We’ve been at this for 27 years and, consequently, have seen many different content management systems – both open source and proprietary. While the CMS you choose is certainly an important part of the equation, the success of your website ultimately depends on the marketing strategy, creative design, content quality, technology strength and digital marketing efforts. The marketing is what drives students to visit your website, engages them, and then convinces them to request information, sign up for campus tours, and submit applications. The role of the CMS is to simplify and govern the management of your ever-changing content, while the rest of the technology mechanizes your complex marketing objectives.
Roughly 80% of the effort behind every Higher Ed redesign project occurs independent of the CMS. The Strategy Phase, Design Phase, front-end of the Development Phase (HTML development, content development, testing) and the launch are virtually CMS-agnostic. The installation of the HTML into CMS templates is just about the only work directly dependent on the CMS. But obviously, it’s best to have the CMS in mind during the project, especially during the Design Phase. So, while Beacon brings tremendous value and dependability to any website project, regardless of the CMS, we would be remiss without our CMS recommendations. It is what keeps your information architecture manageable after launch and supports ongoing change.
We believe there are two very clear CMS choices for Higher Education, based on our experience and research: Cascade CMS and WordPress. In our expert opinion, these are the best proprietary and open-source solutions, respectively, and why these are the only two CMS options available with our LuxEd solution.
Background
Beacon was founded by former technology engineers from AT&T in the late 90’s, when the internet was exploding. Technology drove decision-making back then, and therefore, proprietary software was preferred for many reasons – mainly because open-source content management systems hadn’t really emerged yet – at least viable ones. Proprietary software was deemed less risky, easier to manage as upgrades were carefully released and the software vendors had a vested interest in delivering high quality to maintain revenue. To some degree, this philosophy has continued, but open source has matured and steadily increased in usage.
Beacon & Cascade CMS
Hannon Hill created Cascade CMS in 2001, which was originally called PublishXML. Beacon was looking for a dependable CMS to add to its offering for Higher Ed, as it began working with KPMG Consulting and Accenture on several Higher Education projects. After evaluating CMS software for about 3 years, Beacon selected Hannon Hill’s Cascade CMS as it was beyond the initial market entry period and stabilizing. Beacon has subsequently built a long-standing, collaborative relationship with Hannon Hill ever since. The controlled, secure, multi-tiered architecture, coupled with robust features, managed & planned upgrades, ability to publish anywhere (“push” technology), and an easy-to-use content editor with permission-based workflow, were key factors in this decision – which has stood the test of time.
Beacon & Early WordPress
WordPress hit the market in 2003 and like any new product, there were issues to work through as it evolved. Beacon intentionally stayed away from it to limit risk to its clients and especially since demand was strong for other Beacon services and expertise. Our concerns with WordPress centered around security risks, quality, and support, given its inherent “open” foundation, especially with its “pull” delivery technology, where web pages are rendered dynamically. In addition, Beacon’s strict change management standards require multiple environments for development, testing and production – again, to protect quality. A more complex process is required for WordPress change management, whereas Cascade can more easily publish to multiple environments (“push” delivery, decoupled from the CMS). Of course, over the years, WordPress has resolved many concerns and is now a commonly used CMS within colleges and universities.
Beacon Introduces WordPress Option
Given the increased demand for WordPress and maturation of the software, Beacon invested the last 2-3 years defining and developing a dependable infrastructure (hosting, processes, development environments) to satisfy our internal requirements regarding security, reliability, performance, and management. The goal was to architect a unique, high-end WordPress option for our Higher Ed customers, without the high subscription costs. Our developers, engineers (software, database, systems) and Project Management Office have worked closely to achieve this.
Beacon is excited to now offer WordPress as a CMS option within our comprehensive LuxEd solution – bringing two very strong CMS options to our Higher Ed clients. It is important to note that we remain an advocate for Hannon Hill’s proprietary Cascade CMS if it fits the needs of your institution, technical capabilities, and budget. However, we have worked very deliberately to “wrap” WordPress into our offering, while sticking to Beacon’s high quality and performance standards.
