Adobe Business Catalyst was a cloud-hosted system for building and managing web content and online stores with a built-in CRM framework in addition to sales, service, and marketing features including eCommerce and Email Marketing tools. It has been end of life (EOL) since 2020.
$10
per month
Pegboard
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
Pegboard is an Australian company and its CMS product is aimed primarily at SMBs and agencies.
The service provision is good the accounts customer service is poor so I would struggle to give BC a better than average review, if only they could offer customers a better accounts service then the value would be much higher.
The Pegboard CMS is ideal for a sophisticated website that needs to be unique in design and that offers the highest level of functionality and a superior user experience. It is suitable for websites ranging from simple blogs, through to corporate and fully-featured eCommerce websites that have the ability to utilise intelligent eMarketing to subscribers
Probably one of the easiest e-commerce platforms to work in, it does take setup, but compared to a lot of other e-commerce solutions, this is probably the best one that I have seen that can be designed and implemented custom.
Their template system works very well and allows you to create and re-use templates across Adobe Business Catalyst.
Their pre-built modules are great, giving people a great way to use common web elements without having to use a plug-in or find some solution, it is simply built in and generally works exactly as you would expect.
Adobe Business Catalyst is more of an all-around solution, providing elements that most smaller companies would have a hard time figuring out, since it includes the ability to build websites, send and track e-mails, analytics. It really is a powerful tool that would typically require a fair amount of coding knowledge and expertise but with the system already built, it can be easily modified and edited by those with limited or no coding knowledge at all.
The Pegboard platform does not limit the design and feel of a website. As web designers and developers we have the ability to design a unique looking website through the construction of HTML template pages which are then integrated with the Pegboard CMS.
The Pegboard platform provides a large range of modules for integration by designers into a website. The modules that are used depend on the requirements of the website - there is no limit to the number of modules that can be used.
The online CMS management console is easy to use. A client can manage their website content with as little as a half day training session.
The Pegboard CMS is a high-end web platform that provides the opportunity to integrate a company’s back-end systems like CRM, accounting and inventory software with their website - providing a business administration efficiencies.
The Pegboard CMS provides all of the modules that other CMS provide and include: News, RSS feeds, advanced forms, SEO, blog, banner ads, document management, SMS enablement, image galleries, jobs, membership, broadcasting, polls, event management, forums, product catalogue, eCommerce, e-Marketing, social media
The CMS provides the ability to tailor content for certain users - ie. specific information for members, limited information for the general public. There is no limit to the number of types of users.
Pegboard's partner program provides access to a network of other developers and programmers that can be called upon to provide their expertise in their area of specialty.
Multi Client Management: The dashboard for managing multiple clients as a reseller is a little difficult to get to. There is also no very easy way for me to manage multiple clients at once. I have to log into and out of individual client accounts to do billing or management.
Lack of Server support: There are certain server protocols and languages that are not supported using BC. For example I cannot build a custom php database and upload to BC. I am required to use their tools.
The Pegboard platform is a high-end CMS solution and so requires a high level of knowledge of HTML and CSS. It is not suitable for graphic designers with a limited knowledge of these web languages.
As a partner I have access to the Pegboard developers helpline - phone or online ticket system. At times I have found that their assistance has been a little on the slow side. This could be improved. I also feel that they expect a higher level of programming ability than we as a partner may necessarily have.
We have used the Pegboard Build department to assist us with the development of some aspects of our client’s websites. This build service could improve their communication with partners so that outcomes could be achieved more easily.
Actually with Business Catalyst there is no renewal; once you are a partner, you are a partner for as long as you like. It is an investment in your business not simply a product you purchase...and as an investment in partnership with Adobe, both are committed to each other's success.
The Pegboard platform offers our company the ability to offer a greater level of design than any other platform. And this, combined with the superior functionality that the platform offers, enables us to provide a web solution to companies requiring a high-end website for their business. Without the Pegboard platform we would not be able to provide a top-end solution to those clients that require it.
Overall it is a "plug and play" interface. The majority of the work is done in other software interfaces. Managing billing, user roles and custom reports are all that you need to manage in the actual BC user interface. For my business this is an incredible benefit as I have to leave my preferred software less.
The support provided by Adobe is excellent. Though the knowledge base, forums, blogs and online chat questions most all answers can be found. In the event that you are unable to find an answer or you have a unique situation simply post a question to the forums. These forums are regularly monitored by Adobe and its users.
As far as the CMS for BC goes, there is none out there that compares. In the past we have utilized Joomla, Wordpress, Mambo, Drupal, Concrete 5 and others. None of them were as easy to use and train on that Adobe's Business Catalyst. Our alternative to BC is WordPress when our clients want a less expensive solution. For the most part that works OK but we have had issues with plugin incompatibility among other issues. We lost at least two clients because of similar issues. The other great part about BC's solution is that we can still work with our favorite site creation tool - Dreamweaver. The whole process continues to be more and more simplified with added features to the system. No other solution (that we've found) offers such an easy way to create custom web sites that are easily editable by our clients.
Pegboard provides a superior ability to customise the design of a website and offers a greater level of functionality. The other web platforms reviewed all use their own design templates that can then be customised. We have recommended these other 2 platforms to some clients that are happy with an existing template design and therefore benefit from some potential lower cost. These other platforms do provide a lesser level of functionality.
As someone who uses it on behalf of other clients, our ROI with BC is definitely positive. We needed a mid-range CMS without huge licensing costs to satisfy mid-range clients who have some dynamic needs but doesn't need the expense or liability of enterprise level products. Without it we would have lost possible customers or taken bigger hits on projects because of the costs involved with satisfying their mid-level needs
Our clients are all usually very positive about the BC platform and are able to use it themselves which lessens our Support time/cost.
To use the Web App element,. which we do on almost every site, you need to pay for the highest plan. This brings along with it many features most of our clients would never use. A more basic plan with that Web App capability would be a big improvement on our costs.
Mosaic Studios is a relatively new partner of the Pegboard platform. The platform has enabled us to provide a sophisticated web solution to a number of our clients - helping us to provide a more complete service. Without the ability to offer this high-end web solution we could have potentially lost a number of clients.
Pegboard has broadening the web solutions that we can recommend to clients - and therefore the platform helps us to attract new clients and to retain existing clients.
