Hi Nick
We went through this very issue at the Horniman a few years ago.
Things affecting our decision (to use a semi-open-source, provided platform - ie. Keepthinking's which Cristiano describes below) were:
- Prior to my time here, we'd had a variety of sites built on Joomla / Drupal (I honestly can't quite remember which; maybe even both!). They were pretty disastrous (disclaimer: for a wide variety of reasons) - buggy, lots of holes, basically a pain in the head.
- I'd question your assumption about being tied to a supplier. At the Horniman, we'd previously flitted from supplier to supplier - generally not making much progress with any (read: failing) and it was all a bit unstable. I wanted stability and a partner with whom I could make a good, long-term partnership* - which would benefit us and we could build on. Finding the right supplier is key here, obviously. (We had prior acrimonious experience [disclaimer no 2: variety of reasons; not all down to those suppliers].)
- While in principle I agree with everyone's comments on open source, here (and in previous roles), I found that most suppliers said to customise open source was going to take as much budget, time, resource and effort as creating something more specific to us. So why not do that then?
It's largely about how flexible you want to be / can be with the content you intend to produce - does this need to be super-specifically made to your exact brief or can this be moulded into other formats?
Also - questions which influenced our thinking - is there on-going budget or one-off project funding to support further digital developments? Is there the in-house ability to manage technical developments? Do we have to integrate with any number of databases (we had 3 main tools to integrate with - potentially more).
Plus there are a raft of other questions beyond the technical - how well does this partner do design, manage projects, prior experience (particularly at the Horniman with database integration.; this was a HUGE issue for us).
Probably lots more now that I can't quite remember - but happy to discuss further with you if you wish!
Thanks, Adrian
* beginning to sound like a Lonely Hearts column here. Apols.
--
Adrian Murphy
Digital Media Manager
Horniman Museum and Gardens
Dir: 020 8291 8724
email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cristiano Bianchi
Sent: 16 October 2013 12:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MCG] Benefits of custom-built CMS vs adapting off-the-shelf - your experience?
Hi Nick,
very interesting question - as also pointed out by Mike.
I agree with Mike, but from a different angle - as I don't necessary believe that only open source (the free flavour) systems should be
considered: there are a lot of excellent industry standard, enterprise solutions that are not free (although in most cases they are still open source - in the sense that if you want you can access and edit the source
code) that exist for a very good reason: they get the job done and typically save you lots of time and money. Tiny disclaimer here: like Mike before me, I am biased - as we have a CMS platform - but it's not bespoke to any of our customers: they all use the same.
I personally don't buy the argument that your technology partner are
floating: that is that a bespoke solution is the best fit for you. How is it better? If you have do design and build a website, do you want to focus on design, functionalities and content - which is already quite a challenge to do in any project timeline - or do you want to start building the basic tools and embark into a software development project, which will require extra months in your project schedule and add massive elements of risk?
More, will the new and bespoke CMS possess all the features that are standard in the vast majority of CMSs, free and non-free, such as granular user permissions, audit trails, scheduling manager, media manager, multi-versioning and video transcoding? We have been building our commercial CMS platform for over 12 years and these things take time - and a lot of it.
Another question. What will the lifecycle of the new CMS be? Will it be used by your technology partner in other projects - so that will own its IPs and will be developing it in the future? Of you will be left with a platform that was build specifically for you, that no one else understand and that (unless you have an in-house very competent technical team with Ruby skills) you will have no exact understanding of? I would not count on the fact that Ruby is a well known technology and it'll be relatively easy to find other developers. The reality is (as Mike points out), that few others will want or be able to take on from where another developer has left - it is not impossible: when you work with Drupal or Wordpress (or our
own) you also work with other people's code - but it'll be a lot more difficult.
As to performance and flexibility, I don't agree with your technology partner. Most current CMS systems are powerful and flexible enough to let you do whatever you want with your content. The really important feature is that content is completely separated from presentation (and in that I'd also cast a doubt on Drupal) - we usually build two completely separate
layers: the CMS manages content and one (or more) web/mobile/anything else applications extract it and present it.
Bottom line for me: building a CMS is an independent software project. If building a website is your goal, I'd stay away from it. If you want to be even more radical, I would not choose a CMS until you have specified and designed at least part of the website - and then see what fits the bill: a modern CMS solution, based on a content delivery framework will be capable of adapting to (nearly) anything, with slight variations.
Good luck with your project!
Best, Cristiano
---
Cristiano Bianchi
Keepthinking
43 Clerkenwell Road
London EC1M 5RS
tel +44 20 7490 5337
[log in to unmask]
www.keepthinking.it
On 16 October 2013 11:54, Nick Sharp <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi MCGers,
>
> Firstly quickly wanted to introduce myself  I started at the
> beginning of September as Head of Digital here at the Royal Academy.
> Do get in touch to say hello!
>
> I'm working on a website redevelopment project here, and I wanted to
> canvass opinion on our technology choice. Our technology partners are
> suggesting building a bespoke CMS (primarily using Ruby and other open
> source technologies), rather than adapting a CMS (like Drupal, for the
> sake of argument).
>
> I've worked with both solutions in the past, but I wondered if any
> MCGers had any thoughts based on their experience in this sector.
>
> My concern is that, when I've worked with a custom CMS before  for
> example, GOV.UK Â it's involved a large internal development team,
> something we currently lack. I don't want to tie us into a
> relationship with one supplier (as with proprietary systems of old),
> but at the same time, assuming the language and technology are
> well-supported by the developer community, a custom CMS will offer us
> a lighter, more elegant solution.
>
> Does anyone have any experience of making similar choices, or how it
> has worked out for them? Realise this is quite a broad question and
> brings up loads of associated questions, both philosophical and
> practical. But would be interested in your thoughts.
>
> Couple of thoughts below:
>
> Benefits of a custom CMS
>
> * we can build exactly the right CMS for the RA, we don't have to bend
> an off the shelf product into shape
> * it will be faster, the database structure is optimised for the RA,
> an off the shelf CMS database is designed for flexibility
> * we can design a more dynamic system, unconstrained by the particular
> usage model an off the shelf CMS would bring
>
> Drawbacks of a custom CMS
>
> * extending the system will require more in depth knowledge, currently
> not existing in-house
> * Could tie the RA into a difficult/expensive issue if technology
> moves in a different direction
>
> Benefits of an off the shelf CMS
>
> * a community of developers exist that understand how to use it
> * can be extended easily to add functionality
> * includes robust code for handling classic content management tasks
> * powerful
>
> Drawbacks of an off the shelf CMS
>
> * upgrades to an of the shelf CMS could have unforeseen consequences
> for the system
> * an off the shelf CMS represents a retrospective view of the trend in
> content management. In contrast we are trying to build a future facing
> approach for the RA.
> * might cost money to buy a licence on a recurring basis
> * the CMS design might go out of date, or be superseded by better designs.
> * complex, lots of features are included which are not needed by the
> RA
> * Could prove expensive to build and customise for RA requirements
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Nick Sharp @emuroad
>
> Head of Digital
>
> Royal Academy of Arts
> Burlington House
> Piccadilly
> London W1J 0BD
>
> 020 7300 5803 | 07718 236871
>
> www.royalacademy.org.uk <http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The Royal Academy of Arts is a registered charity under Registered
> Charity Number 1125383 and is also registered as a company limited by
> guarantee in England and Wales under Company Number 6298947. Registered office:
> Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD.
>
>
>
> The Royal Academy of Arts is a registered charity under Registered
> Charity Number 1125383 and is also registered as a company limited by
> guarantee in England and Wales under Company Number 6298947. Registered office:
> Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD.
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--
Cristiano Bianchi
*Keepthinking*
43 Clerkenwell Road
London EC1M 5RS
tel +44 20 7490 5337
mobile +44 7939 041169 (UK)
[log in to unmask]
www.keepthinking.it
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