Monday, December 1, 2008

Open Source Content Management systems

Off-late, I have been scouting in Open source community to find tools which can be useful in my organization. Yesterday, my colleague mentioned that his team is looking for an alternative to our enterprise CMS. That encouraged me to focus on CMS this time, just so as to make my efforts worthwhile. 

Here are my findings..

Open Source based
CMS are achieving popularity because of the increased maturity of these products. This is evident from the fact that the commercial CMS solutions are feature rich but a typical small or medium size enterprise needs barely 20-30% of these features.

The market trend suggest high adoption rate in Europe & USA.
APAC adoption trend shows improvement. Specific to the Industry domains, Media & Entertainment, Retail & Govt domains have very high rate of adoption. Manufacturing & BFS have moderate rate of adoption.

Here are some
notable Open source CMS
-
Alfresco
-
OpenCMS
-
Apache Lenya
-
Hippo CMS


Here is a comparative study of these tools. Source CMS Matrix

System RequirementsAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Application ServerMost J2EE Application Servers. See: http://alfresco.com/services/support/stacks/4 or morebuilt-in (none required)Tomcat, JBoss, Resin 3, Websphere 6
Approximate Cost$15,000 or $20,000/CPU/year (depending on SLA). Also per user pricing through Red Hat ExchangeFree
DatabaseMost Hibernate supported DB's. See: http://alfresco.com/services/support/stacks/AnyMySQL, PostGreSQL, Oracle, MSSQLOracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, DB2, AS400 and HSQL
LicenseGPL + FLOSS ExceptionApache-styleApache-styleGNU LGPL
Operating SystemMost common OS's. See:http://alfresco.com/services/support/stacks/AnyAnyAny
Programming LanguageJava with support for JavaScript and FreemarkerJava/XML/XSLT/Javascript/JSPJavaJava 1.4. +
Root AccessNoYesYesNo
Shell AccessNoYesYesNo
Web ServerAny (Can depend on applicatoin server)AnyAnyIIS, Apache
SecurityAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Audit TrailYesYesYesYes
CaptchaNoNoNoYes
Content ApprovalYesYesYesYes
NoNoNoNo
Granular PrivilegesYesYesYesYes
Kerberos AuthenticationYesNoNoNo
LDAP AuthenticationYesYesYesCosts Extra
YesYesNoYes
NIS AuthenticationNoNoNoNo
NTLM AuthenticationYesYesYesNo
Pluggable AuthenticationYesYesLimitedCosts Extra
Problem NotificationYesYesNoYes
SandboxYesYesYesYes
Session ManagementLimitedYesNoNo
SMB AuthenticationYesYesNoNo
SSL CompatibleYesYesYesYes
SSL LoginsLimitedYesNoYes
SSL PagesNoYesNoYes
VersioningYesYesYesYes
SupportAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Certification ProgramYesNoYesNo
Code SkeletonsYesYesNo
Commercial ManualsYesNoYesYes
Commercial SupportYesYesYesYes
Commercial TrainingYesYesYesYes
Developer CommunityYesYesYesYes
Online HelpYesYesYesYes
Pluggable APIYesYesYesYes
Professional HostingYesYesYesLimited
Professional ServicesYesYesYesYes
Public ForumYesYesNoYes
Public Mailing ListNoYesYesYes
Test FrameworkYesNoYes
Third-Party DevelopersYesYesYesYes
Users ConferenceYesYesNoYes
Ease of UseAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Drag-N-Drop ContentLimitedNoNoLimited
YesNoNoNo
Friendly URLsYesYesYesYes
Image ResizingYesNoNoYes
Macro LanguageYesNoNoNo
Mass UploadYesNoYesYes
PrototypingYesNoNoNo
Server Page LanguageYesYesYesYes
Site Setup WizardLimitedNo
Spell CheckerFree Add OnNoYesFree Add On
Style WizardNoNoNo
SubscriptionsNoNoYesCosts Extra
Template LanguageYesYesNoYes
UI LevelsYesYesYesYes
UndoYesYesYesYes
WYSIWYG EditorYesYesYesYes
Zip ArchivesYesNoLimited
PerformanceAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Advanced CachingYesYesYesYes
Database ReplicationYesNoCosts ExtraCosts Extra
Load BalancingYesYesYesCosts Extra
Page CachingLimitedYesYesYes
Static Content ExportYesYesCosts ExtraYes
ManagementAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Advertising ManagementNoNoNoNo
Asset ManagementYesYesYesYes
ClipboardYesYesNoNo
Content SchedulingYesYesYesYes
Content StagingYesYesYesLimited
Inline AdministrationNoYesYesLimited
Online AdministrationYesYesYesYes
Package DeploymentYesYesYesLimited
Sub-sites / RootsYesYesYesYes
Themes / SkinsYesNoNoNo
TrashYesYesYesYes
Web StatisticsNoYesNoNo
Web-based Style/Template ManagementYesNoNoLimited
Web-based Translation ManagementYesNoYesNo
Workflow EngineYesYesYesFree Add On
InteroperabilityAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Content Syndication (RSS)YesYesYesCosts Extra
FTP SupportYesNoNoNo
iCalNoNo
UTF-8 SupportYesYesYesYes
WAI CompliantYesNoYesLimited
WebDAV SupportYesYesYesYes
XHTML CompliantYesYesYesYes
FlexibilityAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
CGI-mode SupportNoNoNoNo
Content ReuseYesYesYesYes
Extensible User ProfilesYesNoYesYes
Interface LocalizationYesYesYesYes
YesYesYesYes
Multi-lingual ContentYesYesYesYes
Multi-lingual Content IntegrationYesNoYesYes
Multi-Site DeploymentYesYesYesYes
URL RewritingYesYesYesYes
Built-in ApplicationsAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
BlogNoYesCosts ExtraNo
ChatNoNoNoNo
ClassifiedsNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Contact ManagementNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Data EntryNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Database ReportsNoNoNoCosts Extra
Discussion / ForumYesNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
Document ManagementYesNoCosts ExtraNo
Events CalendarYesNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
Events ManagementNoCosts ExtraNo
Expense ReportsNoNoNoNo
FAQ ManagementYesNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
File DistributionYesNoCosts ExtraNo
Graphs and ChartsNoNoCosts ExtraNo
GroupwareYesNoNoNo
Guest BookNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Help Desk / Bug ReportingNoNoNoNo
HTTP ProxyNoYesYesNo
In/Out BoardNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Job PostingsNoNoCosts ExtraCosts Extra
YesNoYesYes
Mail FormNoNoCosts ExtraYes
MatrixNoCosts ExtraNo
My Page / DashboardYesNoCosts ExtraNo
NoNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
YesNoCosts ExtraYes
PollsNoNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
Product ManagementNoNoCosts ExtraCosts Extra
Project TrackingNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Search EngineYesYesYesYes
Site MapLimitedNoYesYes
Stock QuotesNoCosts ExtraNo
SurveysNoNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
Syndicated Content (RSS)NoYesYesFree Add On
Tests / QuizzesNoNoCosts ExtraNo
Time TrackingNoNoCosts ExtraNo
User ContributionsLimitedNoYesLimited
WeatherNoNoNo
Web Services Front EndYesNoCosts ExtraNo
WikiFree Add OnNoNoNo
CommerceAlfrescoApache LenyaHippo CMSOpenCms
Affiliate TrackingNoNoNoNo
Inventory ManagementNoNoNoNo
Pluggable PaymentsFree Add OnNoNoNo
Pluggable ShippingFree Add OnNoNoNo
Pluggable TaxFree Add OnNoNoNo
Point of SaleFree Add OnNoNoNo
Shopping CartFree Add OnNoCosts ExtraFree Add On
SubscriptionsNoNoNoNo
Wish ListsNoNoNoNo