This should have been a post about innovation in web content management systems. Should have been. Should. The more I’ve worked my way into it and the more systems I’ve compared again, I’m afraid I have to say there’s not much there. <\/p>\n
Unless perhaps you consider the usability of a CMS via a mobile device to be innovative. Or the standard delivery of a responsive web kit for the front end. Or personalization. Or generally good usability in the backend. The list could be extended indefinitely, it’s not as if no work is being done on the products. <\/p>\n
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From many conversations with website operators, I know that today’s web CMS, especially in the enterprise sector, are perceived as a brake pad. Website operators want to make extensive changes to their web platform much more flexibly, quickly and easily. At the beginning of the WCMS era, companies were thrilled when they were shown a CMS. It was now so easy to add new content to the web. That was a real game changer back then. <\/p>\n
The web of the past no longer has much in common with the web of today. However, CMSs are, more or less, still designed primarily to bring content to the web. However, the requirements for web platforms, driven by the user, have changed fundamentally. A few CMSs have vague answers to this, but none can provide the groundbreaking relief or a game changer. <\/p>\n
This is all the more surprising given that WCMS is a huge market. There are certain parallels with e-commerce shortly before Magento was launched. Merchants were dissatisfied and couldn’t really drive their business forward because they were hindered by the software. Magento was then conceptually a liberating blow: look, anyone can do e-commerce, as we had actually wanted to do for a long time. The fact that this unheard-of promise was never fully realized is irrelevant. The momentum that Magento brought to the entire sector can still be felt today. <\/p>\n
Why is such a fundamental change not happening in the CMS market? There are many reasons for this. 3 important ones in my view: <\/p>\n
Most CMS are developer-driven<\/strong> The majority of website operators are underqualified<\/strong> The business potential of CMS is not recognized<\/strong> However, the signs are good that this could change. Rumors persist that the big traditional manufacturers are penetrating the CMS market. In the case of Google, this has already been confirmed. Others will follow. This will put pressure on them. That’s a good thing. <\/p>\n But there would also be room for a complete newcomer – designed directly on the market and developed on widely used, accepted technologies and frameworks. If then marketed as open source, we could actually see a high-flyer and innovation driver in the CMS sector. And that would probably be just as beneficial for the entire market as Magento was for eCommerce. <\/p>\n Artikel auf Social Media teilen:<\/p>\n<\/div>
\nA CMS is a comparatively simple piece of software. While you need a lot of technical know-how to implement an accounting program, for example, basic knowledge of the web is sufficient for a CMS. The barrier to entry is therefore quite low and almost every developer has toyed with the idea of building a CMS. All the newer CMS are probably exciting from a developer’s point of view, but what fundamentally different functionality than the Big 4 (WordPress, Drupal, TYPO3 and Joomla) do these systems offer? Unfortunately none. What we need are technical specialists who can address the top problems in the management of corporate websites and implement them with developers. Unfortunately, these specialists are very rare and currently sought-after executives. <\/p>\n
\nDigital change is progressing rapidly and many companies are struggling to keep up. Experienced and well-qualified digital staff are rare and in many places, under-qualified employees are therefore being hired. They are not in a position to recognize requirements from their daily business life and demand them clearly enough and with the appropriate vehemence and consistency from the manufacturers. As a result, manufacturers lose an important link to end users and believe themselves to be in the deceptive security of knowing that they have the market requirements covered. But this is far from the case. The end user sees things quite differently. <\/p>\n
\nMany investors think that the CMS market has been made and that only a few players can prevail. In addition, the triumph of open source software in this area has destroyed the revenue streams. If you think in terms of traditional products, this is not even wrong (sic!). However, the fact that the ecosystems that have developed around these products generate enormous added value remains hidden from most people. Only a few investors are beginning to realize how some of this value creation can be brought back to the initiators and are doing so. <\/p>\n