University of Illinois System
Skip Sidebar Navigation
Last item for navigation

Web Content Management System (CMS)

Service Description

Web Content Management Systems (CMS) are used to manage websites, documents and images. A CMS facilitates content creation, control, editing, and other essential website management functions through a user-friendly interface. The software provides authoring tools designed to allow users with limited technical skills to create and manage content with relative ease.

Technologies and processes used by AITS to support this service include:

  • SitePublish CMS website software;
  • Monitoring, maintenance, disaster-recovery, database and server-related services;
  • Site administration, design assistance and training;
  • SiteMinder Authentication Services supporting all members of the University of Illinois System.

Benefits for using this service:

  • Enterprise-level architecture with highly available infrastructure deployed both in Chicago and Urbana;
  • Reduced overhead and costs for hosting web sites in a shared infrastructure;
  • Consultation, training and support for creating and managing websites through the CMS;
  • Integration with SiteMinder for authentication with University of Illinois credentials;
  • 24/7 monitoring and surveillance services to provide highly available systems;
  • 24/7 service desk to provide continuous costumer care services;
  • Reliable application services aimed at the highest availability to end users.

General Benefits for using a Content Management System (CMS):

  • Reduced time spent by IT staff to maintain increasing amounts of site content;
  • Faster turnaround time to publication;
  • Nontechnical, distributed content input (more people authoring/maintaining);
  • Increased content owner participation and buy-in (more current content);
  • Reduction of content duplication/increased ease of maintaining common information;
  • Automation of workflow (review, approvals, reminders);
  • Improved authorization/authentication (security);
  • Improved searching and task completion (improved customer service & efficiency);
  • Increased monitoring and reporting (metrics to improve the site management processes);
  • Greater separation of content and presentation (more agile interface changes);
  • Greater control over content resources (versioning, archiving, multiple levels of permission settings);
  • Opportunities for integration with other systems (existing and future);
  • Compliance with federal, state and institutional accessibility standards.

For additional information, please go to http://web.uillinois.edu/sitepublish.

Hours of Availability

This service is available to customers 24/7, excluding planned outages, maintenance windows and unavoidable events. Maintenance windows are used only when needed for planned changes that have gone through the AITS Change Control Process. In addition to the standard AITS maintenance windows, site-specific and service-specific changes may be coordinated with customers at non-standard times.

Standard maintenance windows are defined as:

  • 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. each Sunday when application usage is at its lowest
  • After 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, unless business needs to make a change during business hours
  • The second Wednesday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for patching Microsoft servers
  • 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. three Sundays a year for routine Solaris and Linux maintenance

Customer Responsibilities

  • Identify a primary point of contact to work with AITS in coordinating the activities being performed by the service
  • Contact the AITS Service Desk to report problems or request assistance
  • Support requests relating to the use of the service will be initiated by opening an incident or request ticket with the AITS Service Desk

How Do We Charge?

AITS does not charge for this service. SitePublish is available for hosting websites for System Office units, major projects and initiatives, colleges, departments, and units within the University of Illinois System.