[australia] Why home grown CMS?

[HALL Bill]

Another reason to go commercial that has not been mentioned is that the
commercial systems should implement learnings (hopefully tending towards
best practices) from prior customers so that you are not faced with the
trial and error reinvention of everything from scratch. The better
systems should also implement workflow management tools to ensure that
what you publish is appropriately reviewed and signed off.

DIY may be more fun for some people, but I don't necessarily think it is
cheaper or more reliable when all the costs and risks are considered.

The fact that so many organisations are happy with DIY is probably a
reflection of the low priority they give their web site as a corporate
information portal to the world.

I'm a subscriber to Garry McGovern's email newsletter, where these
issues are continually highlighted in an absolutely clear way. If you
don't know about these, I strongly suggest you have a look -
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/

Regards,

William P. (Bill) Hall, PhD
Documentation & KM Systems Analyst
Head Office/Engineering
Tenix Defence
Nelson House Annex, Nelson Place
Williamstown, Vic. 3016 Australia
Tel: +61 3 9244 4820 (M-W)
Email: bill.hall at tenix.com
URL: http://www.tenix.com

National Fellow
Australian Centre for Science, Innovation and Society
History and Philosophy of Science
University of Melbourne
Phone: +61 3 8344 1522 (Thu-Fri)
Email: bhall-u at dis.unimelb.edu.au
URL: http://www.acsis.unimelb.edu.au/

Visiting Faculty Associate
University of Technology Sydney

-----Original Message-----
From: australia-bounces at lists.cmprofessionals.org
[mailto:australia-bounces at lists.cmprofessionals.org] On Behalf Of
Melanie Kendell
Sent: Tuesday, 10 October 2006 4:33 PM
To: Chris Blown
Cc: australia at lists.cmprofessionals.org
Subject: Re: [australia] Why home grown CMS?

On 10/10/06, Chris Blown <griffon at hinterlands.com.au> wrote:
> I have often noticed that programmers - if given a choice -  would
> prefer to code their own systems rather than learn an existing system
> well enough to extend and support it like their own code.

I have also come across the perception from some programmers that
building something in-house is somehow "free" because, after all, they
would be paid for being there anyway.

I think it also depends if the CMS implementation was something that
was seen as a project in its own right or something that evolved over
time as a side task. Back-door building of systems is easier than
back-door implementation of outside built systems (especially if you
go commercial and have to get a purchase order authorised).

My main concern with homegrown systems is that while its fun to build,
the programmer that is happy to maintain is rare, and one that will
document to a level where the system can be maintained once they have
become bored or moved on is rarer still.

-Melanie
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