Irina Guseva: Random Thoughts on CMS, WCM, ECM and Other Acronyms

Aww, this is by far my most favorite piece of writing and, not to mention, my *glorious* entrance into the world of CMSWire.com.

I heart Tridion CMS. I think it’s magical (when implemented properly). I love Tridion people and the product. However, no one said everything was perfect. It’s not a *friendly* stab in the back, no (and, no pun intended). As someone who you’ve used as a customer reference on so many occasions, I am not the enemy.

It was just an attempt to put several years of working with Tridion into a journalistic perspective that is honest, direct (just like Dutch people are — at least that’s what I’ve heard Tridion folks say) and, hopefully, packed with useful information (beyond marketing fluff) to help those poor souls, who are in the process of selecting a CMS Vendor. Been there myself a number of times, and I know that any help is welcome.

All that aside, it was just sooooo much fun )

What is Tridion? Or is it Trillian, Trideon or Tridian? What can we say, it’s tough being a Euro web content management vendor in the U.S. market.

After conquering most of Europe, SDLTridion started its Web CMS quest in the U.S. in 2006 with their flagship CMS product — Tridion R5 — an offering that has received accolades from such critics as Gartner. R5 comes with a myriad of standard Web CMS features, like inline editing using SiteEdit and some unique functionality such as the Translation Manager.

Here’s a summary table of the review:

While it may seem like this review brings up many of the SDL Tridion R5’s weaknesses, the goal here is to provide information otherwise unavailable to potential customers. All the praises and accolades can be found on SDL Tridion’s web site, where the agenda is understandably different from mine.

In the development world, if we were to hold a contest on the most annoying Tridion error message, we probably wouldn’t be able to decide between the wonderful in their randomness “null is null and not an object” and “object doesn’t support this property or method” messages. Some developers working with R5 are often disappointed with the (un)available developer tools.

R5.3 — the latest product release — shines with its Modular Templating, Visual Studio integrations and beefed-up workflow.

Another thing to keep in mind is that for developers learning the product it will be a steep learning curve and very little support. SDL Tridion’s Achilles’ heel in the U.S. is clearly the fact that knowledgeable Tridion experts in the U.S. are rare and hard to find. Having said that, be prepared for a possibly long and stormy implementation route.

To SDL Tridion’s credit, the company’s Customer Support and Professional Services divisions in the U.S. are constantly expanding. But, realistically, it takes about 2 years to ramp up a new consultant to the point where he/she is billable and useful to customers.

Aside from the fact that a web-browser based and very PC-centric CMS that is only compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+ and 7.0+ (and even then, it requires substantial configuration), Tridion R5 is a great Web CMS product, especially when it’s compatible with your IT infrastructure and business goals. No, R5 doesn’t work on Mac’s — don’t even try. Firefox is out of the question as well. It’s IE and IE only, and don’t forget about Trusted Sites

Overall, SDL Tridion R5 is a well-rounded Web CMS. This is especially true, if you have time to devote to a proper deployment and good acquisition and implementation budgets in addition to a team of dedicated IT folks who are quick learners. It can be pure magic, when implemented properly.

Full article on CMSWire: Quick Take Review: SDL Tridion R5 Web Content Management System