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Buyer's Guide to Web Projects

Technology and vendor neutral advisor for web projects

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CMS selection

There is a large selection of content management systems on the market, and different products are suited for different sites.

The most popular Headless CMS products in Finland and in the Nordic countries

10.1.2023

The online presence of an organization usually includes many channels. Practically everyone has a website and almost everyone uses some social media platform, too. Slightly larger players have several online services for different needs: website, online store, campaign pages, etc. For example services from partners, mobile apps, and various means of digital marketing can be used to add to the digital presence.

Today, there is also discussion around composable entities. There is composable commerce, composable DXP, Digital Experience Platform, and composable architecture.

Continue reading “The most popular Headless CMS products in Finland and in the Nordic countries”

Data review: Web technologies in Finland in 2022

6.5.2022

In previous years, North Patrol has analyzed e-commerce systems, web content management systems, intranets, and many other categories. This year, we decided to do a broader review that broadly looks at organizations’ online services, taking into account e-commerce platforms, web content management systems, and customized solutions. As many as 2,500 sites of different organizations were selected for the review, so this is certainly the largest technology analysis done in Finland in this area. Large and medium-sized businesses form the largest group, but public administration, municipalities and nonprofit organizations are also involved in decent numbers. 

Continue reading “Data review: Web technologies in Finland in 2022”

Case: Kemira.com renewal on a fast schedule

31.5.2021

How long does it typically take to run a renewal project of a website for a listed company operating on six continents with sales in more than 100 countries? I would estimate 6-12 months, depending on the situation. Kemira made the impossible possible by revamping its Kemira.com website in just 12 weeks. The kick-off event of the implementation project was held in early January and the new website was published right on schedule on 31.3.2021.

Continue reading “Case: Kemira.com renewal on a fast schedule”

Utilizing Contentful as a content management system

7.12.2020

Web content management systems typically have the capabilities to manage both the content of online services and the presentation layer – the website. As customized solutions have become more popular, content management solutions that operate completely separate from the presentation layer have emerged as an alternative to more traditional publishing systems. The terms headless CMS, API-first CMS, and API-Driven CMS are used for these solutions.

Continue reading “Utilizing Contentful as a content management system”

Many end up choosing two web content management systems

23.11.2020

The specialization of web content management systems for specific use is reflected as a phenomenon in the customers´ technology choices. Today, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to solve all online publishing challenges with one platform. Therefore, when there is a decision to be made, more and more end up choosing two different systems.

Continue reading “Many end up choosing two web content management systems”

CMS and ecommerce platforms in Finland

10.11.2020

The Finnish market situation on content management systems and ecommerce platforms is very interesting and various platform solutions are utilized in a surprisingly versatile way. We explored the options used in more detail and updated our directory of the most popular systems and platforms used in Finland. The directory is divided into three categories:

  1. Market leaders
  2. Strong challengers
  3. Other solutions

To support our evaluation, we conducted several data reviews, in which we investigated the implementation technologies of the websites using various tools.
Continue reading “CMS and ecommerce platforms in Finland”

Will Episerver retain its leading market position?

7.4.2020

Episerver is the most popular commercially licensed CMS in the Nordics. Our common knowledge of the market situation got verification when we scanned what content management systems companies really use. In addition to Nordic review, we paid special attention to Finnish market by examining what content management systems the biggest Finnish companies (by turnover) use. It is noteworthy, that Episerver’s relative market share grows as only the top 100 companies are observed.
Continue reading “Will Episerver retain its leading market position?”

CMS market shares within the biggest companies in finance sector of Nordic countries

2019-12-02

Which content management systems are the biggest finance sector companies using in Nordic countries? We dug deeper in our database to find this out. It appeared, that Episerver remains as the most popular platform. Not surprisingly tailor-made solutions are on the second place. The bronze medal goes side-by-side to Sitecore and WordPress. Continue reading “CMS market shares within the biggest companies in finance sector of Nordic countries”

Content management system market shares in biggest Nordic companies

2019-10-07

The Nordic championship in the heavyweight company series is a game of two. Episerver wins by 19 percent market share. The second place belongs to WordPress with about 17 percent. Drupal, taking the third place, must settle for 7 percent share. Just behind the last medal position follows tightly Sitecore just 0.1 percent behind Drupal, Umbraco with 5 percent share and tailor-made solutions with almost 5 percent share. Continue reading “Content management system market shares in biggest Nordic companies”

Most popular web technology platforms in Finland 2019

When you look at the web technology platforms different companies use, the most popular open source products are still going strong. If we compare purely the number of installations, WordPress and Drupal are leaders of the pack. Free license attracts buyers, but the products are also very suitable for typical website implementation scenarios. Continue reading “Most popular web technology platforms in Finland 2019”

CASE: Tax.fi user-friendliness fine-tuned through testing

10.10.2017

The content management system for the Finnish Tax Administration web service, Vero.fi, has been renewed. User experience, search functions, and maintainability were significantly improved in the process. Continue reading “CASE: Tax.fi user-friendliness fine-tuned through testing”

Expert advice: Native mobile apps, bots or web apps?

Nov 14, 2016

Deciding your digital touch points is not always a straightforward task. Especially right now when the mobile world is developing at a fast pace. Many organizations have already invested big chunks of money in mobile apps, but many are still wondering about whether they should invest in high-quality web apps or new channels instead, such as Facebook Messenger bots. Continue reading “Expert advice: Native mobile apps, bots or web apps?”

What are the advantages of commercially licensed web content management platforms over open-source products?

May 23, 2016

Platforms based on open-source code are conquering the world of online services. WordPress, in particular, has spread with vigor. The platform is constantly developing, and there is no shortage of implementation partners. With the number of installations as the criterion, WordPress is probably the world’s most popular content management system. Continue reading “What are the advantages of commercially licensed web content management platforms over open-source products?”

Philosophical differences: Sitecore vs. EPiServer

Oct 6, 2015

Sitecore and EPiServer are two of the major players in the CMS market. Especially those customers that prefer Microsoft technologies tend to evaluate both of these platforms. Sitecore has already proven itself as a very global player, while EPiServer is catching up especially after acquiring Ektron this year. Continue reading “Philosophical differences: Sitecore vs. EPiServer”

My favorite startups in web content management

Sept 21, 2015

There aren’t many startups around that are focusing on web content management—at least not with unique approaches. Most of the startups are just “yet another CMS”, like Craft CMS. They can be useful, they can even be good business. But most of them are not really unique, and therefore are not interesting in a wider perspective. From my point of view, for a startup to be interesting requires that they are working on something that hasn’t been done before. Continue reading “My favorite startups in web content management”

Low-cost website builders have become surprisingly good

Jun 2, 2015

A client wanted me to evaluate Weebly, a self-service website builder. She planned on using Weebly for a separate branch of their organization.

I confess, I was very skeptical. After all, this was a big company that usually spends hundreds of thousands of euros on their web renewal projects.
Continue reading “Low-cost website builders have become surprisingly good”

To personalize or not to personalize?

May 18, 2015

The whole world is talking about how the power in digital channels has switched over from organizations to consumers. It’s The Age of the Customer as they call it. Humble and patient “Hopefully they’ll provide me what I need if I only search long enough” attitude has been turned upside-down. Now consumers are demanding “Give me everything I want! Right now!” and “only for me and exactly to my specific need”. People want better digital experiences and more relevancy. Suddenly everybody’s time is money.
Continue reading “To personalize or not to personalize?”

Good usability in CMS? A myth?

Feb 3, 2015

No, not a myth. Although for many people CMS usability doesn’t exist. The reason, though, is not that CMS vendors aren’t trying. They are working hard.

But the whole concept of CMS user experience is in its early stages.

First of all, the CMS world is divided into two camps. One side is making rich WYSIWYG interfaces while the other is working on structured content management. Yes, many are saying that they do both, but in reality most of them do structured content management. They have just invested a lot to a “decoration layer” on top of a structured content model.

The big paradox is that both camps are right.
Continue reading “Good usability in CMS? A myth?”

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