By Laura Dambrosio November 24, 2014
The "open source CMS vs custom" debate still comes up often among development agencies. WordPress and Drupal now have about 30% market share of the entire web, but some agencies are still hesitant to adopt open source—as a result of previous investment in thousands of lines of proprietary code, or a status quo of delivering custom sites and billing for content updates. Those that have adopted Drupal or WordPress are finding that they support the long-term goal of agency growth and scale.
Getting to Market Faster with Open Source
Agencies can tap into the collective knowledge base of an open source CMS like Drupal or WordPress to speed up the development process and get to market faster than their competition. Plugins, modules, and support from the open source community can be used to build templates for new client sites, cutting the time it takes to spin up new projects. When there's a roadblock in production, developers can crowdsource to make fixes and learn best practices. When the plan is to scale your agency, doing more within the same time frame keeps profit margins in tact.
Hiring Talented People and Building a Great Reputation
Agencies using an open source CMS have a vast codebase supporting the latest development and design trends—they’re are able to forge ahead in areas like responsive design, localization, and user experience. Successful dev shops aren’t just building a reputation for building great sites, but as the best place for for developers to thrive.
Agencies looking for skilled people will have more luck choosing from a pool of Drupal or WordPress pros than finding someone willing to learn a proprietary CMS. Big or boutique, digital agencies getting quality work are those that earn the respect of both clients and the development community through delivery of powerful, well-designed applications.
Strenghtening Client Relationships and Gaining New Business
Creating better sites, faster, and retaining top talent helps agencies gain credibility—and new clients. Developers can support new projects with solid existing framework and build sophisticated functionality to meet various business needs. The flexibility of Drupal and WordPress allows developers to build sites that empower clients to update content, helping their web presence evolve along with their business. As agencies repeatedly deliver high-quality sites on time to their clients, they are more likely to be viewed as a technology partner who can help make long-term, strategic decisons.
Choosing Technology that Supports the Goals of Open Source
WordPress and Drupal have a ton of value on their own, but there are some things they can't guarantee. Even a powerful open source site can crash from a traffic spike or a bug that got pushed to live. The best combination to support an agency's growth is an open source CMS + website management platform, which give agencies the infrastructure to free up their developers from sysadmin work, deliver projects more quickly, and give clients insight into what's happening in production.
If you're an agency still developing on a proprietary CMS, let us know why! Or, flex your open source muscles and spin up a site for free here.
Topics: Drupal, Education, Growth & Scale, WordPress
