Tailored versus off-the-shelf CMS solutions
A combination of a conversation with a friend on the train this morning and a call from a client triggered this blog.
Most people don’t think too much about the engine that runs their site – the CMS (Content Management System). But depending on what you would like your site to do and how you’d like it to do it – it could be worth spending the time learning about the options.
When you begin scoping a content managed website or application – this first thing you should make a decision on is whether it will be an off-the-shelf, out of the box solution, or one which is custom designed to meet your exact requirements. If your site is a standard corporate site with the simple text pages, and a set layout to most pages – then an off-the shelf (or even free) CMS is the best bet.
If you have a firm idea of what you are after for your site then in almost every instance a custom CMS will be the best solution.
Often an off-the-shelf CMS will allow up to 80% of your web site’s requirements, but that remaining 20% negates any time or cost advantages over a custom CMS solution.
- Specific navigation requirements (as opposed to the standard top left-to-right nav),
- Inventive and unusual design
- Video thumbnails
- The ability to manage relationships between images and other objects like staff or services,
- Downloads management
- Exporting reports on site usage.
These are a few functions which should trigger you to look into a custom CMS solution.
If any of the above is important to your web project, you should look for your CMS to be customised. Your site should be goals focused, with the CMS being built to service the best solution for you, instead of squashing your round site into a square CMS hole.
