We find that Sitecore offers flexibility, power, ease of use and constant innovation that serves our clients well.

In the fast-changing and evolving world of web content, it can be difficult to know if a particular WCM product is keeping up with the changes and spearheading innovative solutions.

However, a Gartner’s MarketScope analysis has again confirmed that Sitecore is not only a solid performer in the world of WCM, but is in fact a visionary and a leader in the market.

Gartner’s analysis examines factors such as the core services and products offered in a content management system, including the features and feature groupings, the quality of the offerings, and whether or not the features are native or offered through agreements with third party vendors.

They also consider the overall business stability of the organization, their financial vision and strategy and likelihood of continued support for their WCM product.

Other factors taken into consideration in the equation are market responsiveness, the product’s track record in the past, the quality and execution of the product’s marketing program, actual customer experiences with the product, and the functionality of the business organization itself.

In a comparison to 17 other content management systems, no other system beats Sitecore for its completeness of vision or its ability to execute it’s vision and make it happen in the real world.

Take a look at Gartners evaluation, and see if you’d like to put the Sitecore system to work for your online business. If so, our Sitecore specialists at WebDatamation can make it happen for you.

Both have the advantage of being open source programs, which means they are constantly updated and improved. There are many plugins and applications created by a core of invested users, increasing functionality and removing bugs with regularity.

Still, there are plenty of differences, as anyone who has used both systems will note.

Here are some things to consider about Umbraco:

• It can be edited in Microsoft Word, making for easy editing for most users.
• There are OSS or commercial install options
• A high-quality, highly functional CMS
• Install gives you a blank page – no template, not much of anything else – This means plenty of freedom and flexibility – freedom to succeed or freedom to fail. Success of a site is entirely up to a developer, meaning you must have a highly qualified and creative developer who also knows legal compliance and standards compliance.
• Umbraco has high requirements for hosting, so it is difficult to find a “shared” hosting environment that will support it
• Still working on good ecommerce solutions
• Version 4 has better support for Safari and Firefox
• There are good plugins available, and a management system built into Umbraco

By contrast, here are some items to consider about DotNetNuke:

Has a proprietary feel, despite being open source

• Dot NET developers like it, those who are not dot NET developers have trouble with it
• Based on Microsoft’s ASP.NET, which is the most popular web technology currently
• Cheap to use and reduces total development costs – no ongoing licensing fees
• Full access to source code so it can be altered to fit individual organizations
• Can manage text, image, documents, links, events, news, banner ads and threaded info
• Supports multiple websites
• Installs easily
• Can manage site hosting, content, security, web design and membership in one program
• Multi-language ability
• Fully extensible and scalable
• User friendly interface and intuitve site wizards, help icons and interface for those familiar with Dot NET
• DNN has a large user base (125,000 registered users) and a core programming team dedicated to the system, so it is a large community. There are also an increasing number of third party developers of plug-ins, etc. for DNN

Which open-source hosting program is right for you? It depends on your abilities, wants and business model. Either way you go, using an open source CMS might be the way for you to save money and still have a strong, attractive site.

The DotNetNuke system is particularly focused on small businesses and organizations that operate on a tight budget (for example, many non-profit organizations), giving them many of the features of a large CMS on an open source platform.

DotNetNuke benefits from community sites that host developers. End users can join these communities and benefit from the combined experience of hundred or thousands of other developers who are also using DotNetNuke for the same kinds of projects daily.

Developers are able to share ideas and solutions and propose and tweak the program constantly so everyone benefits with improved projects and results.

Some advantages of DotNetNuke include:
•    Flexible and adaptable framework that can accommodate websites, extranets, and intranets
•    Intuitive and user-friendly design that allows users with little technical knowledge manage a web site
•    Site wizards, help buttons, and a user interface that is constantly updated for ease of use
•    CMS support from a dedicated core development group
•    Straightforward, simple installation for quick deployment
•    Many language options, making DotNetNuke viable for users in many different countries
•    No-cost, open source – users can do whatever they like with the program under a BSD agreement. Users can use the program for commercial or non profit purposes, with no requirements other than directing credit to the DotNetNuke community
•    Lowers the cost of managing multiple websites
•    The opportunity to create and upsell premium content for clients – site templates, content management modules and many database options, for example
•    Utilizes all the latest technologies, including modules, module packaging, ASP.NET 2.0, Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 Express, and Visual Web Developer

There are over 150,000 registered users  of DotNetNuke, and a number of active producers of plugins, modules and templates for the program, making it a growing and dynamic content management system.

There’s some great site consistency when using DotNetNuke (DNN) and easy site navigation. The pages turnaround quickly, a number of people can work on a site at once, and there is great growth potential with DNN.

DotNetNuke is another highly versatile and functional open source solution for Content Management, particularly for small businesses and non profits.

Now, there is a new open source content management system that utilizes the power and simplicity of ASP.NET.

Umbraco has developed a Content Management System (CMS) that works on Microsoft’s ASP.NET.

Advantages to Umbraco are:
• Supports any of the current browsers – no more error messages when a client using a browser other than Explorer visits you site
• Designers can create xhtml that works and is easy to access, while still leaving their own markup intact
• It supports all .NET based controls without any alteration or modification
• Gives designers a free hand when it comes to layout and placement, and allows the latest web standards – there are no constraints on utilizing the Umbraco framework
• Everyone can help fix bugs, work on content, whatever — simultaneously
• “Brilliant” master pages
• It integrates existing technology instead of introducing new proprietary programs – ie: uses HTML instead of some new markup, and uses xslts

Other companies are creating other solutions utilizing the Umbraco platform, including an ecommerce solution. As Umbraco continues to develop, doubtless more solutions will be created for the platform.

Many users around the world appreciate the open source solution’s speed and ease of use. Users say it is easy and intuitive to pick up, and can expand to meet growing needs. Others appreciate its flexibility and speed.

However, there are still some problems with the user interface, and some users complain that there are still bugs in the code. This may be expected with an open source program, and its likely that these will continue to be improved. Several users decry the lack of documentation, as well.

Still, since Microsoft is still king of content, it makes sense to have a CMS that is Windows based. Umbraco integrates .NET technology easily and at a price that can’t be beat. It is constantly updated and improved for a constantly improving – or at least changing—CMS that is responsive to the needs of the users.

For businesses that consider their website and their customers who contact them online to be an integral part of their business, using a content management system is only logical. It will allow those businesses to provide a seamless, high quality online experience that open source or low-end solutions simply can’t provide.

For many of our customers, their website is a strategic part of their business. The added security and performance features of a CMS allow these businesses to focus the website and the usability features that make the customer experience truly superior.

By giving developers and content providers a simple to use and intuitive system, a CMS allows the marketing department or the sales department to create website content and design elements of the site. These professionals understand the customers and their needs better than developers or IT departments. With a CMS, the control goes to the people with the ideas, not only to the people with the programming expertise

The easy integration with business applications also provides a great opportunity for businesses to provide a better integration of Customer Relationship Management software and Enterprise Resource Planning software, as well as any analytics tools.

Because you, the company, are in control of the content and the programs and tools that you use on your site, you are able to better tailor your customers’ experience on your website, offer them seamless integration of eCommerce products and Web 2.0 feature, and fully optimize your site for search engines, so current and new customers can find you easily.

With so many advantages for developers and for the end customers, its easy to see why Content Management Systems are increasingly popular.

We think we offer you the best possible CMS with Sitecore. While there are still features they can improve, as we’ve mentioned here before, overall they provide a powerful program that is fully scalable so it can grow with your company. It’s also easy to use and forward thinking, constantly updating the product and forecasting the next trend, then responding to it.

Their “Gold” partner status with Microsoft ensures continuing support for all its best features.

If you haven’t utilized the power of a great CMS to provide your customer with the best possible experience online, I’d suggest giving it a try today.

Sitecore recently identified the three key web content management trends for 2009 – do any of these sound like goals for your company this year? If so, let us help you implement them using the seamless integration tools Sitecore provides.

The first trend is the growth of ecommerce elements. Companies want to integrate more and more ecommerce tools into their websites. One of the most popular tools for businesses to implement is InSite Commerce, a program that integrates ecommerce solutions. It allows a business to manage multiple websites and allows a great deal of flexibility for customers.

The other top ecommerce solution used by businesses is Microsoft Commerce Server, which offers intuitive tools for integrating ecommerce solutions including an out of the box shopping solution.

The second major trend for web content management is integrating portals into public websites. Microsoft’s SharePoint was the most frequently used type of portal. Using portals on a public website allows a company to provide the customers with quick, easy access to important information. These portals can be customized according to the needs of your customers and your business.

The final trend for 2009 in web content management is increased implementation of Web 2.0 functionalities. Sitecore’s content management system is uniquely situated to effortlessly add applications like wikis, blogs, forums, and surveys to a website. While Web 2.0 is an ongoing topic of conversation, Sitecore found that companies have increased integration of Web 2.0 functionalities at a rate that is 250 percent higher than last year, so the pace of Web 2.0 integration is growing rapidly.

Other trends that are continuing from 2008 are continuing compatibility with the .NET network and making websites compatible with mobile computing.

With Sitecore, Webdatamation can keep your website ahead of the curve in implementing and integrating any elements you’d like into your company website.

1. Sitecore Admin needs to load faster
2. Need an easier way to assign renderings to place holders
3. Need an easier way to Assign roles & users to folders and content items
4. Right now it is a pain to get it setup on Windows 2008 with SQL Server 2008, it would be nice to get an installer which does this for you (Sitecore posted a note saying that this is in the works).

I don’t know if I say it enough, I love Sitecore.

Sitecore Development

Sitecore Hosting

With over 500,000 registered users and 5.0 million downloads in late 2007 (as per official sources), DotNetNuke has become one of today’s largest and effective open source CMS. It has been written in Microsoft’s VB.NET for the ASP.NET (also by Microsoft) framework. With an extensible core and a set of additional customization features that include modules and skins, DotNetNuke can be used to develop, deploy and efficiently manage websites, including extranets and intranets.

What makes DotNetNuke stand apart form the other CMS’s is the way in which it allows you to implement modules and skins, in order to customize your web application(s). Without any expertise of development in ASP.NET, web designers can develop skins for an application and it is this feature completely separates design from content. Only basic knowledge of HTML and understanding the inherent steps to prepare and implement the skins themselves is necessary. Skins have been implemented in DotNetNuke as basic HTML files with placeholders that serve as templates for content, menus and other GUI features. This includes support files such as JavaScript, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and images.

The DotNetNuke architecture can be extended to provide an additional set of features and functionalities by the use of pluggable modules. The core includes almost a dozen of them that is included with the distribution and other modules can be downloaded from the official DotNetNuke website. These modules include pluggable add-ons some of which are forums, blogs, wiki, e commerce systems and mailing lists.

There have also been some criticisms associated with this CMS. The instructions for creating an appropriate module are cumbersome. A very important feature that lacks in DotNetNuke is the ability to dynamically localize the content of your website. There is no provision for providing content in languages other than English. There has also been debate on the fact that some of its older modules do not work as advertised.

However recently, the quality of the newer DotNetNuke releases have improved and are more stable compared to the earlier releases. The official portal features regular updates. Moreover, DotNetNuke has an impressive fan following. It has grown more and more popular with the passage of time. There are a number of online user groups available for assistance where you can learn more about the DotNetNuke platform.

I remember playing the “Duke Nukem” game once. Speaking of CMS’s, I often DotNetNuke!