CaaS, in contrast, is flexible by design. You choose how you want CaaS to support your content operations, such as what capabilities and features will be available. There are no pre-defined choices you have to work around. Unlike a traditional CMS, CaaS is not a monolithic software application with a fixed set of features. Instead, CaaS can deliver a constantly evolving and configurable layer of services supporting content.

The services that CaaS delivers can change as your needs do. CaaS doesn’t rely on fixed, pre-defined page setups that are difficult to change. The structure of content is not tied up in the structure of the presentation layer, unlike with many traditional CMSs.

With CaaS, content teams have the freedom to focus on their immediate priorities and know they can grow their operations and make changes later on—without worrying that such changes will be difficult to implement. Unlike a traditional CMS, where most configuration and design decisions need to be made up front when the system is first implemented, with CaaS content teams can revise decisions and make improvements at any time.

Seven Ways CaaS Can Support Growth over Time

Content as a Service connects your content to all the activities that support your content operations. Content teams are constantly looking for ways to improve how they work with content. They need services that support their current needs and that can evolve as their needs change. CaaS transforms how content teams can work with content. It gives them the ability to improve their operations continually.

 1. Change your content later

Unlike a traditional CMS, content in CaaS isn’t loosely defined by page templates, which are difficult to revise and repurpose. With CaaS, content is structured and can be revised easily. CaaS lets publishers add and change content with precision. Existing content can also be combined in new ways to create new content items.

With CaaS, content becomes structured when it’s created. Content relationships are managed by a content model. Content elements are building blocks that can be assembled into different offerings, depending on what’s required. 

2. Change your design later

CaaS makes website redesign pain-free. A website can sport a new look, without needing to change the underlying content. If you have a mobile app that needs a refresh, no problem. CaaS connects content to any front-end framework, so enterprises know they can always deliver the sleekest, fastest experience for customers, and always keep up with changing trends in front-end design. (For an example of how CaaS works with modern front-end frameworks such as Gatsby, read this post by Ilesh Mistry on how MMT is looking at Gatsby and Kontent.ai to preview designs.)

3. Change your personalization later

Personalization capabilities are improving all the time, and online publishers will want to access the latest and best personalization capabilities available. Content teams can connect their content to a range of different personalization tools and choose which one is best for their needs. As they build out their taxonomy tagging and structure their content to deliver more targeted messages, they can change how their personalization works so that it can provide even better results.

4. Enhance your optimization or analytics capabilities later

Analytics is another area where industry capabilities are constantly improving. With CaaS, content teams always have the freedom to adopt the latest approaches. CaaS provides access to these capabilities through easy-to-implement integrations.

5. Add new destinations for your content later

Digital publishers need to be able to deliver content to where customers are spending time. Publishers can add new destinations for content, such as new apps and new channels. CaaS makes content flexible so that it can be delivered to many places, not just one. When enterprises decide to deliver to new channels or touchpoints, they can use the delivery API to do so.

6. Add more assets later

With CaaS, it is easy to migrate digital assets from legacy content and digital asset repositories. This is helpful if teams want to consolidate and unify their storage of digital assets. If teams want to continue to use a specialized digital or media asset system, they can integrate them with CaaS. 

 7. Build out your workflow later

Using CaaS, content teams can enhance their workflow over time by adding steps, rules, and specific user roles. That’s useful as teams expand the number of users using CaaS and the amount of content managed within CaaS. Teams can build sophisticated management over their content processes.

CaaS Provides a Modular Approach to Managing Content

CaaS uses a modular approach to content. The CaaS approach is based on an enterprise content model that organizes content so it can be available anywhere it is needed, anytime it is needed.

Using CaaS, content teams have the flexibility to modify their content structure and to revise their designs. They can add to the structure over time by adding new content types. And they can change the presentation of the content anytime as well.

CaaS provides services that teams need to run content operations. It is designed to adapt to changing needs. The CaaS approach is extensible; teams can start small and evolve how they use CaaS in their operations over time.

CaaS creates connections—not dependencies. Publishers can change their IT and processes over time without causing disruption. Publishers can change their front-end designs as well as content is no longer bound up with IT systems or with specific designs. Your content becomes flexible, ready for anything.

In the next article, we’ll focus on how to connect your content ecosystem by using CaaS.