I made the decision when starting Rockfish that we would develop our own Content Management Software for a few reasons:

1) We are a technology driven digital agency. Our programmers outnumber our creative’s 3 to 1. We love getting our hands dirty with the code.

2) We wanted complete control and flexibility. We have never had to say “the software can’t do it.” Our CMS has been deployed numerous times for both small and large companies, and each time it’s custom tailored to their exact needs. You would be surprised how scalable and robust our CMS is. You may also be surprised by some of the custom functionality we have developed for a client that you wouldn’t find in even a full-scale CMS.

3) We want form and function to compliment each other. Our sites are hopefully as easy to manage as they are to browse. I think it is every bit as important that a digital agency architect the back-end experience for their client as it is the front-end for the sites audience.

I do know that there are a lot of great CMS products on the market. We have worked with some on projects where the client already had a relationship or preference. However, at Rockfish we have found that owning our own technologies has been a competitive advantage for us and has allowed our team to support our clients needs, regardless of how unique they may be. By the way, most of the craziest requirements we have created didn’t come from the IT department or our users, but from their legal department.

Thanks again for the great posting and insight.