No longer can websites simply be static pages that get updated infrequently. Even the simplest of small businesses are requiring instant updates to their websites, requesting the ability to blog and in need of solutions for email marketing if they want to be competitive. While I wish I could say the days of "brochure" websites are completely gone, the reality is that if you are wasting time or money on a plain vanilla website, you've lost before you've begun. That's why adoption of both open source and commercial content management systems by small business website operators has increased significantly in recent years.

With so many choices, across a variety of different platforms, what is a small business to do when it comes to picking the right website management solution? To know that, we first need to identify the pros and cons of open source versus commercial website management platforms aka, content management systems (CMS).

Open Source CMS Pros:

1) Price - Open source CMS are attractive because of their low price - free!
2) Distributed Development Community - Since many people around the world can be involved in an open source project, many cutting edge features get included in popular CMS.
3) Non Proprietary Technology - Since the software is open source, anyone can adopt the technology and migrate it to another supported platform making it transportable and freeing you from being locked into a single vendor.

Open Source CMS Cons:

1) Price - How can price be listed as a con since it's list as a pro? Even though the technology may be free, hiring someone with expertise or spending time to integrate the platform does cost money. In some cases, the cost of configuration can be as high as purchasing a commercial CMS that comes bundled with support from the vendor. In addition, learning an open source CMS can be time consuming and very difficult without the help of outside experts further adding to the costs.
2) Distributed Development Community - Again, this was listed as a pro, but with a distributed development community, priorities can differ greatly from those of the small business owners using the CMS. For example, if a specific bug is causing the business owner to not be able to do something on their website, it can take time for that fix to get released into the software.
3) Non Proprietary Technology - While non proprietary technology can mean the software can easily be migrated to other providers, it also means lack of vendor certifications or expected levels of competence from vendor partners. For example, how do you know someone is an expert in a particular CMS if there is little outside validation? Commercial CMS vendors usually have a certification program for third parties, can recommend competent partners or can provide support directly.

Commercial CMS Pros:

1) Centralized Support - With commercial CMS, the vendor is responsible for responding to bug fixes and feature requests. It's not necessary to go searching all over the place as the provider of the CMS can either support the installation directory or provide references to vendor partners that have expertise in the platform. Also, the open source community has no obligation to respond to problems in a timely manner, whereas a commercial CMS provider has their reputation on the line or contractual obligations to respond quickly.
2) Stability and Performance - Since open source developers aren't always professional developers, security holes, bugs and lack of testing can lead to faulty software that can reveal serious issues. Commercial CMS providers typically have live, production customers using the product so it must work.
3) Learning Curve - Commercial CMS providers typically have available training to lend a hand in the adoption of their technology. Open source CMS requires finding an individual that has expertise in the product or learning the product on your own.

Commercial CMS Cons:

1) Price - The initial cost of a Commercial CMS solution is not going to be free. Some systems have ongoing support and upgrade costs making the software unaffordable for small businesses.
2) Vendor Lock-In - Since a commercial CMS is built by a single vendor, it's not easy to move to another platform. In addition, the closed nature of commercial CMS means you are stuck with the features the provider has developed as its difficult or not even possible to customize the features.
3) Lacking Cutting Edge Technology - Since commercial CMS vendors must be conscious of providing stable and high performing solutions, cutting edge features may be delayed due to extensive testing or market research needed before implementation.

BannerOS - Bridging the gap between commercial and open source website management platforms

BannerOS is a commercial product built on open source technologies. We've taken many of the advantages of both commercial and open source CMS and packaged them for the small and medium sized business. The advantages include a lower cost for implementation, reliable support, training and a vendor partner ecosystem for expert options in managing installations. BannerOS was created with expansion in mind. Sophisticated businesses with in-house developers can enhance the functionality of BannerOS without having to wait for features to be added features.

As small business owners get more sophisticated in utilizing technology to advance their businesses, choosing the right platform upon which to build is critical for long term online success. A hybrid solution between a commercially supported website management platform and an open source website management platform may be the answer.