Cascade Server vs WordPress

• 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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• Flexibility - WordPress is open source software that can be used and shared by anyone. It is easy to distribute to many different teams or contributors.
• Cost - the basic version of WordPress is free (you just have to pay for a domain and web hosting).
• Plugins - because WordPress is so popular, there are tons of customizable plugins available that make managing your website very easy.
• Support - again, because of the popularity and usage, there is a wealth of info, tutorials, and a dedicated community available to help with needs.
• Easy drag and drop functionality - WordPress has different types of website build editors that allow for very easy drag and drop functionality, and easy customization in a user-friendly interface.

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• 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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• Security. I have had several instances in working with WordPress over the years where security has been compromised. In all situations, it was related to unpatched installs but brings light to the fact that the system cannot be left alone. Regular maintenance is a must.
• Sketchy third-party plug-ins. With 50,000+ plug-ins available, this isn't the Apple-curated App Store and some of the plug-ins can be questionable in both their quality and data collection habits. You should always be careful of where you download your plug-ins from. And ALWAYS keep them up-to-date (see point #1).
• The amount of change can be somewhat of a workload to keep up with. Although it is not difficult and often 'one-click' in nature, it is not a set-it-and-forget-it type of platform.

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• 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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• Many functionality of WordPress is free and is enough for a large number of sites
• Implementing additional functionality through plugins/themes is usually more cost effective vs. implementing in-house using custom code
• WordPress cuts down significantly on maintenance time as it is supported for a very long time by its developer community. (Very old versions of WP are still supported via updates)

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