Thread

I have read a couple of RFP’s for re-designs lately that specifically say they’re using Joomla and would like to continue to do so, unless the “vendor” can recommend other robust open-source solutions.

I just figured this would be the best place to help form a nicely crafted recommendation of EE vs a “robust open source solution”.

Ideas? Please note, I know the benefits of EE, it’s current/future clients who need to hear it.

Hi, Meredith - I think you should focus on selling EE itself, including the benefits of a fully supported (tech support, that is) product which is included with the license.

I’m sure others will pop in here, but open source vs. commercial is a heated topic and usually I find it best to focus on the product features and strengths themselves.

Joomla, Drupal, etc all have their place. I would not target them specifically on Open Surce verses Paid for - i would compare them as CMS’s regardless of the fee and then choose the one that best suits the client.

If one of the clients factors is a free CMS then this influences the decision.
However, i have found (joomla especially) that templating in open source drives me nuts - whereas in EE i can work the way i want to. This results in a quicker development process and therefore less time, less cost.

In “my past experience” i have also found the OpenSource CMS are more prone to attack and problems. This is probably because any kiddie can get their hands on it easily, and find a hole to abuse. Paid for seems to filter out a lot of this and to me makes it worth its weight in gold.

But in short - choose the right CMS for the Job. And note that your experience will influence this as you will be more experienced and therefore quicker in one system as opposed to another.

Those were my thoughts too - what an open-source cms lacks in cost, makes up for in development time. Thanks for your input.

but… playing devils advocate…
If you are more experienced in J, WP, DR, etc - then these will also be quicker developed.

That is a good point also. I guess, above all - I don’t want the client choose my company as the vendor solely based on whether or not we’d be using Joomla or not. I want them choose my company because they want my company, period.

Also - maybe someone from EE can answer this - how secure is EE compared to open-source CMS’s? Surely there must be some statistics on hack-ability or something?

In situations like this if the client is being difficult it as about 2 things - cost or flexibility.

Costs - if they are pushing the CMS choice purely because of cost - then i am happy to walk away from such clients (a nightmare tends to follow).

Flexibility - If they are making choices based on a product they like, their employees are used to (more efficient on), believe they can jump developers more easily, and they are making an educated decision - then heed their advice/opinion.

Long and short of this is - if you are not the right person for the job as the CMS does not suit you, or you are not efficient on that CMS - then advise the client on this honestly. I would rather let a client go based on good trustworthy advice at the beginning, than lose a client halfway, or at the end based on not being right for the job.

This approach tends to get their trust and in many cases where i have let them go early on - i find them returning after they were burnt elsewhere. This is especially the case based on price fixated clients - who get burnt on stupidly low quotes.

EE will tell you that the system is built from the ground up with security in mind. And i certainly cannot argue this.

For me every Joomla site i have (have taken over, setup) is updated within Days of a new release. Yet i nearly have a 1:1 ratio for Joomla sites and sites getting kiddie hacked or having troubles. Typically though this is not the core joomla at fault but client installed plugins - thats the problem with CMS’s - giving clients too much control!
WP has been pretty stable, probably only 1 in 10 have i seen problem on - and usually because of outdated software when the client arrives to me.

Since i have been using EE i have not heard of a serious hack. I have heard of holes identified by devlopers that EL fix quickly. The only serious conversation about it i heard actually turned out to be a host issues (directory traversing it think it was).

Others can advise more - these are just my experiences. (Oh and don’t look at the Joomla security forums - you’ll get seriously scared!).

Also - maybe someone from EE can answer this - how secure is EE compared to open-source CMS’s? Surely there must be some statistics on hack-ability or something?

I’ve often shown clients the advisories at http://secunia.com/advisories/ to demonstrate issues with various systems.