Open Source Web Content Management Strategies

Gilbane San Francisco 2010
T8. Open Source Tools That are Changing the Content Technology Landscape

Presenter
Shaun Walker
CTO
DotNetNuke Corporation
- 18 years professional experience in architecting and implementing enterprise software solutions for private and public sector organizations.
- Creator of DotNetNuke, a Web Content Management Platform for ASP.NET which is the largest and most successful Open Source community project native to the Microsoft platform.|
- Served as a founding Director for CodePlex Foundation, a non-profit foundation created by Microsoft for enabling the exchange of code and understanding among software companies and open source communities.

Agenda
Effective strategies for evaluating and deploying
Open Source
Content Management Tools

Open Source CMS
Open Source CMS systems have been available for over 10 years
Share many common characteristics but also differ in many fundamental ways
In recent years, many have evolved into Content Management Platforms

Business Proposition
More economical than proprietary CMS systems
Simple acquisition
Large accessible user base
Flexible and customizable
… do they deliver?

Licensing
Understanding the most common open source licensing models and terminology
“Libre” vs “Gratis”
GPL
BSD
Dual Licensing
Open Core
Forking

Platform
Has your organization standardized on a specific technology platform?
Do you possess in-house resources which are skilled with the technology utilized by the CMS?
What other products does the CMS rely upon and what are the associated costs, licensing models, and business risks to consider?

Development Model
Understand the differences in software development models
Pro: Evolves rapidly, embraces new trends, high level of user influence
Con: Not always predictable, roadmap not always clear or even available
Organic vs. Commercial open source
Policy regarding upgrades and the preservation of backward compatibility?

Ease of Use
Simple intuitive web-based user interface
Utilizes modern client-side capabilities to create a rich interactive user experience
Most common tasks readily available, less common tasks reserved for power users
New users come up to speed quickly and require minimal training
Has a rich text editor that emulates the features available in modern word processors

Flexible Design
Offers flexibility in web design which does not restrict creativity or artistic expression
Supports the most common web design tools
Has a variety of templates available which can be utilized or customized
Has adequate documentation describing the design process
Can identify a number of professional resources who can assist with web design projects

Customizable
Provides an Open API and framework which can be utilized to easily build and integrate custom extensions
Allows for deep integration with other systems
Professional software development tools are available and cost effective
Are there many resources available or is the skillset specialized?
Supports software and content localization, multi-tenancy

Extensible
Additional functionality can be discovered, acquired, and deployed simply and easily
Terminology: Extensions, Plug-Ins, Modules, Widgets
Free vs. Commercial Licensing
Does the deployment model require IT involvement?
Does a certification program exist?
Is the volume and quality of extensions increasing?
Are they being actively maintained and enhanced by developers?

Scalable
Are there reference users which are utilizing the product in high volume environments?
Provides the ability to scale-up or scale-out based on your needs
Is committed to preserving performance baselines as the product evolves

Secure
Allows each author or administrator to have their own user account
Allows for security groups or roles to be defined
Has a rich permissions model which provides granular administrative rights to users
Supports multiple authentication systems
Includes full auditing of all changes in the system
Has a public Security Policy

Community
Has a large community of users who are vocal and actively involved
Has a central hub where community members can interact with one another
Offers community support services through discussion forums or wikis
Has community representation in your region ( ie. through user groups )

Supported
Community support channels have many active participants
Commercial support options are also available
Does the SLA match your business requirements?
Has a variety of commercial partners worldwide

Business Model
Vendor-led or Community-led?
Has a strong leadership team which has demonstrated strategic vision and has the confidence of the community
Has an understandable business model which ensures stability, accountability, and longevity

Thank You
Ecosystem
Commerce
800+ third-party DotNetNuke vendors offering 8000+ extensions
6 million downloadsgrowing by 100K per month
Questions?
( Slides will be posted on my blog on www.dotnetnuke.com )
500K+ production web sites with 12K new each month
500+ active SIs, VARs, and web design firms
775K+ members with 250K+ forum posts
40+ web hosting partners

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Open Source Web Content Management Strategies

by KStod on May 21, 2010

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Open Source Web Content Management Strategies — Presentation Transcript