Web Content Management Software – From Simple To Enterprise Class
How many of you think of WordPress as web content management software? It may be able to help you create a consistent look and feel. It does give you a little control of content. It is not very good at working with a variety of data. Your choice of a CMS solution can be very simple to a highly sophisticated enterprise content management system.
WordPress should not be considered a true CMS solution. The bottom tier in simplicity and ability should probably be considered Joomla. Joomla is a powerful web content management system, but is definitely not considered an enterprise class system. It will allow you to manage documents, music, video, photos, and text on your website. It is one of the simplest of all CMS software programs, and should be considered for simple solutions and small businesses.
If your business is a larger operation with a variety of data it is time to move up to higher levels of performance, security, and capability. This will have you looking at either the higher end open source content management systems, or moving into commercial Web CMS solutions.
The names to watch and review for larger projects in the open source world would be OpenCMS, Drupal, and Alfresco. These systems all offer high levels of capability, support for a wide range of data types, provide good work flow management, and can be acquired for free. Do not make the mistake of equating free CMS software to low cost. You will still have costs for hardware, operating systems, training time for your staff, and possibly support contracts.
On the higher end of web content management software are commercial solutions from companies like Oracle, FatWire, Vignette, Microsoft, IBM, and many others. Each of these solutions must be carefully evaluated as to their ease of use, data support, operating system needs, and cost of ongoing support.
Your cost of training and support can easily become the most expensive part of any web content management software. This is the reason your web CMS review process should include matching your IT staffs capabilities with the product. If they are well versed in Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL and other open source technologies free CMS software could be perfect. If their primary strengths are in Microsoft products, you may be miles ahead staying with a Microsoft solution.
Your choice of web content management software is not going to be easy. Review the offerings carefully and then make a choice based upon your levels of expertise, support needs, and needed features.