Creating a content management system either from scratch, or using pre-existing building blocks, may sound like the ultimate way to get the exact solution you require.
However, careful analyses often reveals dangerous pitfalls and serious short comings with many custom built content management systems.
In comparison to today's mature, tested and carefully designed products, most home-grown systems are quirky, poorly thought-out, and difficult to maintain.
However, even now many will seriously consider custom development. Like any IT custom development project, you could be taking on serious risk when it comes to delivering your project on time and budget, not to mention the downside of expensive support and the lack of upgrades in the future.
Two main reasons organisations choose to build
Perceived Flexibility
The decision to build rather than buy is frequently based on the assertion that no off-the-shelf product could possibly meet the specific business needs of the organisation.
For many developers, customisation efforts quickly mean abandoning consistent architectures, or processes, in favour of meeting seemingly complex requirements. Such an approach is short-sighted, paying no respect to the need for change, and a consistent model to ensure scalability, security and true-flexibility.
In reality, the information management and publishing requirements of a broad range of possible applications can be successfully contained in a well thought out system. If requirements are found that do not fit the system, instead of developing at a tangent to meet some specific unusual need (and thereby creating an island of development investment), we rather prefer to adjust the system, so the need can be met predictably again and again.
With that in mind:
Cost
Some web development firms frequently promise to deliver a powerful CMS for an up front cost that may sound attractive.
It is a well known fact that IT development projects frequently run well over time and budget expectations. Heading down the custom development path is almost guaranteed to result in project blow-outs, missed deadlines, and unexpected complications.
Close examination of many custom CMS implementations reveals serious oversights in the design of the publishing engine and the flexibility of the system.
Considering a robust product based solution represents many person- years of development time, it is little wonder a comparable custom system cannot be constructed in a matter of a few weeks or months from scratch.
For example, many custom-built systems lack the following important features:
The face of custom development
Heading down the custom development path is not for the faint hearted.
Working with a proven solution
Better CMS products are not merely tools, or a collection of loosely defined modules. They are proven, solid solutions, that can be installed and operated out of the box.
In comparison: Buy vs Build
Buy
Build
? Lower cost of ownership
? Higher cost of ownership
? Rapid deployment
? Lengthy deployment
? Rapid integration
? Slow integration
? High level of functionality
? Low-moderate functionality
? Easy to use and maintain
? Harder to use, complex maintenance
? Follows best practices
? Custom design may be poor
? Features you could never afford to build
? Lacks sophisticated features
? Committed support
? Contingent support
? Upgrades and improvements
? Limited or no upgrades
? High quality
? Low Quality
Andy Farrell is Managing Director of Gravitymax, a content management system developer based in Sydney, Australia.
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