In Calgary, we have some very good website developers. The quality of the applications that are being produced in our city are phenomenal. But when it comes to purchasing a website for your business, you need to understand a few things about the application that will be used to drive it.

The application at its root is often referred to as a “content management system” or “CMS”. Some developers have chosen to develop proprietary custom content management systems to deploy their small business websites; others have chosen to use open source applications, like WordPress, to be the engine behind their sites.

David A. West, the founding partner of eKzact Solutions Inc., started deploying business websites in 1995 using 100% custom coded content management applications, but we have been using WordPress for the past several years. David likes to joke that he was building content managed websites, where the client could make changes, before they were even called “content managers”.

Here are a few things you should understand about WordPress:

• WordPress is free open source software that powers over 60% of the world’s websites.
• Open source means you can keep the website. You can even copy and share it if you want to.
• There is a massively large community of developers that can support WordPress and its myriad of powerful add-on plug-ins. If your web developer stops returning your calls, there are thousands and thousands of developers that can step-in and rescue you when you need help.
• Vulnerabilities with WordPress are identified very quickly and updates are rolled out frequently. Such a large community is not going to let issues slip by without attention.
• WordPress major updates are only a few mouse-clicks away and minor incremental updates are now automatic.
• Just like the most popular computer operating systems in the world, WordPress attracts the attention of hackers. Fortunately there are some excellent companies that provide unprecedented services around securing, monitoring and protecting WordPress. An application as popular as WordPress deserves protection – there’s simply too much at risk!
• It is relatively easy for a qualified web developer to move a stand-alone WordPress website to a new hosting environment (as long as it’s not a part of a “multi-user” installation of WordPress.
• WordPress is being adopted by some of the World’s largest brands such as Global News, Fox News, NBC Sports, TED, CNN, USA Today, Spotify, Time, DowJones, and UPS, to name just a handful. These big brands are subscribing to the VIP WordPress offering.

Some considerations regarding choosing Proprietary Custom Content Management Systems Instead of WordPress:

• You may never own the code for your website. It likely belongs to the developer. If your web developer makes an ownership assertion over the proprietary code, you will likely be bound to leave your website on their servers.
• Proprietary software can, inadvertently or on-purpose, cause a customer lock-in or vendor lock-in. In economics “Vendor Lock-In,” also know as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products and services. The client is unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs. See – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in
• Proprietary content management systems are often developed using frameworks that only a handful of the originating company developers are familiar with. Should the developers leave the company, or worse yet, should the company fail all together, you may be left with a website that cannot be managed.
• While a proprietary application may be necessary to meet very specific processes and needs it is important to understand the cost ramifications of such a decision.
• Every “plug-in” or addition of functionality to a proprietary system is going to likely require custom development. This can be very expensive.

Other Open Source Frameworks

• Other open source applications such as Drupal, CMS Made Simple, and ProcessWire are excellent options for the start of your development. But don’t be fooled — they still present potential vulnerabilities.