Custom designed solutions

No solution is right for all problems. And in our industry, no content management system (CMS) is right for all websites. Yet companies are always looking for—or trying to create the ultimate solution. It seems to me that everyone is trying to create a CMS that can be used for all of their projects. For many years, I have thought this is the answer. Don’t get me wrong, off-the-shelf CMSs have their use. However, I think that once a project gets to a certain level of complexity and price, then no off-the-shelf CMS will be the best solution.

Obviously, I have not used every single CMS available. I have used a few, both commercial and open-source, as well as building my own. Off-the-shelf CMSs have some great features. The app is usually well-tested, mature and very stable. There are often many advanced features that are built-in such as flexible workflow and multi-language support. Many are quick and easy to setup for small projects. However, you are also getting a lot of other undesirable things. They are usually tough to customize, especially the admin interface. You often have slow turnaround time to fix bugs. There are often many features which you don’t need on every project which adds unnecessary complexity for the users. And the instructions are often non-intuitive. Additionally, many off-the-shelf CMSs work great for the IT guys, but non-techies have troubles understanding the interface and find them difficult to update. This is very evident when you support an off-the-shelf CMS.

If you, or your interactive supplier, build your custom solution correctly, you can have the best of both worlds: a stable, feature-rich CMS that perfectly meets your needs.

A custom CMS is not always a cheap solution, though. I don’t advocate trying to build a custom CMS for a client that is not willing or able to spend the money. However, a custom solution can be built for the same price it takes to purchase and implement a large commercial CMS. Using some pre-built components will be necessary to keep costs in line. There are many open-source frameworks and libraries that can be used to speed up the development process and therefore keep costs down.

To develop a competitive-cost CMS, you need the right interactive firm, team and people to build the solution. There are many inexperienced or inadequate web developers who promise the world, but can not deliver. Much of this is due to inexperience. Most custom CMS solutions fall short of delivering the tools promised in an easy-to-use system. This is why companies fall back to pre-built CMSs; they are scared to spend a large sum of money and end up with a terrible solution—or, even worse, no solution at all.

How can a company get around these fears?

Experience
If your web developer has a track record of providing quality solutions, then it will be easier for your company to trust that the project can be delivered.

Process
There must be a well defined process from start to finish. This will allow the developer to provide the client with more accurate timelines and estimates.

Communication
From the web developer’s perspective, you must keep the client informed at all stages of the project and be completely honest in communication. If there are problems or delays, advise your client. By hiding those and then failing to meet targets and deadlines, a web developer is only going to cause mistrust with the clients.

Documentation
For the developer and client to agree on a timeline and price, they must both understand what exactly is going to be build. The developer must provide on paper exactly what the system they are going to build.

One thing a business may be wondering is how big the project must be to make a custom CMS worthwhile. I cannot answer with a number or any definite rules. I will just say that every project is different and every project has a different solution. There is a lot of work that must go into breaking down the problem and finding the best solution. This process in itself can cost lots of money. If you want to provide service to a range of project sizes and types, you cannot support only one solution. You must be open to all solutions.