Insights

Should I choose an open source CMS?

There is a wealth of content management systems to choose from, some open source, some proprietary, and it’s lingo like that which sometimes makes it hard to know which one is best for your company.

First of all, what exactly does open source mean?

Simply put, open source software is free and available to all. The code can, and often has been, tinkered with by the users themselves, meaning that incremental improvements are often made all the time. Security is often enhanced by this process, since it doesn’t rely on just a handful of coders to keep the system secure. Costs are low, since you generally don’t have to worry about licence fees, and there are almost endless opportunities for customisation. And of course you have the freedom to move to a new product if, for whatever reason, you tire of any given open source tool set.

It’s this flexibility and low cost that often drives people to use open sources software, with low overheads and smaller start up fees, businesses can concentrate entirely upon getting their product to market, using proven technology.

What about Proprietary software?

There are times however when open source software simply isn’t the right choice for your business. That’s where proprietary software comes in. Proprietary software is usually tailored made by a vendor and then sold or licensed to consumers. You’re generally paying for a complete package, which means ongoing support from the manufacturers, often with extensive documentation and online tutorials. It’s a given the software usually arrives out of the box to use and since vendors have a vested interest in making sure there product is hassle free they have usually enlisted customer feedback to streamline and enhance their product.

Bugs are an inevitable reality of any piece of software and with propriety tools any serious problem that occurs remains the vendor’s responsibility; warranties are usually available to lessen any impact a software malfunction might have upon your company. In the long run, proprietary software may prove to be as cost effective as open source, with the fee charged often partially or fully offset by efficiency savings.

As a technology agnostic digital agency, we have no allegiance to any specific brand or solution. We tend to make use of both open source and proprietary software here at iFactory. With neither offering a clear advantage over the other the best and simplest solution is to use the one that is best suited to serve your needs.

Sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s the other and we have the know-how and an eclectic range of marketing solutions to help you make the right choice. We employ content management systems such as Joomla, Wordspace, Strikingly and Drupal, have hosting from Bulletproof, iFactory DNS and Cloudflare whilst ecommerce is covered with everything from Magento, Virtuemart and Big Commerce.

Our Brisbane agency is one of Brisbane’s premier digital and web design agencies and we pride ourselves on helping our clients avoid the pitfalls of digital marketing so feel free to drop us a line, we’ll be happy to create a solution tailored to your every need.

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