content (and create workflows for translation services)
- Embed videos, pictures, media files
- Create and reference your own digital asset manager to share
- Utilize forms for lead generation (even utilizing A/B split testing)
- Create public vs. private content; create basic vs. advanced views
And that is just the stuff you can do without really trying. I say all that to say that if I stack up most CMS platforms out there and compare them with what ServiceNow has to offer, you would have to split some fine hairs to sway the vote. You have the added value of the integrated content from other applications and the other values you already get from ServiceNow like support, up-time, scalability, bandwidth, etc.
To be fair, there are some things that the ServiceNow CMS needs to improve on, some quirks here and there that would be awesome to get fixed, but every platform has those same things. The only other potential negative I would state would be that there doesn't seem to be much new development happening within the platform for CMS. I do hope to see some added focus from product development as there is a lot of untapped potential there.
Do I have to manage content in more than one place?
This comes up a lot, mainly in conversations about how the CMS plays with the Service Catalog / Incident / KB.
No, the answer is emphatically, no.
Think of the CMS application as a visual layer that just alters the display of what you're already configuring and working on within ServiceNow. So instead of your users seeing the application list on the left and content on the right within the native UI, you serve up those functions and content in a more visually appealing or branded experience.
There are things you can do within CMS to change the way the native UI renders. For instance, you have an Incident form and you want to change the way the form fields look (larger, rounded edges, background color, whatever). As you're configuring the form you tell it what fields you want, control any of the access values you need, etc. Then on the front end we layer in some nice CSS elements and can change how that form looks. We don't change what fields are there — you control that through the native UI. We don't impact any of your workflows or email communications or anything else, it is just a visual layer that serves up what you've already put in place.
What's great about this is that you don't have to have any web development experience to manage your site moving forward. If you build it right on the front end, the entire CMS experience is controlled without having to actually touch the CMS. It should all be driven from the other actions you are taking within the site: new articles you write, new catalog items you add, etc.
Is it hard to use the CMS?
If you or someone on your team has any web development experience, you will get CMS quickly. Like any CMS platform, your content is on one side and your visual stuff (graphics, CSS, etc.) is on another. Think of the CMS as it is laid out within the application: there are sites that have pages that are made up of blocks. Sites have a layout and a theme. Your layout is your HTML/JS and your theme is your CSS. You can have multiple layouts and themes within a site and each page can have it's own layout/theme if you choose.
It is worth it to find a good partner (ServiceNow or one of their partners) to help architect and set up the initial site build. There is absolutely a right and wrong way to do it, but again, not a lot of documentation out there to help down that path, though hopefully that will be changing in 2015. Once you have the site laid out correctly, anyone with HTML/JS/CSS in their background will be able to go to town on building out a pretty rocking site. Understanding the concept of blocks within the CMS is where all the power lies, and is very simple to use.
As you can probably tell, I'm a fan. I think the ServiceNow CMS application is one of the most under-utilized and under-valued parts of the platform, mainly because it's so unknown. Most of the people who have had a negative experience with CMS are usually working within a poorly built site. It's worth it to take another look, in my opinion.
My projection is that as more ESM organizations try to create a better and unified user experience while using ServiceNow, the CMS conversation will keep moving forward and we'll see some exceptional web development. Those who are currently making the investment are coming out way ahead and it's really fun to watch.
Hopefully that helps shed a little more light on CMS within ServiceNow. I know this is just part of a longer and larger conversation, but thought I would chime in with some thoughts. Hit me up in the comments or we can even tweet it up @mattmetten.
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