A surprising number of Web sites larger than a few dozen pages are a hopeless tangle. They may look fine from the visitor's point of view, but behind the scenes, beleaguered Web slaves struggle with intricate controls or sites so stacked with outdated content and broken links that the whole mess threatens to tumble like a house of cards.
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 presentation (HTML templates), so CMS users don't need to worry about code. But the leading products, produced by vendors like Vignette and Interwoven, only offer industrial-strength solutions for organisations willing to invest hundreds of thousands or more (often much more) in licensing, customisation, 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 home-grown CMSes or hit-and-miss manual procedures.
Of course, a growing number of packaged, mid-market CMSes provide simpler and less costly solutions than Vignette or Interwoven, 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 nightmareâ€"or launch a new site fast without stretching internal IT resourcesâ€"a new breed of application service provider (ASP) is emerging that promises fast relief. With this ASP model, you provide the content and they host the content management system on their server instead of yours. This system allows you to manage the whole site from your browser. And, using relatively simple tools, end users can produce, manage, and update to their heart's contentâ€"without having to spend weeks in CMS training. Moreover, IT staff never need experience the hassle of installing and maintaining specialised CMS software.
Who's driving?
John Girard, CEO of ASP Clickability, says there are many driving forces behind the ASP based model for CMS.
-First is the issue of cost. We typically provide CMS solutions that are 30 to 50 percent less expensive than non-hosted solutions," he says. -Second is the issue of complexity: by providing a hosted solution, we can eliminate the need to deal with hardware and bandwidth leasing and the associated costs of maintaining hardware and software.
-Finally, hosted solutions allow for rapid integration (an average of three weeks for us as compared to three to six months for non-hosted equivalent) and rapid innovationsâ€"customers who need enhancements don't have to wait for the next version of the software to be packaged and shipped."
While it sounds appealing, most Australian companies have not even considered ASP-based CMSes. For example, Jim Fisher of Computer Associates Australia admits that his company's content management system is not currently offered as a hosted solution. Nonetheless, he sees the possibility of Computer Associates' Clever Path portal being taken up by ASPs in the future.
-I do see hosted CMSes having the potential taking off. The market just has to figure out where it's going firstâ€"whether it goes to the fat client side or to the standard where you have a hosted application somewhere that you just access."
Jim Howard, CEO of ASP Crown Peak Advantage, is even more adamant about the future success of this model in Australia.
-There is no question that this model will become a popular one in Australia, it almost makes more sense there than it does in the US," he says. -The reason I say that is because Australian business has no less need for content management systems and in many cases actually has less cash resources for going out and buying hardware and software."
While it may make sense for Australian companies to use a hosted CMS, for the moment they will have to turn to mainly American partners for ASP hosting. As such, latency issues are paramountâ€"if an Australian company is hosting its content management system on an overseas server, will there be significant delays when posting content? If something goes wrong, is someone always available to help?
Not surprisingly, the US-based ASPs we spoke to for this article (see ASP reviews in the -Who's out there?" sidebar) say latency is not a problem. Clickability's Girard says his company circumvents any potential issues by conducting a thorough series of tests before it deploys a system in a new area. And, if a problem is discovered, it -simply deploys more servers".
As far as the time zone problem is concerned, most well known CMS ASPs have someone constantly on call.
-We have 52,000 customers in more than 100 countries," says Vanessa Camones, Marketing Manager for ASP Atomz Publish. -No matter where they work or live, we can deliver our services to them right through their browser or over the phone. If someone has a question we get back to them within an hour."
While latency and different time zones may be the most immediate concern when it comes to outsourcing CMSes, as with any outsourced service there are other issues to consider.
-[With an ASP model] companies do not fully control their environment. Security is up to someone else, which is risky." says Adam Ginsburg, Director of content management specialist company, Presence Online.
