Cascade CMS vs. Squiz Digital Experience Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cascade CMS
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Cascade 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
Squiz Digital Experience Platform
Score 5.2 out of 10
N/A
Squiz DXP helps lean teams in service-led organizations take control of their online experience and brand. It is used to build, manage and connect digital experiences across websites, portals, apps. It unifies tech, data and content from any vendor, and makes it all work as one.N/A
Pricing
Cascade CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cascade CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
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 CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Cascade CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Cascade CMS
8.0
19 Ratings
0% below category average
Squiz Digital Experience Platform
-
Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Cascade CMS
7.1
13 Ratings
8% below category average
Squiz Digital Experience Platform
-
Ratings
API7.012 Ratings00 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Cascade CMS
7.1
19 Ratings
7% below category average
Squiz Digital Experience Platform
-
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 Product A and Product B
Cascade CMS
6.9
18 Ratings
6% below category average
Squiz Digital Experience Platform
-
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 CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
Small Businesses
Divi
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Score 9.8 out of 10
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Score 7.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Image Relay
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Score 9.5 out of 10
Tridion
Tridion
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Tridion
Tridion
Score 9.0 out of 10
Tridion
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
Cascade CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(44 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(26 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
6.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 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 CMSSquiz Digital Experience Platform
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.
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Squiz
Working with a large amount of web content where there is a need to focus on related content.
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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.
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Squiz
  • Speed and efficiency
  • Roles and content control
  • Related content
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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).
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Squiz
  • User Interface was good but heavy, with Java powering the backbone I recall finding this somewhat troublesome at the time.
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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.
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Squiz
I don't work with Squiz any more so it's difficult to say, that said, the site is still running on the same CMS so obviously it's still considered a great platform
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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.
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Squiz
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Hannon Hill
Amazing customer service and VERY customizable.
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Squiz
No answers on this topic
Performance
Hannon Hill
Does a great job.
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Squiz
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.
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Squiz
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Hannon Hill
Training was helpful.
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Squiz
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Hannon Hill
Still needed that physical help
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Squiz
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.
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Squiz
No answers on this topic
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.
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Squiz
Easier to work with
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Scalability
Hannon Hill
I used it only a few times.
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Squiz
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.
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Squiz
  • Having a single powerful CMS platform that would integrate a number of organisations that had recently merged - Squiz was a big part of bringing our web architecture together gracefully.
  • Increased employee efficiency
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ScreenShots

Squiz Digital Experience Platform Screenshots

Screenshot of all the capabilities to drive digital experiences, available from one platform.Screenshot of reusable components with a “design once, reuse anywhere” approach that are used to build pages. Users can optimize for higher user engagement or conversion with built-in A/B testing.Screenshot of tailored content sent to different segments of the audience, used to maximize user engagement.Screenshot of a library of pre-built components to implement design systems and reuse content across sites.Screenshot of accessibility metrics used to understand how well a site conforms to WCAG standards and how the compliance of the site can be improved.Screenshot of the Search Dashboard, used to set up and manage search, results and reporting. Users can curate and tune search results to serve users relevant content and drive specific actions on sites.