Open Source Content Management Systems: An Argumentative Approach


Abstract


Businesses currently face the daily challenge of managing content efficiently. 
These businesses are being flooded with information from web Content Management
Systems (CMS) that present an all-too-simple picture. Instead, content
management systems should solve the problem of turning content into information
and information into knowledge.
 
Content Management Systems are not just a product or a technology. CMS is
defined as a generic term which refers to a wide range of processes that
underpin the ``next-generation'' of medium to large-scale websites. Content
management is a process which deals with the creation, storage, modification,
retrieval and display of data or content.
 
This report evaluates seven open source CMS products. The comparison is based
on eight categories as seen from a business perspective. These categories are;
applications, data repository, deployment, integration, revision control, user
interface, user management and workflow. Each category is scored from 0 to 10
points and the overall score is determined based on the average of all
categories.
 
The comparison clearly shows how most CMS products require further development
prior to being used within a commercial environment. The few
CMS products which are ready for commercial deployment contain an inherent
design flaw. This flaw refers to the inefficient management of large-scale user
databases.
 
Businesses are currently seeking alternative methods to improve their services
and Open Source Software (OSS) is one such method. This will
require OSS authors to consider the implications of running their software
within commercial environments and accommodate business requirements. A CMS
product which follows these rules will be commercially sustainable.


Download:

Report (PDF): Open Source CMS Report


Updated : SEP 14 2004

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