Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management

    Tailor-Made Content Management

    By
    Jim Rapoza
    -
    September 12, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Among the many ways that the Web has served as an equalizer, one of the most obvious is that the size of a company has almost no bearing on the face that it presents on the Web. In fact, when it comes to Web sites and managing the content on them, the needs of small and midsize businesses often outstrip those of much bigger businesses.

      To see how a companys size has very little impact on the robustness and richness of its Web site, compare the online presence of popular specialty electronics retailers or small community banks or your local independent newspaper to the sites of, say, a very large manufacturer. Its pretty much a guarantee that these smaller companies have more complex and highly capable sites.

      Not that content management vendors have made it easy for these smaller companies. Until fairly recently, SMBs had to spend extravagantly on high-end Web content management options from Documentum (now owned by EMC Corp.) and Vignette Corp., make do with inexpensive but limiting low-end products, or use standard Web development tools and forgo content management capabilities altogether.

      Luckily, SMBs with high-end Web content management needs now have a variety of well-tailored options from which to choose, both through greater capability in midtier commercial products and the continued maturity of some extremely capable open-source platforms.

      In fact, one of the best options that eWEEK Labs has seen for SMBs with high-end content management needs—including powerful workflow, strong content controls and solid content recovery capabilities—is the open-source Bricolage (www.bricolage.cc), which rivals high-end products when it comes to richness of features and capabilities. Other excellent open-source options include Plone (plone.org) and Magnolia (www.magnolia.info).

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read eWEEK Labs review of Plone, click here.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read eWEEK Labs review of Bricolage, click here.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read eWEEK Labs review of Magnolia, click here.

      There are also many choices for SMBs that prefer to go the commercial route. Midtier products that will meet the needs of businesses with busy, complex and content-rich Web sites include PaperThin Inc.s CommonSpot (www.paperthin.com), FatWire Corp.s FatWire Content Server (www.fatwire.com) and RedDot Solutions Corp.s RedDot CMS (www.reddot.com). Each of these products makes it possible to manage robust Web sites, often for much less than half the deployment cost of some higher-end products.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read eWEEK Labs review of CommonSpot, click here.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read eWEEK Labs review of FatWire, click here.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read eWEEK Labs review of RedDot, click here.

      Companies worried about the infrastructure costs of managing a Web site can also look to hosted Web content management products, such as Crownpeak Technologys Crownpeak CMS (www. crownpeak.com) and Quantum Art Inc.s QP7.Framework (www.quantumart.com). Both of these platforms make it possible to get up and running quickly with a fully managed Web site.

      The monthly fees of these services do add up over time, but they are often more than offset by the savings in in-house infrastructure and maintenance.

      Finally, organizations that would rather stick with traditional Web authoring tools and avoid a monolithic Web content management platform altogether can look to solutions such as Macromedia Inc.s Dreamweaver Web development tool. Using Dreamweaver, organizations can gain many of the workflow and content check-in/check-out capabilities that content management systems provide.

      Labs Director Jim Rapoza can be reached at jim_rapoza@ziffdavis.com.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on image editing and Web publishing tools.

      Jim Rapoza
      Jim Rapoza, Chief Technology Analyst, eWEEK.For nearly fifteen years, Jim Rapoza has evaluated products and technologies in almost every technology category for eWEEK. Mr Rapoza's current technology focus is on all categories of emerging information technology though he continues to focus on core technology areas that include: content management systems, portal applications, Web publishing tools and security. Mr. Rapoza has coordinated several evaluations at enterprise organizations, including USA Today and The Prudential, to measure the capability of products and services under real-world conditions and against real-world criteria. Jim Rapoza's award-winning weekly column, Tech Directions, delves into all areas of technologies and the challenges of managing and deploying technology today.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×