The eZ Publish Open Source Enterprise Content Management System combines the best of Open Source and proprietary solutions, says Sebastiaan van der Vliet of Contactivity, eZ partner in the Netherlands. He compares the advantages and disadvantages of proprietary and Open Source systems and explains why eZ Publish is the right choice.

Until relatively recently, mid- to large-scale enterprise in need of a content management system (CMS) solution, would usually license a CMS from one of the market-leading vendors, such as Microsoft, Vignette, or Interwoven. These firms do provide comprehensive, customizable solutions that are regularly and easily updated. They can also offer training in the use of the software, and give reliable, professional support, along with extended international partner networks. But their licensing and development costs often make their CMS software expensive to implement - sometimes running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the project.

Moreover, these systems tend to be modular, and, having purchased one module, companies find themselves having to buy another and another and another. Implementation is glacially slow due to a shortage of certified developers and database license costs can be frightening. But, so long as the customers have enough cash to throw at a problem, they can rest assured that their needs will be met.

In the last couple of years, there has been an explosion in the number of Open Source CMSs: Mambo/ Joomla!, Drupal, Plone, and so on. Many companies have started to view these Open Source solutions as attractive alternatives to the high-end proprietary products. This is not merely due to cost considerations, but also for the freedom that Open Source offers in terms of open standards and the consequent simple integration with other applications.

For smaller companies, this is usually sufficient. The difference in cost more than makes up for the perceived disadvantages: lack of professional support, the unstable communities of developers, poor customizability, lack of release co-ordination and erratic upgrades. But larger companies, even those convinced of the advantages of Open Source software and the freedom that comes with open standards, often require something a little more ‘enterprisey’ as well. They want a robust, high-quality product with matching levels of service and support. Such customers want responsibility from their supplier and they want reliable assistance and support for their projects. The table below outlines some of the perceived advantages and disadvantages of proprietary and Open Source systems

What companies really need is the best of both worlds: Open Source and enterprise-quality CMS. In the last few years a small number of firms have come to the rescue, launching themselves in the enterprise Open Source (ECM) content management space in the last few years. According to a report from German vendor-neutral CMS consultancy JDK, the pretender to the Open Source ECM throne is eZ Publish, a system developed by Norwegian firm eZ Systems. eZ Publish combines the freedom of an advanced Open Source CMS solution with a business model that focuses on product responsibility, providing enterprises with a full set of services and guarantees. It comes with a full set of services and guarantees, including the license model, the eZ Publish software, development process, support and even training and certification programs.

In the book “Succeeding with Open Source” (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2004), Bernard Golden puts forward a list with selection criteria for Open Source software. These include product functionality and quality, support, documentation, training and product integration. How does eZ Publish compare in terms of these criteria and which guarantees and services does it provide at the various stages of the project lifecycle?

eZ Publish employs a dual license model. The GNU GPL license that accompanies the free download allows users to customize, modify and distribute all parts of eZ Publish. However, in order to accommodate the needs of commercial enterprises, an eZ Proprietary Use License is also available. With this, custom modifications and enhancements can be protected with the right to license, sell and re-brand the software.

eZ Publish offers ‘out-of-the-box’ functionality for web publishing, e-commerce, forums, intranets and document management systems. It allows companies with limited resources and time constraints to ‘jump start’ their Internet project, but also remains flexible enough to further develop customized web solutions. eZ Publish comes in two versions: eZ Publish Now provides out-of-the-box functionality useful in most scenarios. The product price includes installation, configuration and updates. eZ Publish Premium, meanwhile, offers the kind of custom functionality required for more complex and specialized projects. A range of community-created extensions is available for download too, providing even more functionality.

If a company prefers to outsource the development, a network of almost 200 eZ Publish partners around the world supply expert consulting services. This partner network delivers the responsiveness of the top-tier CMS providers, while avoiding dependency on the goodwill of an Open Source community. By providing partners with service and support guarantees, eZ Systems ensures partners can meet the enterprise support requirements. A certification program also ensures that developers have the necessary skills to work with eZ Publish at advanced levels, if needed.

The eZ Publish software provides all the functional features required for enterprise web applications: flexibility, extendibility, scalability, multilingual support, open standards and reliability. The system is also sufficiently 'future-proof' to allow the integration of new technologies and functionality without it having to be rebuilt from scratch.

As long as eZ Publish is configured correctly, upgrades are easy to install. The development of eZ Publish software is performed in development cycles of five months, according to a predefined development road-map. This ensures that IT developers and enterprises can plan their own projects effectively and provide feedback along the way.

Once the web application is up and running, eZ Systems provides the reliable, professional support that is not available from any other comparable Open Source content management solutions. The company offers the ‘ eZ Publish Network’, a yearly maintenance service with a range of 24/7 support levels. This automatic maintenance service eliminates many potential problems before they occur and quickly addresses critical issues when they arise. With a staff complement of 70 developers across several countries, eZ systems ensures a level of stability and support that is rarely achieved by other providers of Open Source content management systems.

The simple, intuitive user interface of eZ Publish minimizes the barriers of use by those with little technical experience, and returns the control over content back to those who provide it and who know it best. However, eZ Publish does also offers training sessions and a range of workshops for end-users, administrators and developers. Documentation is available online (maintained by the community), and through eZ Press, the publications division of eZ Systems. More specific questions can be posted to the well maintained, community driven forums.

Essentially, eZ Publish users are free to either help themselves or depend entirely on a responsible supplier – eZ systems and its partners. Such reliability is possible, the company says, because it is a commercial company, ‘ready to deliver when being paid’. eZ Publish combines the best of Open Source and proprietary provision: freedom and reliability.

Leiden, 13/08/2007