Behind installation curtains, by Pdm
OpensourceCMS.com has been around since August 2002. Founder Scott
Goodwin was an entrepreneur and M.B.A graduate before he started
playing with content management systems.
What is your story Scott?
In 2002 I stumbled upon open source CMS's quite by accident. I had
no idea these systems were available for free. I found that many of the
official CMS sites didn't have demos of their creations. Thus, you had
to install each one to see if you liked it or not. This was extremely
time consuming and frustrating
I thought there should be a site that allows people to "test
drive" many of the best systems vailable. Since there was no site like
that, I started opensourceCMS.com. I had no grand business model. I
just thought a site like this would be useful.
After a couple of months, and many emails from people needing help,
I realized there was a business model in there, and that it was
basically untapped. I then caters specifically to hosting and
supporting the systems presented at the site.
OpenSourceHost now provides services to well over 1000 clients in over two dozen countries.
What functionality does the site offer, what kind of users do you have?
The primary objective of opensourceCMS.com was to provide a
playground where people could become the administrator of a CMS to see
how it functions from that perspective, without having to install it
themselves. First and foremost that is what the site does. Our users
run the gamut from corporate IT executives, to gamers looking for a
CMS.
What are the technical specifications of your site?
Three years ago, when the site began, it ran on a 1 ghz celeron
processor with 512 megs of RAM. Over the years we've had to upgrade
several to keep up with traffic. Today, opensourceCMS.com runs on a
dual 3.0 ghz Xeon with 2 gigs of RAM and dual SATA drives. This, for
the most part, is powerful enough for now. I do see in the future where
we'll have to split the web server from the mysql server though. It's
just a matter of time.
Is there a 'business model?'
In the beginning there was no business model. I first created
opensourceCMS.com because I thought it was a good idea. I had no
intentions beyond that initially. In fact, I had a "real" job at the
time. As it turned out, there was a need for a hosting company that
focused primarily on open source CMS's and their special requirements.
I then began OpenSourceHost. As time progressed, I began Open Source @
Work, OpenSourceFund, and OpenSourceServers.
The legal entity encompassing these sites is The Open Source Collective.
So I suppose there is a business model, but I accidentally
stumbled upon it. I'm not sure what that says about my having an M.B.A.
What is your relationship with the cm community
We deal exclusively with php/mysql open source systems. I know less
than nothing about commercial offerings, or systems not based on
php/mysql. We have good relations with the php/mysql open source CMS
projects. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet can be found in
their communities.
Many users would like to move to os cm, but dont know where to
start. do you see a level of service being introduced within the OS
community?
I won't pretend to know anything about CMS's that aren't php/mysql.
Many corporations use the Zope engine, which I understand is very good,
however it is not php.There are a few standouts in the php/mysql arena
that could be good for corporations.
Typo3 and eZpublish come to mind as commercial quality php/mysql
systems. To a lesser degree you have Drupal and Mambo/Joomla. These
systems are light years easier to use, but aren't as sophisticated as
Typo3 or eZpublish. For your typical user who wants a website, but
doesn't want to deal with html, there are many options to choose from.
Most of the better offerings can be found at opensourceCMS.com.
Typo3 and eZpublish have commercial service providers surrounding
their systems. You can also find legitimate service providers for other
systems as well, you just have to look through their communities.
Does the site provide a 'tendering' mechanism?
We started Open Source @ Work a service we provide for free to
bring together open source consultants and those that need their
services.
How do you plan/hope your site will develop?
As a whole, The Open Source Collective has done better than I ever
thought it would. The test site specifically, has simply grown
organically. Search for any combination of
open source and CMS, and you'll find us at, or very near the top
of the page. If any one is searching for open source CMS's, they will
eventually make it to OpensourceCMS.com.
Last month we had 150,000 unique visitors and it continues to grow every month.
Any wishes for our industry?
To be honest, I don't know much about the "industry". My only claim
is I know a little about php/mysql open source CMS's. I think there is
a need for a consulting firm to emerge that is skilled regarding the
top 3-5 php/mysql open source CMS's. I think a company that tightly
focused would do well. Of course not Fortune 1000 well, but well enough
to be worthwhile.
www.opensourcecms.com
www.opensourceatwork.com
