Choosing a custom CMS versus an open-source CMS is one of the most important decisions a business can make regarding its website. Content Management Systems (CMS) are not one-size-fits-all technologies, and there’s no right answer when choosing between an open-source or custom platform. To determine the best option for your business, you first need to understand what solutions each CMS offers and what your team needs from a content management system.
There are a number of differences between proprietary and open-source Content Management Systems.
In open-source CMSs like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla, the base code of the platform is publicly available and editable. Open-source solutions can be redistributed, copied, and modified for a number of applications. These systems are regularly updated by a wider online community, which can easily address bugs in the software and add new features.
A custom CMS is a proprietary solution created or used exclusively for one company. With a custom CMS, your business (or the service company that built it) controls its functionality, user interface, and updates. Using a custom content management system, workflow, design, and usability of the system can be personalized to the needs of each business or department.
Factors Affecting the Choice of Proprietary or Open-Source Content Management System
A number of factors influence the decision regarding custom versus open-source CMS. Here are a few points to consider when choosing a content management system for your company:
In-house Technology Resources:
Open-source CMS platforms offer countless possibilities for adding new layers of functionality, but making these changes requires a high level of development skills that some companies lack in-house. When choosing a content management system, it's important to honestly assess whether your company has the resources to utilize an open-source platform.
User Profiles:
The roles and needs of your company's primary CMS users should play a significant role in your CMS platform selection. Certain types of content management systems are automatically managed for marketers, forcing them to rely on IT staff to help with programming, uploading, and editing content. If your marketing team cannot manage the CMS without the support of IT colleagues, your website's performance will be significantly impacted.
Budget:
As with many major technology purchases, cost can be the deciding factor in choosing a content management system. Open-source CMSs are often free or low-cost, but companies relying on them need to invest more in IT staff or third-party support and development to modify and expand the system in the future.
Advantages of Custom Content Management System (CMS) Design:
1. Lightweight Core
Because there are no extra features in this type of design, the core is lightweight and does not encounter problems in large-scale use.
2. Simpler User Interface
Because the custom system is designed to manage your content and data, it has a very easy-to-use interface, and there is no need for user management and feature upgrades.
3. Enhanced Security
Some custom system programmers believe that proprietary systems are more secure due to the confidentiality of their programming methodology. However, it should be noted that open-source developers claim the opposite.
4. Utilization of Cutting-Edge Technologies
If the development team has high expertise, it can use the latest design technologies. In this case, the result will be much better and more professional.
Disadvantages of Custom CMS Design:
1. High Design and Maintenance Costs
If you are a startup, medium-sized, or small organization, the design costs will not be reasonable for you. On the other hand, to extend support after the initial support ends, you have to pay a considerable amount compared to free and open-source CMSs. This does not end here; the cost of developing system features will also be high. This is while implementing some of these features in ready-made CMSs is possible by installing a free plugin.
2. Transferring Support from One Company to Another is Rarely Possible
Sometimes you may not be satisfied with the support services or tariffs of the design company and want to receive support services from another company. Other companies will not undertake the support of other companies' products because most proprietary products are closed-source. Even if they do, they will charge high costs.
3. The Design and Development Process is Time-Consuming
Designing custom content management systems takes longer than ready-made systems to launch a website. Because in ready-made systems, the core is ready, and the development process is carried out, but in these CMSs, the design process starts from scratch.
Advantages of Ready-Made, Free, and Open-Source Content Management Systems
1. Reasonable Design Costs
Since the core is already ready in these systems, website design costs are significantly lower than proprietary systems, but this price reduction does not mean a drop in the quality of work. If you search a little about the open-source world, you will come to this conclusion.
2. Very Extensive Support and Documentation
Whenever you are not satisfied with the support services of your design company, you can easily change your website support company. Due to the open-source nature and widespread use, many companies offer services for these products.
3. Less Design and Development Time
Design and development time is less compared to proprietary systems due to the existence of some ready-made features.
4. Easy and Low-Cost Development
In some cases, the development of basic features of these systems is possible by the user with a little training. For more professional development, the costs are also lower.
5. Adequate Security for Lower Cost
Some people who like to charge high fees from their clients call open-source products insecure. But we ask you to do some research to see if the most secure products in the world are open-source or closed-source. However, some people, for higher income and fear of reducing their profit margin, state these points and impose high costs on the customer. These CMSs are much more secure than before, and with proper security configuration, they are among the most secure systems in the world. Thanks to their widespread use and open-source nature, developers from all over the world find bugs in the shortest possible time, and no security holes remain hidden...
Disadvantages of Ready-Made Content Management Systems
1. Heavy Core (in older products)
In older versions of Joomla and WordPress, the core was heavy, but in recent updates of these products, especially Joomla, the use of hardware resources has been minimized. However, it is still heavier than proprietary products and will remain so. However, with proper optimization during website design and development, this problem can be largely solved.
2. SEO Principles are Not Fully Observed in These CMSs
This problem has existed in these products for years and has not yet been resolved. WordPress, however, has made significant progress. However, this is mostly left to the user. Of course, Rahkarpouya, with its necessary knowledge, observes all these points in your projects.
At Rahkarpouya, we understand each company's needs for setting up a website. We offer our custom CMS to our clients. For more information about our content management services and how to choose the best platform for your company, please contact us.
