OStatic

There have been an ever increasing number of public organizations and private non-profits -- including medical institutions and educational facilities -- making the move to open source or hybrid open-proprietary software solutions.

Of course there are a number of compelling reasons for this trend beyond the frequently cited savings or escape from vendor lock-in. One of the reasons that the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine chose Bluenog to provide its content management system, web portal and business intelligence software was the flexibility that open source software offered in integrating with its legacy systems and infrastructure.

There are a number of full featured open source content management systems out there. Content management systems (CMS) are used increasingly in lieu of more traditionally managed web pages, on various sites with diverse audiences and very different goals. They can be updated quickly, easily, and require very little (if any) knowledge of how the inner plumbing works.

There are, of course, proprietary CMS platforms. Many -- from individuals to businesses -- opt for open source alternatives. Cost is naturally a factor, but having used both closed and open CMS platforms, it's been my experience that the open alternatives offer better features, an increased ability to modify and customize easily, and behave with more consistency in different browsers than most of their closed counterparts.

Finding the right open CMS for your needs is the hardest part. But there are a few considerations and rules of thumb that can make this decision a little easier.