Being the largest Content Management System (CMS) on the internet, WordPress powers roughly 37 percent of all websites and secures over 70 percent market share among all CMSs.
We’ve worked with a wide variety of clients, ranging from small to large scale businesses who required WordPress solutions. It has been quite a challenge for us to convince the larger clients about the competence of WordPress and explaining to them it’s enterprise capabilities because of so many different opinions people have around the CMS.
In this post, I’ll introduce you to the various features that makes WordPress so powerful and the ideal CMS for organization of any size.
What do Enterprises Look for in a CMS?
Enterprises actively maintain their online presence to have the edge required to stay ahead of the competition and compromising on a CMS immediately spells their doom. This would lead anyone to wonder – what makes WordPress such a fantastic solution then? The answer lies in its simplicity and the ability to provide all the necessary features in a single package. It boasts a high degree of adaptability, has numerous plug-ins available for performing any and every task, incredible community support and is highly scalable.
WordPress isn’t new as an Enterprise platform – websites belonging to The New Yorker, MTV News and BBC America are all being powered by WordPress. Since the software is open source, it benefits from massive community development which has significantly increased its features. Moreover, any issue encountered is immediately noted and patches are released on a regular basis to maintain security.
At FantasTech Solutions, we provide PSD, Sketch and HTML to WordPress conversion solutions and services and have often encountered Enterprise clients. After eliciting requirements from numerous clients, I have identified the following to be the primary concerns and selection criteria for any Enterprise business owner:
1. Security
Enterprise Concern: Securing Sensitive Information
Whenever an Enterprise adopts a CMS, security by default is a priority as they manage sensitive information, hence becoming prime targets for cyber attacks. The scheduled release of updates and provision of latest security with the CMS is what all Enterprises search for.
Enterprises house sensitive information entrusted by clients which contain their social security numbers, personal history and Debit and Credit Card PINs. These can be maliciously used if security is compromised, so the priority list always contains security as a number one concern.
WordPress Solution: Highest Tier of Cyber Security
When it comes to security matters, your concerns are fully covered by WordPress ECM platform. With an impressive stream of consistent updates, security patches and a large community which offers immediate solutions for any issue, WordPress strives to deliver the best security possible. At FantasTech, we utilize our own customized themes and coding practices which keep your code unique and updated with the latest security protocols. As such, any Enterprise availing from our services reaps the benefits of strong security. We also keep your code confidential from everyone – meaning only you have access to your product.
2. Support for File Formats
Enterprise Concern: CMS will not Support Various File Formats
Enterprises handle a multitude of varying media, which necessitates that their CMS be optimized for managing them accordingly. Ranging from standard to complex documents, graphics, photos, videos and audios, everything needs to be accounted for when developing their websites. The CMS should contain features such as scheduling calendars, real-time updating of content and content modification features for various media.
WordPress Solution: Support and Management of Multiple Media Files
WordPress supports the upload and management of almost all kinds of media on both the front and back end. This optimizes operations tremendously, allowing even novice staff to manage otherwise complex control of varying media data. Since WordPress is updated on a regular basis, any new media file format is instantly made available in order to facilitate enterprise tasks. WordPress allows scheduling of posts and content automatically and further facilitates its user by enabling the integration of numerous plugins.
3. State of Online Community and Platform
Enterprise Concern: Availability of Developer Support
If your CMS lacks developer support, even the smallest issues can halt operations as they cannot be resolved without technical help. You should always evaluate and research the skills of your selected CMS support team to ensure any issues encountered in the future will be resolved effectively.
WordPress Solution: Massive Online Community and Official Support
The WordPress community is extremely active and full of veteran developers and forums where help can be accessed for even the slightest issue. The thing is, Enterprises refrain from open source, unlicensed software as they have no guarantee to deliver according to expectation.
WordPress, however, provides full transparency and is open source to the point where the source code can be customized according to individual needs and shaped to suit organizational requirements. Companies specialize in providing WordPress related services and products for Enterprise clients, which guarantees clients can always hire certified professionals to get the job done right.
4. Operational Costs
Enterprise Concern: Reducing Operational Costs and Investing Safely in CMS
In case the enterprise invests in a CMS which is initially both cost-effective and functional but lacks updates and integration capabilities, the long-term effects will be catastrophic. The CMS will fail to keep up with the evolution of market and will present numerous issues, ranging from decreased functionality and failing security to issues with integration of plugins.
WordPress Solution: Open Source Code, Seamless Integration and Regular Updates
Since WordPress is a completely open source platform, it contributes towards substantially reducing operational costs. Compared to other solutions, it can be refactored according to user requirements with customized development and plugins, which are readily available due to large-scale international usage. When it comes to modifying and maintenance, the costs are very low as human, technical and software resources are abundantly available.
5. Uptime and Reliability
Enterprise Concern: Occurrence of Unexpected Downtime
The website is the business face – the link through which your Enterprises communicates with the target audience. Even the slightest downtime can mean traffic being diverted towards competitors.
WordPress Solution: Proven Record of Maximum Uptime and No Unscheduled Downtime
WordPress holds a solid reputation in this matter, boasting a proven uptime of 99.5% without fail. Without taking any downtime, your site will be able to attract traffic continuously and mature possible leads into conversions for profitable revenue.
6. Scalability
Enterprise Concern: Scalability for Enabling Expansion
Any Enterprise level organization targets growth for expanding its business capabilities. This necessitates their CMS of choice be able to expand (or in some cases, downsize) itself. Scalability is extremely important as it decides whether the system will be able to adapt and evolve according to shifting market and business trends or will stagnate under the stress of long-term usage.
WordPress Solution: Platform Developed for Scalability and Flexibility
What makes WordPress so unique and successful is its ability to scale according to usage and its extreme flexibility for adapting according to any requirement. With the use of plugins, WordPress enables customization of its core into whatever is required by the end user. With over 50,000 plugins and thousands of themes to choose from that keep increasing every day, you can never fall short of options or solutions when it comes to WordPress.
With APIs such as WP REST API, integration of third-party software has never been easier. Moreover, newer themes for WordPress websites are responsive, which means they are optimized for viewing on mobile devices as well. Fear not; the older themes can easily be upgraded to be responsive as well.
7. User Management
Enterprise Concern: Features to Design Customized User Hierarchy and Permissions
It doesn’t matter if your Enterprise has a simple or complex user hierarchy – it has to be modified accordingly to suit organizational structure. Customized users, manual permissions and other setting are required within the framework to perfectly conform with Enterprise standards.
WordPress Solution: Core Features for Designing Completely Customized Users
Enterprise CMS is utilized by numerous users simultaneously, which means it must support advanced user management. WordPress not only provides all the necessary features but also simplifies them for easier usage. It allows development of a customized user hierarchy complete with settings for permissions. If a particular user role is not predefined, it can be easily created to suit organizational requirements. Moreover, the admin interface is designed for providing quick access to all necessary features and can be customized as required.
8. Hosting
Enterprise Concern: Provision of Hosting to Fulfill Enterprise Requirements
WordPress has become a significant CMS and is continually gaining more influence. This has demanded the necessity of specialized Enterprise level facilities which supply greater security, bandwidth, space and specialized servers. Service providers must treat enterprises as separate from regular users as their concerns are to secure proper hosting resources for managing their activities without hindrance.
WordPress Solution: Customized Enterprise-Level WordPress Hosting
Hosting services are now catering to the needs of Enterprise level clients with customized packages. Instead of going through the hassle of arranging your hosting, I would highly recommend seeking WordPress hosting as it provides all necessary features at competitive rates and houses the entirety of Enterprise services in a single package.
9. Content Management and Publishing
Enterprise Concern: Content Management and Controlling Multiple Sites
Enterprise level businesses often run multiple sites, which necessitates that their CMS of choice be capable of providing features for managing them. Moreover, it becomes a headache if the user interface itself is not optimized for site management.
WordPress Solution: Management of Multiple Media Files
Content is king, and WordPress proves its worth excellently as a top rated CMS in this category. All Enterprise level businesses rely heavily on high-quality content to achieve their desired objectives. Since WordPress was designed primarily as a blogging software, it by default excels in the niche. It streamlines the entire process of blogging, from content creation to publishing with features such as automatic scheduling, drafting content and implementing revisions in real time.
WordPress also comes loaded with its own set of SEO tools, which allows polishing of content to even higher quality. With the ability to further increase its capabilities in this sector by integrating plugins, WordPress is your very best friend for dealing with all kinds of content.
10. International Deployment
Enterprise Concern: Language Availability
Engaging in international business means interacting with clients with varying cultures and of course, languages. Always check whether your CMS of choice is available in multiple languages and the accuracy of translations it provides are accurate.
WordPress Solution: Availability in Numerous Languages
WordPress boasts an impressive community which has dedicated efforts towards translating it in numerous languages, facilitating its international usage. With availability in more than 100 languages and increasing, it can fulfill the requirements of any Enterprise and their respective audience. Owing to its worldwide deployment, the overall standards in every aspect, ranging from UX to security for WordPress are highly refined and subject to routine checks.
11. Learning Curve
Enterprise Concern: Technical Knowledge is Necessary for Managing CMS
Enterprises are often required to invest heavily in extensive training for training their staff to operate a CMS. This consumes valuable resources and limits the CMS control to only those with training, limiting productivity.
User experience is critical for determining how well the Enterprise will respond to the CMS. If it has not been optimized (or lacks the option for customization), it will fail to receive positive reviews. Not only should the general user interface be simple enough for anyone to use without explanation, it should also be easy for programmers to edit the software as they need.
WordPress Solution: Built for Facilitating Every Kind of User
WordPress at core was conceptualized with a primary objective – to streamline UX and simplify the entirety of tasks performed by a CMS. It has held true to its original design and when compared to other CMS offering similar capabilities, it proves itself strikingly easy to use. Since it provides complete functions ready for usage at the simple click of a button, you can be assured that even the most novice interns will be able to use it effectively. This, combined with its rapidly deployable nature, room for immense customizations and being a complete CMS solution reduces all Enterprise functionalities to a level anyone in the hierarchy can use.
Being designed in such a refined manner means that it is even easier for developers to code. Elaborate documentation is available for every feature being offered, which means you can jump right into using it with minimal experience. Since the CMS is being used widely, resources such as developers, plugins and WordPress solution providers are readily available at reasonable cost. Moreover, resources required for operations and maintenance have been marginally streamlined, resulting in improved efficiency and reduced costs for Enterprises.
12. A Complete Marketing Solution
Enterprise Concern: CMS will not Support Marketing Features
If a CMS does not come loaded with support for marketing features, it restricts enterprise capabilities. Since marketing provides the main revenue for selling products and features, lacking such features immediately proves the CMS to be a bad investment.
WordPress Solution: A Complete Marketing Solution
Marketing products and services are mandatory for securing clients and generating revenue for any Enterprise. With WordPress, your work is considerably simplified as it supports the integration of dedicated SEO tools such as AdWords/AdSense, SendinBlue, TablePress and many more. If your Enterprise requires any SEO capabilities within WordPress, you can be sure to have a plugin ready to fulfill it and compatible for seamless integration. Through this adaptive strategy, WordPress presents itself as a complete marketing solution which can tackle even the hardiest of advertising campaigns and generate positive results.
13. Availability of Features
Enterprise Concern: Maximum Available Features
A CMS should come bundled with abundant and effective features to guarantee an enterprise can conduct their activities without a hitch. In the absence of features, for example SEO tools, the Enterprise will fail advertising to target audience and subsequently traffic will not be generated to sustain business operations.
WordPress Solution: Continuously Expanding Features and Capabilities
WordPress continues to grow by continually expanding, adapting to changing environments, developing any requirements essential for modern CMS and permitting integration of external features within its platform. With over 45,000 plugins and counting, you can rest at ease that your CMS of choice will never fail to deliver. By using the latest technologies, WordPress is successfully paving its path as an independent application framework which adheres to Enterprise needs.
WordPress for the Win
WordPress isn’t just catering to the requirements of numerous business niches and clients – it is also growing exponentially, even as we speak. Even the slightest necessity noted by the community and WordPress teams results in solutions in the form of updates or plugins which can be easily integrated into existing platforms. With everything and even more to offer than you can dream of, take advantage of the largest open source platform in the market and join the list of successful Enterprises by selecting WordPress as your CMS.
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