I worked for almost 2 years developing a proprietary CMS for in-house clients. While I’m very proud of the progress I’ve made and the sites that are now using it, there will always be something that can be improved and never enough time to do it. I question the true value that it provides to customers when I compare it with other Open Source options that are on the market.
Why a web development agency builds its own CMS for their clients
- Keep control of the source
- Keep the customer hooked long-term
- Ensure quality
- Thorough enjoyment of re-inventing the wheel
Often, the reality:
- Quality and changes are hard to maintain
- Documentation of code usually sucks.
- Hiring freelance developers is more of a hassle when they don’t know the CMS, ultimately the client suffers and has to wait a long time for their changes to happen.
An excerpt from the Synonym blog on their thoughts about proprietary software:
We’re so hellbent on making you happy, that we spend inordinate amounts of time building custom software packages like CMS and such, so you can 1) only call us when you’re having problems and 2) don’t hassle yourself with other companies. After all, they smell funny and why go to them when you have ‘us’?
We start viewing “other” software as the competition. We don’t say “Hey! That amazing open source CMS has great documentation, a great developer community and lots of resources”, instead we immediately assume we couldn’t or shouldn’t make money from it and we deny our clients from a vast array of resources and flexibility that far surpass the value we deliver.
Try open source
Open source software like WordPress gets better every day with a multitude of developers fixing bugs and making changes. That kind of progress is hard to compete with. They also have a list of WordPress consultants who can help you with most any issue you find you need help with. Matt Mullenweg of Wordpress has a great comment on Open Source (you can view this interview on Viddler here)
Most software doesn’t die from people pirating it or, you know, people using it in a way you didn’t want. It dies from obscurity, and so, Open Source is really the best way I can imagine to have distribution and adoption among developers, designers and people who are influentials in the community.
Going open source will let you focus on the strategy you offer clients. The constant upgrades, vast array of freelance developers and documentation are all bonus.
