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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cascade CMS

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ACascade CMS (formerly Cascade Server) by Hannon Hill is a content management system, with built-in tools to help users eliminate stale content, increase digital outreach, and promote end-user adoption and accountability. Cascade CMS is designed for decentralized web teams in most major industries, including higher education, government, healthcare, and technology. Included is Clive, an engagement and real-time personalization tool for collecting information and using it to craft personalized…N/A

    Image Relay

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AImage Relay Marketing Delivery keeps digital assets and product information in one place with the goal of supporting fast, seamless creation and delivery.N/A
    Pricing
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Considered Both Products
    Hannon Hill
    No answer on this topic
    Image Relay
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    19 Answers
    Features
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Cascade CMS and Image Relay
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    8.0
    19 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Image Relay
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Cascade CMS and Image Relay
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    7.1
    13 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Image Relay
    -
    Ratings
    API7.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Cascade CMS and Image Relay
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    7.1
    19 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Image Relay
    -
    Ratings
    WYSIWYG editor6.119 Ratings00 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness6.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Admin section8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page templates9.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Library of website themes5.52 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design7.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publishing workflow9.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Form generator6.47 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of Cascade CMS and Image Relay
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    6.9
    18 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Image Relay
    -
    Ratings
    Content taxonomy8.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO support7.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bulk management9.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions6.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Community / comment management4.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Small Businesses
    Umbraco CMS
    Score7 out of 10
    Adobe Bridge
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Square Online
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Cloudinary
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
    Acquia DAM (Widen)
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (44 ratings)
    8.0
    (28 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (26 ratings)
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (28 ratings)
    Availability
    6.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    7.9
    (28 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cascade CMSImage Relay
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Hannon Hill
    Cascade Server is well suited with it's WYSIWYG editor being better than most editors that I have used in other systems. In context, editing makes adding content easy compared to the last CMS I used where you had to wing it and view the page outside of the CMS to see if it was correct. The ability mix HTML, CSS, and the Script of your choice anywhere and with ease.
    The scenarios were Cascade Server is less appropriate would be in the use of compilers or programs like Visual studio. You need to go out of Cascade Server and go to other environments to perform tasks and then copy the result to Cascade Server. You can write directly in Cascade Server, but it's easier to do in and editor that is specific to a function.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    Image Relay is intelligently designed for any marketer, especially if your products require a library of images and video and especially if you feel like your team could use some quality onboarding to make sure everything is set up right and to make sure your team is equipped to use the software effectively. Specifically speaking, since we have so many products and we're building a bigger direct relationship with customers, it was important that we have an easy way to store and access assets that can represent those products and resonate with potential customers. Image Relay also made it really easy to group assets for sharing with influencers and other marketing partners. Dropbox and Google Drive may have their place and their functionalities that set them apart, so it's important to not look at Image Relay like one of those older document services storage spaces — though those companies could learn a lot from how Image Relay helps marketers enrich their assets and store them smartly.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Hannon Hill
    • Cascade CMS makes no assumptions about your content. Templates control how the content gets displayed.
    • Workflows are intuitive and allow for one or more people to review content before it is published.
    • The published site is static (no database connection) which allows for faster page loads and reduced risk of attack.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Image Relay
    • Enables us to organize a large number of files in an easy-to-use format
    • Keeps our files safe. Much of the work we do is private until our partners approve of our marketing going public so file security is critical to our operation.
    • Image Relay makes it easy for our team to track and access a wide range of files - especially photos and contracts.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Hannon Hill
    • Cascade CMS is not an out-of-the-box pre-built system that you can install, turn on and expect to be serving sites and pages on day one. It's not a blogging system like WordPress, or a drag-and-drop system like SquareSpace (both of which I've used for their own purposes). You need to have someone tasked with management and system administration – and if you implement the on-premise self-hosted version, you ought to have several people. We have the university's IT shop handling infrastructure (server hardware, containers, clustering, operating systems, load-balancing, DNS, database servers, NAS/SAN drives), our Web & Design team managing Cascade CMS (system settings, sites, templates, permissions) and managers coordinating each respective academic unit (A&S, business, education, law, marine science).
    Read full review
    Image Relay
    • The AI tagging terms are too generic to really be helpful to us.
    • When we did our initial upload the system couldn't pull in old dates, so everything has a date of the day it was uploaded. It will be a while before searching by "most recent" works properly.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Hannon Hill
    Changing systems would require too much effort. Our institution is using Cascade Server, WordPress and Drupal but we only serve 2200 students so we have 1 too many content management systems. Reflecting on current technical resources we would like to drop down to 2. This effort hasn't moved forward because of the extensive work required to migrate content and train users in a new system.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    I believe once all of our staff see how efficient Image Relay is in managing our digital assets, there will be no question that the cost vs. value will mandate continued use moving forward. It literally will pay for itself in saved staff time, I believe.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Hannon Hill
    Cascade CMS is completely usable on mobile devices, we can train our content editors in a single 2-hour session, and we support 1,000 users with a very small team.
    There is a level of complexity for the system administrators, site managers and web programmers who implement templates and content types. But the complexity is neither arbitrary nor inconsistent – and once learned provides a powerful environment within which we can develop robust sites that are beautiful and powerful, yet easy for our content editors to manage.
    Read full review
    Image Relay
    Image Relay is very straightforward. The experience and interface mimic things were all used to using so it makes it very easy to learn and use. They didn't try to reinvent the wheel by making a fancy tool, they just made something that works and does exactly what you need it to do. They also have an awesome team that is quick to help and answer any questions along the way.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Hannon Hill
    Amazing customer service and VERY customizable.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Hannon Hill
    Does a great job.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Hannon Hill
    They have always regarded any question or problem we encountered as very important. We have never felt that they ignore or downplay any issue and not once has anything been left unresolved. They also hold an annual conference where users are invited to attend and share their experiences and wisdom with the entire Cascade community. And with the care and support the provide, we all feel a part of that community.
    Read full review
    Image Relay
    Amazing. We are having a quick call once a week to be sure we are right on track. They answer all our questions right away and if they are missing something they will just find the answer and get back to us as fast as possible. There is no need to look elsewhere!
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Hannon Hill
    Training was helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Image Relay
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Hannon Hill
    Still needed that physical help
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Hannon Hill
    The key to any CMS implementation is PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Proper planning with Cascade can increase your satisfaction exponentially once the site migration/creation is complete. When all is said and done, your implementation can make your site run like a Yugo or Maserati. Be smart and deliberate in your decisions. Drive the Maserati. It is already paid for.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    The Image Relay team was very helpful in guiding us through the process. Excellent customer service and guidance.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Hannon Hill
    We selected Cascade server seven years ago, and the CMS environment at the time was clearly different than it is today. We decided to go with a vendor solution rather than a free solution because the long term cost in hosting a free solution is not, in fact, free; we've found Cascade to have been an excellent choice for us.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    We were using our in-house storage NAS system and Backup on DVD and hard drive. The issue is that we lost a lot of data by it either crashing or becoming unreadable. And it's very difficult to organize and share data. To share data we were using WeTransfer, but the issue is that the link expired in 7 days.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Hannon Hill
    I used it only a few times.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Hannon Hill
    • Initially, ROI was positive - because we completely redesigned the website when we implemented Cascade.
    • Over time, the inability to keep up with the latest interactive tools has reduced visitors time on site.
    • Also over time, the difficulty of use has led to less buy-in by backend users, leading to outdated pages, little timely information, and lower visitors.
    Incentivized
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    Image Relay
    • Image Relay has only offered positive impacts for me. The search function is great when used properly — our photographers can input tons of metadata that is later used to find certain teams or players within the website.
    • I don't mind having duplicates in the system as long as they are in places they need to be, but Image Relay does tell you when you've uploaded something multiple times which could be helpful to others.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots