Open source is dead
A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting with a company that was developing a new website. They required the new system to run the website on their own server. An uneconomical and not very forward-looking idea!
It made me reflect on the changes that have taken place over the past two years in the technology surrounding publishing tools (CMS):
Central drifting
Open-source tools such as DNN (DotNetNuke), WordPress, Joomla and Drupal mean that we as suppliers operate the websites on our own servers. On a global basis, there are thousands of companies like Gasta that spend large resources on upgrades, security patches, etc. to keep their servers up and running. This is not very rational and unnecessarily expensive for you as a customer. We are now seeing that solutions such as Squarespace with central operation are gaining ground. They have better uptime, better expertise and are more cost-effective overall for all parties.
Freedom of choice
Open source as a way of thinking is appealing. Being able to choose modules/plugins that you can connect to the core system is a nice idea. But as a supplier, it's crucial to be able to standardize on a small number of module/plugin suppliers. There is a very real chance that this plugin supplier won't exist in a year's time, something we have bitterly experienced. In that case, the customer's freedom of choice will not be so great after all. The fact that there are 8,000 different banner plugins to choose from is not interesting; as a supplier, you only want to use one!
Easy to use
A website based on DotNetNuke, WordPress, Joomla or Drupal consists of a core system and then modules/plugins developed by small companies all over the world to meet needs such as blogs, banner images, forms and image galleries. The positive benefits you get from "freedom of choice" are lost because it's never easy to use these systems on a day-to-day basis. In the new tools such as Squarespace, you control everything yourself, everything is integrated into one package. If you want to use a "plugin", you click on the plus sign in Squarespace, and everything works.
Out with coding - in with drag & drop
Perhaps the most positive thing about the emergence of the new type of publishing tool like Squarespace is that you can do everything very easily using "drag & drop" - and no coding. This means that the website becomes a tool for you as a marketer, andyou shouldn't have to go through programmers to get things done. This creates more vibrant websites and more sales!
Open source is dead?
Of course not. There will always be companies that have more advanced needs, where a solution based on DNN (DotNetNuke) or another open-source tool is the best.
But for 70-80% of the rest of us, the future is tools like Squarespace...
"If Steve Jobs were alive and developing a publishing tool, he would have developed Squarespace. I feel confident about that...."
