Allowing content items to be routed on any workflow shouldn't be that difficult of a problem to fix. But, even if that problem was fixed, you would still be left with a UI that is very difficult to use, especially for a non-technical person who doesn't understand the data-model. The cms UI as it stands now seems to be a thin veneer over the data-model, and I recall somebody at aD once stated that the cms UI was not intended for anybody other than developers. I had a hard time believing that claim, but I would believe somebody if they claimed that the UI is unusable by non-developers.
As far as porting it as is, I think it still is a useful exercise. The data-model for cms seems to well thought out, so I think alot of it will be reusable. A completely different UI is necessary. Currently, the workflow integration is pretty light, and I think more extensive use of workflow and the addition of some type of wizard mechanism for publishing content would go a long ways towards improving the cms UI. Currently everything is task driven, and you need to know all of the tasks necessary to publish content. Also there is no central control area that tells you what you need to know in order to publish a content item. Each of the tasks that are needed to publish a content item are distributed through a bunch of different panels, so getting something accomplished in the cms UI involves quite a bit of trial and error until you get the hang of it.
