A Content Management System is a computer software system for organizing and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and other content. A content management system is often a web application used for creating and managing web sites and web content. Alternatively, content management systems (CMS) can also be used for storing and publishing documentation such as operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, etc. There are many open-source and proprietary CMS solutions available, which is in fact true for most systems of any kind. The market for content management systems is quite fragmented.
In the traditional (pre-computer) view of "publishing," information of any sort was compiled into a single finished form, such as "a book" or "a catalog." So, the end product of the publishing process was some kind of publication, which contained (of course) its content but was necessarily the one and only expression of that content. The process of "publishing" consisted, without distinction, of both preparing the content and compiling it into a single, particular format such as "a book."
With a content management system, the act of "writing content" is separated from the act of "compiling it" into any particular form or format. Once a particular piece of material has been written, the computer does the work of compiling it into its final deliverable form or forms. A single piece of content may therefore appear in a book, and a catalog, and a magazine article, and a web-page!
Content management systems routinely provide the means to manage both pieces of content and the various publications in which they appear. Since both content and publications are normally prepared by teams of individuals working together, a complete content management system will provide tools for that collaboration.
