Why Umbraco is a perfect fit for your next digital project
As an Umbraco-specialist agency, we are often asked why this particular CMS has become so popular within Australia, especially in the last few years.
After having conversations with clients that have chosen this CMS, there seems to be a number of key reasons for this.
No Licensing Fees
Firstly, from a cost basis, Umbraco provides organisations with an enterprise grade CMS (in terms of out of the box features, such as inbuilt search function, custom form builder, comprehensive admin functions, version history and rollback, etc) but without the licence fee.
Over a website life cycle (say 4 + years) that can amount to a staggering saving. With the global economic climate being in a nervous position, organisations are (rightfully) asking “do we need to spend $100,000+ on a licence fee?”.
Umbraco gives greater bang for buck, without sacrificing any of the high-powered features digital users expect.
Open Source Software
Umbraco is also open source, meaning that the code has been built to be publicly accessible and therefore it is very much community focused.
Open source technology has become increasingly important as a technology and platform decision. Gone are the days when Open source was considered a risk. Today it is seen as being flexible and easy to integrate with as it allows organisations the freedom to choose and implement the right SaaS (licensed software) solution for their particular needs, rather than having to rely on a CMS’s ecosystem of products that may or may not suit their specific requirements.
Reliable Technology
As the Umbraco CMS is built on .Net Core, a Microsoft-based platform stack, it also gets the tick of approval from IT departments that are also looking for reassurance around security and infrastructure.
As a technology it’s also a natural fit with cloud-based hosting services, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Naturally, traditional on-premise hosting is also possible, for organisations who need finer control over their infrastructure.
Secure
As an enterprise-grade CMS, Umbraco undergoes regular security auditing and is peer reviewed by large organisations and security companies.
Umbraco HQ is quick to release patches and always provides clear instructions on how to implement these patches.
Umbraco HQ lead the way with including security best practices in their software, and provide guidance on how to ensure these best practices are followed, meaning your digital property has the utmost protection.
Flexible and Intuitive
One of the biggest questions that clients always ask when they are assessing CMS decision making is “how easy is it to use? Is it flexible? Is it going to be easily adopted?
The short answer is yes. In fact, Umbraco’s brand tagline is “the friendly CMS”.
From a content admin perspective, if you can use Google Docs or Word you will find Umbraco equally intuitive.
With increasing take up in Australia, it means that there are now more Umbraco developers than there were 5 years ago, which means that organisations can get reassurance that this is no longer a niche CMS platform, but is currently one of the fastest growing .Net platforms in the world.
Ease of Integrations
On Umbraco there are literally hundreds of packages that can be integrated into a website to enable features such as advanced marketing tools, SEO tools, and 3rd party integrations.
In addition, since Umbraco is built on Microsoft’s .NET Core, skilled developers can add their own custom integrations with relative ease.
Expertise
Working with Umbraco is not for your entry-level developer. Enterprise CMSs such as Umbraco require a certain level of expertise to build and master. This means that studios specialising in Umbraco tend to be highly skilled with more flexibility to meet your particular business’ needs and can deliver high-performing results.
Our team of Umbraco specialists undergo professional development training to become qualified Umbraco developers, an ongoing process that requires extra study, testing and qualifications.
When next assessing your CMS and technology stack, we would encourage you to take a look at Umbraco. Especially for organisations that require a more complex web build with custom requirements and/or integrations - which may be more challenging for Wordpress or similar content-driven CMSs.
Although Umbraco may not offer the same level of features as the likes of SiteCore and Adobe Experience manager, it offers many organisations that great sweet spot, cost effective and reassuringly capable.
Calico have been developing Umbraco websites and applications for over 8 years and are one of the most experienced Umbraco agencies within Australia. Calico is also a Gold Umbraco Partner, one of only four within Australia.
Andy is a seasoned digital leader with over 20 years of experience in forging successful commercial partnerships. During his 13+ years at Calico he has played a pivotal role in the company's growth, overseeing major clients and forming deep partnerships, including some that have lasted over a decade. Outside of work, Andy enjoys DJing, supporting Wolverhampton Wanderers, and spending time with his miniature schnauzer, Frankie.
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