In today's web development environment, a content management
system (CMS) is an essential and powerful tool for businesses
wanting hands-on control over their website content. This
technology allows site administrators to easily edit content
themselves, providing a greater distinction between the technical
and content elements of a website. The ability to edit your site
through a user-friendly interface without any development knowledge
at all is a great advantage for any website owner, and one that
empowers clients to take greater ownership of their website, reduce
maintenance costs, and have a continuously active influence on the
effectiveness of the site.
But when it comes to choosing a CMS for your website, the
choices can be overwhelming. A quick search reveals hundreds of
options, and there is a vast mix ranging from free-to-use, open
source solutions to high-end enterprise products. Open source
solutions have taken off in recent years, a trend that is mirrored
right throughout the software development market. Strong community
contribution, continuous incremental improvement and minimized
costs are some of the attractions of such products. Whilst
commercial solutions can be robust and polished, they can sometimes
lack the flexibility of open source and often go beyond the budget
requirements of most small to medium sites.
Perhaps the most important thing to consider is that your CMS
should not determine what your website can do. It should be capable
of handling anything you can imagine, and should do so in a manner
based on common and standards and technologies. This aspect of a
CMS is all about flexibility, and it has a big impact on the design
and maintenance of a site.
This is where Umbraco really excels - nothing is impossible!
It is based on the powerful and widely used .NET platform, allowing
us to leverage this power and create web applications that meet any
business requirement. It uses open standards, meaning any web
developer that works with it will never have to learn a whole new
set of proprietary technologies just to maintain or further develop
the site (unlike many commercial products). Finally, Umbraco is
continuously evolving. Dedicated community contribution and a
collaborative development process means that the product is always
improving in direct response to user needs. If there is a
requirement for a feature that doesn't currently exist, we can make
it happen thanks to the benefits of open source.
There are times when a commercial CMS solution may be preferred,
especially if the desired product meets the exact requirements
straight out of the box. For many large websites requiring complex
features for the CMS, this inherent, well tested and documented
functionality along with the dedicated support of a commercial
vendor can make a strong case for using such a product. But when it
comes to offering a solution that is flexible enough to work for
any site, based on tried and tested development best practices,
Umbraco is the answer.