Web development, B2B and B2C solutions, e-commerce and mobile-commerce websites, web application development, mobile app development, social media integration, private facing corporate intranet sites, internationalization and technology consulting. It’s (still) the wild west out there, but we’ve got a posy to round it up.
Opinions matter. Here’s ours: Genuinely we believe that the best in class Content Management Systems (CMS) are the Open Source tools like WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. They are state-of-the-art and are as good as anything out there plus you have the best long-term flexibility when you go with a robust Open Source tool that has a very vibrant community.
When you go with a proprietary vendor or a Software as a Service (SAAS) solution or when you go with a custom platform you are not setting yourself up for success. By the way, a custom platform is a worst practice; never ever build a website in 2013 or later, on a custom CMS developed and maintained by a vendor, even if they claim it is “open source”. You do not want to inherit unmaintainable custom code from your developer. Custom platform development is analogous to, “Please put me in a hostage situation and charge me whatever you want. I have deep pockets and I like it that way.”
We encourage you to know your technology decision is a marriage, and you need to plan for breakup, divorce, or other relationship evolutions. Leveraging a widely used, Open Source solutions set you up for a “non-issue” when it’s time to move on from the relationship with your current service provider. We don’t “lock you into” any long term agreement because we are confident you’ll love what we do for you.
Forget about discussion boards and creating your own social network. That’s what Facebook, Linkedin and Google Plus 1 is for. You can’t compete and don’t want to. It’ll cost too much and ask yourself, do you or your followers really want to set up yet another social profile? No. Embrace your user’s preferred communication methods, and use them rather than imposing your preferred methods upon them.
Finally, avoid any technology with a lock-in contract. When I hear of developers requiring their customers sign multi-year contracts this is a “red flag.” Any vendor that wants to lock you into a contract, does not have your best interests in mind, and does not have the confidence in themselves to know you will maintain a relationship of your own “free will.”