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Season of discontent: CMS vendors left out in cold
Better options for content management
By John McGrath
August 15, 2002
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By choosing open source over a proprietary CMS vendor, companies save two ways: First, they avoid the cost of the CMS software, and second, they may avoid other software expenses, since almost all the proprietary CMS products require proprietary OSes, application servers,and databases--the total licensing costs of which can exceed the cost of the CMS software. Open-source answers may cost more in terms of consulting and development staff, but that's not a given, since commercial CMS products also come with significant development costs, and usually require consulting services for proper implementation.
Another development hurting CMS vendors is a better understanding among potential customers of the complexity of content management. A few years ago, CMS products were often touted as having "out of the box" functionality. In fact, these products are essentially development environments, and all require significant development efforts after the sale. Many shops, understanding they're in for a serious development challenge in any case, are now opting to build custom solutions to fit their specific needs
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Content management is an important part of an enterprise Web strategy, and it will only increase in importance as more business functions are moved to the Web. The specialized services like workflow and personalization provided by content management companies will remain important selling points. But the conflux of powerful application servers, compelling open-source options, and encroaching enterprise software vendors will certainly lead to industry consolidation and a shift in the way content management software fits into the overall enterprise Web strategy.
What this means to those considering a content management solution is that there are more and better options than ever. Choosing the best solution, though, requires increased due diligence. Where once the choice might have been between a handful of CMS vendors, IT managers now must look at a larger picture that includes application servers, related enterprise software products, and open-source technologies. What's gained in return for the extra effort is the ability to better tailor solutions to a wider variety of specific CMS scenarios, budgets, and development abilities.
Will your company buy a CMS package or use other apps to manage content? E-mail John McGrath or TalkBack below.
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