Content management systems (CMSes) are specifically designed to help you get a handle on sites with dynamically changing content. All of them now separate content (text, images, and so on) from HTML templates, so CMS users don't need to worry about code. But the leading products, produced by market leaders Vignette and Interwoven, offer industrial-strength solutions for organizations willing to invest hundreds of thousands or more (often much more) in licensing, customization, and hardware. For many customers, these behemoths have proven overwhelmingly complex to deploy and manage. Other companies, appalled by the cost of big-ticket software and consulting, still grapple with homegrown CMSes or hit-and-miss manual procedures.
For those on the brink of throwing the whole mess out the window, a new breed of application service provider (ASP) has emerged that promises fast relief. You provide the content and these ASPs host the CMS on their server instead of yours, allowing you to manage the whole deal from your browser. In this report, we've focused on three ASP solutions: Atomz Publish (see review), Clickability I-OPS (see review), and CrownPeak Advantage CMS (see review). Using relatively simple tools, end users can produce, manage, and update to their heart's content--without having to spend weeks in CMS training. And IT never need experience the hassle of installing and maintaining specialized CMS software.
Of course, a growing number of packaged, mid-market CMSes provides simpler and less costly solutions than either Vignette or Interwoven do, including software sold by Infosquare, Macromedia, Microsoft, PaperThin, Percussion Software, RedDot Solutions, Reef , Starbase, and many more. But for mid-size businesses that want to awaken as quickly as possible from their current Web nightmare--or launch a new site fast without stretching internal IT resources--an ASP-based CMS can give you most of what you need.
That being said, the ASP solution isn't for everyone. If you have a large IT department and need customization, integration, and security to the nth degree, for example, you're probably better off installing a CMS on your own server. And for any ASP solution to work, you have to be comfortable with the provider, the service agreement, and various other considerations.
