Category: software

Choosing a content management system

There’s no such thing as a straight answer in technology, so you need to ask the right questions.

Last week I was asked by a business owner what is the best open source Content Management System for their website. Like many questions in technology, the answer was “it depends”.

Discussing open source and CMS in the one sentence is dangerous as you enter a world of religious geek wars were relationships and reputations are ruined over arguments concerning which product is best; think of the Mac versus PC war fought on a thousand fronts.

There’s also the danger of business owners misunderstanding what “open source” means; to many it means “free” because they don’t realise most of the implementation cost of technology is in the labour time of setting the systems up, not the initial purchase cost. Another risk lies in being blinded by the word “free” results in the business being locked into an inappropriate and ultimately more expensive solution.

This isn’t say the same thing can’t happen with a proprietary system either and often you’ll find being locked into one software vendor means you’re forced into expensive upgrades whenever it suits the vendor’s marketing plan.

Software licenses themselves are a source of risk, in the case of one major technology company I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that half their customers are in breach of their user agreements due to some obscure, arcane and contradictory clause buried deep in the legalese. Not that the software company itself would know, being just as befuddled by their own license conditions as their long suffering customers.

Of the open source Content Management Systems, three options stand out from a crowded field; Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. Each one has it’s own benefits;

WordPress

One of the features that marks WordPress out as the leader in the blogging world is its CMS functions. For most websites and business, WordPress combines ease of use with a vast range of plugins, templates and features. Because of its popularity, there’s an army of consultants and webmasters who can get a professional, corporate looking WordPress based website up and running.

Joomla

Coming from website development roots, Joomla based sites don’t have a habit of looking like blogs that WordPress based sites sometimes do. Like WordPress, Joomla has a large base of developers and supporters and offers access to a wide range of extensions and templates. It offers more flexibility than WordPress if you want to customise your site’s look or feel.

Drupal

Drupal is the best if you want a technical solution. While it’s more expensive and time consuming to set up, it offers more flexibility and power for the business. Drupal is probably the best choice if you have a high traffic site with lots of often changing content.

The ultimate solution comes down to what is right for your business so it’s best to get an expert in to have a look at what your current needs and future plans are for your website. Both Smartcompany’s Aunty B and Craig Reardon have previously looked at how to find the right experts.

One thing to keep in mind when asking experts is that religious aspect; many websites designers are evangelists for one platform or another, so ask widely and remember to be firm about your budgets.

I’d be interested to hear from business owners what their experiences have been with the different platforms and in seeking advice, so please comment below on what you’ve found when shopping for a CMS. Religious geek flamewars on the topic are welcome as well.

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Has Microsoft learned anything from Vista?

Microsoft have announced a release date for Windows 7. Have they learned anything from Vista?

CNet’s Ina Fried reports Microsoft has set an October 22 release date for Windows 7, their new operating system to replace the flawed and unpopular Windows Vista.

In an article earlier this year, Ina quoted Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte that Microsoft has learned important lessons from Vista.

One lesson they appear not to have learned is how multiple versions of the product confuses the marketplace and tarnishes their brand.

That we still have FIVE versions of the new system, and that they’ve locked themselves into a release date before the final Release Candidate version, doesn’t bode well for Windows 7.

As usual, the advice for most computer users will be to sit and wait until the first Service Pack is released. I wonder if Microsoft will repeat the bluff of claiming there will be no service pack which failed so dismally with Vista?

Let’s see if they’ve actually learned anything from the humiliation that was Vista.

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IT for the future

CNET’s Matt Asay looks at a Goldman Sachs report forcasting IT spending for 2009. To say the predictions are dire is an understatement. 

Mark’s comments are interesting. He takes issue with Goldman’s view that open source and Software As A Service (SAAS) spending will fall as corporates focus on known vendors such as Microsoft and Symantec.

I tend to agree with Goldman’s analysts that the big corporates will turn conservative for the next few years as they focus on their core operations. As long as their IT infrastructure is good enough, that’s where they will stay.

The real action for open source and SAAS will be in the SME sector. Small businesses will be under more competitive and cash pressures as the global depression bites. The who survive the next three to five years will be the ones who do things smarter, quicker and cheaper than their opposition.

This is where open source, and more important, SAAS come into their own as they give smaller enterprises flexibility and cost advantages.

Some of today’s small businesses will the giants of the next economic boom and many of them will be giants because they embraced the new tools and technology available to them.

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