Content Management Systems: The Next Decade -- Opening Statement

by J. Bradford Kain

Content management (CM) can be broadly defined as the technology for acquiring, storing, maintaining, and using content. Yet beyond this abstract definition, a controversy rages on as to what exactly content is and how we should actually manage its lifecycle. Few other fields struggle so visibly with fundamental definitions and direction. Perhaps this problem is the result of the diverse antecedents that have contributed content management's key technologies -- document management, imaging, workflow, online publishing, and records management. Another explanation is the facile word "content," which can change as required by the context or speaker. This turmoil is reminiscent of the way "data" and "object" eluded consensus in IT in the 1980s and 1990s.