Bryan Ruby

I've mentioned on this blog a few times that CMSReport.com was never really meant to be a business or publication. It just happened. Six years ago, I started this journey I'm on with just my fascination for information systems and the little knowledge I had obtained on my own about content management systems. I was hungry to learn more and I started this site simply as a place to store my personal notes, bookmarks, and possibly share ideas with a few others. As many of you know, a lot has happened since the early years and I've been at crossroads for how to take CMS Report to the next level.

Acquisition Accelerates Delivery of e-Commerce and Digital Marketing Solutions to Improve Customer Experience 

CHICAGO, IL - Yesterday, EPiServer announced that it acquired the business of longstanding technology provider, Mediachase, an e-commerce and collaboration software solutions provider. The move brings together EPiServer's existing digital marketing capabilities with Mediachase's easy-to-use e-commerce framework to help meet next generation cross-channel needs for delivery to EPiServer's partner and customer network.

CoreMedia recently announced the availability of a new content management solution tailored for the media and entertainment industry. The CoreMedia Solution for Media and Entertainment provides a comprehensive CMS solution for broadcasters, publishers and media portal providers to create and deliver highly optimized and contextual experiences for their online audiences.

I like the concept of Social Umami as it likely would be what you would get if you combined Pinterest, Amazon, and Facebook all into one site.  Social Umami is a product recommendation network for the social consumer (that's you and me). People can share their favorite products with friends, purchase their latest finds, get recommendations or discover and follow other Umami users and their tips.

There is a a new show in town and that show is called CMS-Connected. CMS-Connected is a monthly news show, streamed live on the TPN Network and primarily focused on the content management industry. This show is so impressive that when Gary Eisenstein, Founder of CMS Connected, asked me if CMS Report would help sponsor the show I didn't hesitate in saying yes.

CMS-Connected showcases the top products and platforms on the content management market, latest technologies, innovations, mergers and acquisitions, and CMS related news. Last month, I joked about my 1.5 seconds of fame on the last show but in actuality the entire show is "must-see".

What I like most about CMS-Connected is that it is a chance for us to meet the people behind the products and the analysis. You'll hear plenty of commentary from leading CMS experts, analysts and participating guests. Many of these hosts and guests for this show are friends in the industry we have all gotten to know or should know. Twitter and social media is fine for discussing content management...but this show makes the conversation so much more personal.

On May 8th, 9th, and 10th, you and I have the opportunity to attend 2012 CMS Expo which is held once a year in Chicago. This event is billed as as CMS "Learning & Business" conference showcasing some of the world's leading Content Management Systems and the people who power them. Whether the CMSs featured are proprietary or open source, focused on small business or enterprise, non-profit, government or commercial applications, there’s something for everyone at CMS Expo.  

Last year, CMS Report attended the conference for the first time and we were literally blown away with the diversity of people attending the conference. Lots of people like to focus on the software and design (and that's fine), but for me content management is also about people. CMS Expo has historically been the place for CMS leaders, CMS developers, site users, and business owners to meet all under one roof. CMS Expo offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to learn about today's leading CMSs, and get to the truth about what works, from both a vendor and a user perspective. 

There are over a dozen content management systems that will be showcased at CMS Expo. The CMSs that we are aware of include; Joomla!, Drupal, DotNetNuke, Mura, MODX, TYPO3, Sitefinity, Wondercode, Hannon Hill (Cascade Server), Liferay, Pyro, Movable Type, and Cloud CMS. We're telling you this is the conference not only to learn more about your favorite CMS but also to possibly discover your next CMS that is right for your business.

If you plan to attend, do not forget to register for CMS Expo 2012. Registration grants you FULL ACCESS to all sessions, panels, keynotes and expo hall, so you won't miss a thing. Your ticket also includes breakfast & lunch each day, plus "endless" coffee (or tea), snacks and more, plus entry to all business & social networking events.

As with last year, CMS Report is a proud media sponsor for the 2012 CMS Expo Learning & Business Conference.

With a smile on his face, Scott Liewehr sent me a tweet the other day letting me know that he briefly plugged my name while co-hosting CMS-Connected. CMS-Connected is a 60-minute monthly news show, streamed live on the TPN Network with a focus on the web content management industry and includes CMS related news and commentary from leading CMS expert analysts and participating guests. It's a very good video production and well worth your viewing time if you have any interest in content management.

As we discussed a few weeks ago, the release of Joomla 2.5 on this day was expected.  Surpringly, knowing the release date seemed to make the wait longer. Without a doubt, Joomla.org will be a busy place the next few days. Joomla's marketing people tell me that Joomla! has been downloaded more than 28 million times and powers more than 1.6 million. Those are pretty significant numbers and this new version of Joomla! is expected to help continue the popularity of this open source CMS.

As I discussed in my previous articles, Joomla! for the first time includes multi-database functionality, beginning with Microsoft SQL. If you read the article, you also know that Joomla 2.5 also includes more than a dozen new features. You'll can also check out those features by going to https://www.joomla.org/core-features.html . But before you hop over to another site, you can find some additional details about Joomla 2.5 right now in this exclusive press release that we've acquired from sources secretly embedded in the Joomla! community.

Yesterday, the Argus Leader announced that they will be moving toward a subscription model for their online content. Readers no longer will be able to visit ArgusLeader.com and expect to be able to read all the content for free. I didn't visit the website too often, but I'll miss the freedom to come and go as I please without being an online subscriber.

I'm a huge fan of eGovernment and Government 2.0 initiatives. A few years ago we started seeing government sites adopting open data initiatives and adding features that allowed the public to provide more feedback to the government that served them. Changes such as these are good initiatives by governments as they continue their evolution into the digital age. Recently, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts redesigned their official website, Mass.gov, using the Percussion CM System.