CMS Review

Every couple of months, I contemplate whether or not I should take the time to re-review some of the Content Management Systems (CMS) that I had looked at a few years ago.

Recently, there has been a fair amount of traffic at this site about the Demise of KM, but the CMS reviews done several years ago - particularly those on RedDot and Ektron continue to get the most amount of search engine hits bringing people to this blog.  So I continue debating.

Meanwhile, anyone wanting a truly thorough review of the top CMS applications (about 1000 pages) in the industry should visit CMS Watch, their 2009 Web CMS Review is now available. A 67 page 'preview' can be downloaded for free, but anyone looking to spend any amount of money on a CMS (and even with an Open Source solution, you will still pay to have it customized), should invest in the full report. It reviews and compares 42 Content Management Systems, including Open Source, inexpensive commercial applications, mid-range solutions and the high-end powerhouses.

Comments

[joani]

Something just as important if not more is to check clients already using the products that have the functionality you are looking for. See what thier experience/costs have been to build the product. Do your research to find the right references and not just the ones the company gives you. Curious, do these reports follow and talk about bugs in the cms systems?

Thanks for the comments Joani.

Excellent advice - companies should always try to find existing and even former customers to try to determine how the product will work for their company, and how much it may cost. Forums, blog postings and news articles are a great source of feedback.

The Web CMS Report covers product weaknesses, but does not go into bugs in the CMS Systems.