Comments on: The folly of the agency-built CMS http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/ Resources for web creators Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:13:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Smad http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-340 Smad Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:30:05 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-340 Nice insight to someone who wishes to develop their in-house CMS. There are numerous CMS out there that gives what you want. It all depends on what features that you are looking for to management your site for the next 2-4 years. That planning is required for any agency to identify the right CMS solution be it open source or commercial ones to manage their site. Nice insight to someone who wishes to develop their in-house CMS. There are numerous CMS out there that gives what you want. It all depends on what features that you are looking for to management your site for the next 2-4 years. That planning is required for any agency to identify the right CMS solution be it open source or commercial ones to manage their site.

]]> By: Dave http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-339 Dave Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:30:27 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-339 The chance to illustrate a post with a big pair of tits was just too good to pass up ;) The chance to illustrate a post with a big pair of tits was just too good to pass up ;)

]]> By: Lee Kelleher http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-338 Lee Kelleher Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:18:51 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-338 Can't believe no one has mentioned how cold the room must have been in the "My CMS can kick your CMS's ass" photo! Can't believe no one has mentioned how cold the room must have been in the "My CMS can kick your CMS's ass" photo!

]]> By: Dave http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-337 Dave Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:43:32 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-337 I just realised that there's another point I should have covered. When the developer of an Agency CMS (inevitably) leaves the company, unless they have given an extensive handover or written good documentation (like THAT ever happens!) - The developer who takes his/her place has to learn the system from scratch. For third-party CMSs it's not hard to recruit somebody who already has experience using the system - minimising the cost of switching developers or adding developers to the team. I just realised that there's another point I should have covered.

When the developer of an Agency CMS (inevitably) leaves the company, unless they have given an extensive handover or written good documentation (like THAT ever happens!) – The developer who takes his/her place has to learn the system from scratch.

For third-party CMSs it's not hard to recruit somebody who already has experience using the system – minimising the cost of switching developers or adding developers to the team.

]]> By: Chris Houston http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-336 Chris Houston Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:21:18 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-336 Hi Dave, I run a development agency and we build 99% of our client sites on the Umbraco framework, I agree with your article, there are still companies out there who insist on building their own bespoke solutions, but that just makes us more competitive :) Chris Hi Dave,

I run a development agency and we build 99% of our client sites on the Umbraco framework, I agree with your article, there are still companies out there who insist on building their own bespoke solutions, but that just makes us more competitive :)

Chris

]]> By: Henrik Rydberg http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-335 Henrik Rydberg Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:21:22 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-335 Thanks. I think I should point out that developing Bildy and supporting it's users is our main business, not a side project :) Thanks.

I think I should point out that developing Bildy and supporting it's users is our main business, not a side project :)

]]> By: Dave http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-334 Dave Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:20:03 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-334 That sounds like a familiar situation. My only problem with Umbraco is the need to use XSLT for templates. It's not a problem for me, having a development background, but it can be problematic when front-end developers need to make changes to markup. Without any XSLT experience it can still fall to the developer to be a middle-man in the deployment process. Having said that, I've not investigated the new MVC-based version of Umbraco yet. It would be nice if there was a choice to create views using a templating engine such as <a href="http://nvelocity.sourceforge.net/" rel="nofollow">nVelocity</a>. That sounds like a familiar situation. My only problem with Umbraco is the need to use XSLT for templates. It's not a problem for me, having a development background, but it can be problematic when front-end developers need to make changes to markup. Without any XSLT experience it can still fall to the developer to be a middle-man in the deployment process.

Having said that, I've not investigated the new MVC-based version of Umbraco yet. It would be nice if there was a choice to create views using a templating engine such as nVelocity.

]]> By: Dave http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-333 Dave Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:14:04 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-333 Thanks for your comments, I'd not seen <a href="http://thebildy.com/" rel="nofollow">Bildy</a> before but it looks like an excellent solution, I'll investigate just as soon as I've finished wrestling with the latest bodged CMS that's been dropped on me. Thanks for your comments, I'd not seen Bildy before but it looks like an excellent solution, I'll investigate just as soon as I've finished wrestling with the latest bodged CMS that's been dropped on me.

]]> By: Henrik Rydberg http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-332 Henrik Rydberg Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:05:24 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-332 Very good thoughts. Developers in agencies often need to answer very specific design decisions that are new and out of the standards. They know that you quickly run into trouble, trying to bend old standards into something completely different. So the question becomes: compromise on the design, do bending despite the inevitable problems or just make the solution. Doesn’t take much to guess the right answer. As interaction designer working with many agencies, I've seen this come down too many times. As the author points out, it's not a safe road to take. Each custom solution add future burden with upkeep and inevitable updates —something agencies rarely have any budgets. To solve this, we created Bildy <a href="http://thebildy.com" rel="nofollow">http://thebildy.com</a> With Bildy, developers can drop in their own UI for content management and then code the functionality and look that they want. Assuming nothing means that you have custom data which you can turn into anything: HTML for sites, XML for Flash or JSON for Ajax. You'll a have solid foundation and fast tools to make that unique design a reality –without hacking. As Dave points out: you really should build upon some framework or product, what ever that might be. When upkeep and updates are taken care for you, you're not digging your own grave. Very good thoughts.

Developers in agencies often need to answer very specific design decisions that are new and out of the standards. They know that you quickly run into trouble, trying to bend old standards into something completely different. So the question becomes: compromise on the design, do bending despite the inevitable problems or just make the solution. Doesn’t take much to guess the right answer.

As interaction designer working with many agencies, I've seen this come down too many times. As the author points out, it's not a safe road to take. Each custom solution add future burden with upkeep and inevitable updates —something agencies rarely have any budgets.

To solve this, we created Bildy http://thebildy.com With Bildy, developers can drop in their own UI for content management and then code the functionality and look that they want. Assuming nothing means that you have custom data which you can turn into anything: HTML for sites, XML for Flash or JSON for Ajax. You'll a have solid foundation and fast tools to make that unique design a reality –without hacking.

As Dave points out: you really should build upon some framework or product, what ever that might be. When upkeep and updates are taken care for you, you're not digging your own grave.

]]> By: Adam Shallcross http://webdeveloper2.com/2010/01/the-folly-of-the-agency-built-cms/#comment-331 Adam Shallcross Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:36:59 +0000 http://webdeveloper2.com/?p=1252#comment-331 Good post. Here at The CogWorks we used to use our own .NET based CMS which we were about to try and develop further. We then came across Umbraco about 18 months ago, found out it did everything we wanted ours to do and more...so needless to say we ditched our CMS within minutes :) We took the decision to solely concentrate on Umbraco development for every project no matter what size the client or project and it has been a great decision so far. As far as we are concerned, there's no need to waste resources building your own CMS when you can use a platform like Umbraco and spend the budget building better applications instead of standard CMS functionality that's already there and freely available. Good post. Here at The CogWorks we used to use our own .NET based CMS which we were about to try and develop further.

We then came across Umbraco about 18 months ago, found out it did everything we wanted ours to do and more…so needless to say we ditched our CMS within minutes :)

We took the decision to solely concentrate on Umbraco development for every project no matter what size the client or project and it has been a great decision so far.

As far as we are concerned, there's no need to waste resources building your own CMS when you can use a platform like Umbraco and spend the budget building better applications instead of standard CMS functionality that's already there and freely available.

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