WTF is a CMS
Buzzword WildernessSeason 1Episode 2May 14 2024Is content data? Or is data content? And is a content management system really just a data management system? In this episode, Matt muses over what a CMS is, what a DMS is, and if there's a difference.
Speaker 0: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of buzzword wilderness. I'm Matt here to guide you through the tech jungle of buzzwords. Today, we're gonna explore a common confusion that I've run into in the digital world, which is the difference between a CMS and a DMS, and discussing what headless really means in the context of both. So why do we even separate these terms, when at the end of the day, it's all just data?
Don't know. Let's dive in. What is a CMS? So a Content Management System, or CMS, is all about creating, managing, and displaying content. And although there's some technical overhead upfront, it's designed for ease of use for the end user, even if you're not tech savvy.
You've probably heard of platforms like WordPress or Drupal. Those are the classic examples of CMSs. In a headless CMS, the content, text, images, videos is all stored without a fixed front end system. So this means it can be displayed across various platforms via an API. It's like a storage box for your content, and then you decide where and and how to display it.
What is a DMS? So a data management system, or DMS, is broader. It handles all kinds of data, be it customer information, transaction records, or operational metrics. It's not just about data and display, but about efficiently storing and using that data. With headless data, the head or the user interface is separate from the body, which is the data storage and logic.
This data can be accessed and and used across different applications, whether it's a web app or a mobile app or even IoT devices. So CMS versus DMS, why the distinction between the 2? While both might seem similar since they manage data, the focus is actually different. The CMS is all about content and how it engages your users. It's really front end friendly.
A DMS is about the efficient, versatile use of data at the back end. You might not see it directly, but it powers every system you use every day. Consider a retail brand, for instance. They use a CMS to manage and update their website's product descriptions and images. Simultaneously, they use a DMS to handle inventory data, customer transactions, and analytics, the data that helps them make strategic decisions.
So a CMS and a DMS serve distinct purposes, but ultimately, they both handle data just in different ways. Hopefully, that was a help, helpful little reminder about the difference between the two. I appreciate you tuning in, and I'll see you on the next episode.