Which CMS Is Right For Me? A guide to evaluating the various CMS options

Which CMS Is Right For Me?
| A guide to evaluating the various CMS options | „ A guide to evaluating the various CMS options
Table of Contents
Executive summary...................................................................................................................3
Why a Content Management System?......................................................................................4
Making the Selection................................................................................................................5
The CMS Marketplace...............................................................................................................5
Custom CMS: Reinventing the Wheel........................................................................................6
Open-Source: the Low Cost Option?.........................................................................................6
Installed Solutions: Is Bigger Better?.......................................................................................8
Software-as-a-service (SaaS): Benefits without the Costs?......................................................9
A Quick Head-to-Head:...........................................................................................................11
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................13
Page 2 of 13Version 1 | ©2001-2008 copyright CrownPeak Technology, Inc. www.crownpeak.com„ A guide to evaluating the various CMS options
Executive summary
The content management market has exploded in size in recent years with the availability of platforms like Open Source and SaaS giving way to scores of solutions in a variety of sizes and complexities. While companies are spoiled for choice, the unprecedented volume of solutions makes selecting the right content management system (CMS) for an organization an increasingly difficult task.
One side effect of the growing volume of the market is an increasing sense of dissatisfaction among many firms that have been burned by their first and, in some cases, second choice of CMS solutions. Stories abound of companies stuck with inefficient content management systems that they are unwilling to migrate from due to the voluminous invest-ments made in the first place. Even firms willing to make the migration are in a bind as deciding between hundreds of traditional-installed, customized, open source and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) CMS solutions is proving too difficult a task.
Through this whitepaper, one of the main points we want to highlight is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach because content management is a process rather than a product. Understanding what your internal business requirements are as well as the basic pros and cons of each type of system will give you a starting point in understanding which CMS is right for your organization.
Page 3 of 13Version 1 | ©2001-2008 copyright CrownPeak Technology, Inc. www.crownpeak.com„ A guide to evaluating the various CMS options
Why a Content Management System?
The subject of why you might need a CMS in the first place is the logical starting point before even considering which type of CMS you might need, but this whitepaper will not go into this in depth. It must be mentioned, however, that online marketing revolves around the Web and the Web revolves around content. This now makes every company's Web site it's most important public face, and companies that do not efficiently manage their public face get lost in the sea of marketing noise that fills the Internet today.
At its most basic form a CMS is designed to create, manage, publish and retire content on a corporate CMS: Some BenefitsWeb site, but the days of a company having a single online fingerprint are over. Enterprises now offer XXcontent in ways that are most digestible by their Assures information relevance,
users: through content syndication, creating multiple currency and accuracylanding pages and microsites for online campaigns, XX Efficient management of Web site optimizing Web properties for Search Engine contentOptimization, and publishing in multiple channels for XXmobile or RSS. The point is that a CMS is managing Automa... [download for more]