Digital Mountain Top

My recent revelation is that open source/off the shelf is, in general, better. It gives the client much better value for money and it should give an agency more free time to innovate rather than reinventing the wheel.

Good for the client

1. Cost
   As client you get more for your buck. With plenty of ready made plugins ready to be popped in at minimal cost, why would you pay to get these things especially built for you? It's also likely that clients can cut down on training costs by employing content editors who already know their system.
   
2. Choice
   If I'm going to buy shampoo, ideally I want a carefully selected range suiting all possible hair needs from frizzy, silky smooth to super duppa 80s go go volume. I don't want to wait for somebody to mix up my own special shampoo or indeed pay for it. I need the money for the conditioner too.
   
3. No tie in
   Best of all the clients are not tied in. There are loads of agencies using the same CMSs. A client can keep using the same agency because they are good not because they are locked into using their bespoke system.
   

Good for the agency

1. Cost
   Think of a open source/off the shelf system as your P.A. doing all the jobs you don't want to. Because you have a library of ready made plugins to choose from for all the "normal" tasks, you have time to actually put some of those more exciting innovative ideas into action. Hopefully that means clients will come back for more too.
2. Support
   Whether you are using an open source system or a "paid for" system, you get a support network. You no longer just have to rely on your internal staff for the answer, again giving them more time to think up "new stuff". It also means you can employ people who will instantly know the systems you are using - great when you have that big job to be finished and your head honcho developer has just caught the flu.
   
3. Your client isn't tied in
   Yes, this is a good thing. It challenges you to keep a closer eye on the competition and push yourselves to give the best client service possible.

Of you will always be asked to build a website that can't use a ready built CMS. This is when you do need a tailored/bespoke system especially for the client and a nice big budget. But most of the time it's a waste of time and money for everyone.

My pearl of "wisdom" for today:

"A slick website without useful content is like a designer chair, that cannot be sat upon. It won’t be used"

Of course this is unless the site is based around a social media tool, which some what puts a spanner in the works...I suppose that's still content though; it's just user generated. Then again...what about interactive addictive gamey type stuff....arrggh my head. Time for a re-think...

...some time later...after some thought:

"A slick website without useful content is like a designer chair, that cannot be sat upon. It won’t be used" (terms and conditions apply)

Maybe we should be asking content is still king when we have social media? Is UGC still content or is it a conversation? At the moment, I'm thinking conversation but, if I'm honest, I'm yet to apply any real thought to this....nope I'm already swaying back to content. What a conundrum.

P.s. I should say that apparently the above chair is apparently functional....it just doesn't look it. So that's my theory completely blown out of the water. Find more info about chair designer Osian Batyka-Williams, here.