January 30 2025

The Pitfalls of Proprietary Content Management Systems

avoiding proprietary CMSWhen creating a website for your business in today’s competitive market, choosing the right content management system (CMS) is a strategic decision that can support your brand’s efficiency, scalability, long-term success and of course, improve site administration.

Proprietary CMS solutions are custom-built systems entirely developed and managed by a single company, with the provider maintaining complete control over the platform’s code, design, features, and overall functionality. Because the proprietary provider strictly controls these content management systems, clients typically have limited/no access to their website’s backend infrastructure.

With so many available CMS options across a spectrum of price points, it is easy to get drawn to proprietary, all-in-one platforms that offer attractive standard features at a seemingly low initial and ongoing cost. However, buyers beware, because there are very important implications of a proprietary CMS that many customers gloss over if they are just looking for an inexpensive, quick-to-market, or vendor-specific solution.

When selecting a CMS or DXP (Digital Experience Platform) for your website, it is important to factor in platform functionality to ensure that your website is adaptable, functional, and aligns with your business needs over time. And, selecting a platform that allows you full editing access, ownership and the ability to move your site to another agency for support is essential, but not always standard.

DIY or Pay For Everything – Your Choice

A primary expense that customers using proprietary CMS providers face is the dependence on paid support for website updates. Instead of the customer’s team being able to implement routine changes independently on the site, many desired updates to the site require billable hours from the CMS provider. This dependence can lead to obvious inefficiencies, but also increased costs and delays, which, in turn, impacts time and budget.

Moving away from a proprietary solution can give businesses the freedom to create and manage their site.  With this in mind, however, all site management and content changes are no longer dependent on the proprietary provider.  When moving away from the proprietary, it is important to select a CMS platform that that supports intuitive editing capabilities and built-in tools will allow users to make necessary changes and updates to their website with flexibility and ease.

Who Owns Your Site?

Ownership rights are among the most significant problems that businesses have with proprietary CMS solutions. Businesses that are locked into binding licensing agreements with proprietary solutions face the reality that the solution provider has complete control - code, design, and data are all under the restriction of the provider. This lack of access can be problematic, especially if the proprietary provider discontinues their services, leaving your site unsupported, forcing you to start from scratch. Not only is the content and design of the site not portable, but the overall code structure is tied to the proprietary provider, which prevents the ability to migrate your site to an alternative platform entirely.

Here for the Long Term?

Ownership rights are among the most significant issues with proprietary CMS solutions. Because they typically require long-term (e.g., 3 year) licensing agreements and maintain strict control over the code, design, and data of the sites they serve, it is nearly impossible to leave a proprietary provider without needing to rebuild (and sometimes redesign) your website from scratch.

Choosing a CMS platform that follows an open-source or licensed-based model allows for more flexibility, as they are, by design, created to be portable. Websites built on these systems can easily be packaged up and transported to different agencies, allowing you to select a partner that aligns with your business goals, while also providing you the flexibility to move your site should your needs and relationship change.

Choosing the Right Agency and CMS Platform

Many factors need to be considered when choosing a digital partner to bring your website vision to life. Selecting an agency that understands and nurtures the unique needs of your business is important for the creation and implementation of your site. Additionally, partnering with industry experts who fully understand website strategy and UX effectiveness can be significant to your brand’s success.

It is important to select an agency that is not just going to “check the box” but rather differentiate your business from others. No two businesses are the same, so having an agency that customizes its approach to your specific requirements is important. Selecting a partnership should, of course, include creative collaboration and technical expertise, to ensure that your ideas are cultivated in a functional, modern, and secure CMS platform.

When looking at potential partners, consider the CMS platforms they use and what features those platforms offer, both at the base level and beyond. For some, having an intuitive interface and standard build features is sufficient, but others desire a more robust feature set, which should be considered when selecting a CMS. For this reason, having a demo of the CMS is critical.

Instead of a proprietary CMS, consider open-source or licensed-based solutions. Both options have their pros and cons, including price points, support documentation, what features are built-in, and more. While there are vast differences between open-source and licensed-based, they both offer platform stability, portability, and greater flexibility for development modifications. Both options offer the ability to integrate with a variety of third-party add-ons, which allows businesses to tailor their site to enhance the user experience for their customers.

Not sure which CMS is Right for your Business?

When interviewing potential digital agencies and CMS providers, keep in mind that expertise and features are not the sole driving factors. Having a transparent partner who does not conceal initial or ongoing expenses or restricts your involvement in the development and maintenance of your website should be considered.

If you are not sure which CMS platform is best suited to meet your business goals, contact us to discuss your specific needs. ZAG has built hundreds of custom websites, and will always guide you to the best solution.

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posted by
Allison Raymond
Allison Raymond
Business Development Coordinator

ZAG Interactive is a full-service digital agency in Glastonbury, CT, offering website design, development, marketing and digital strategy to clients nationwide. See current job openings.
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