Item: Optimizely Content Management System
Rating: 8
Author: Ayman Idrees

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Ektron for our main website as a content publishing tool which integrats with our enrollment system as weel as course and programs catalog. In addition we use Ektron's smart form to develop online applications.it functions as a document repository for digital assets for public access, customer and internal access. Ektron has proven to be a rebost tool for editing and updating online content as well as providing an easy to use publishing workflow.

Pros and Cons

Ektron smart orm is a very powerful and easy to use tool which can be updated by content editors and leveraged by developers using XSLT or code behind classes
Ektron Framework API provides developers with the right tools to extend and enrich the website's functionality.
Publishing workflow Ektron's publishing and approval workflows allow multiple content editors to easily collaborate on updating a single content item in tandem. Site administrator to create approval workflows which integrate with the organization's business logic and hierarchy.
eSync Tool Ektron's eSync tool allows for synchronization of content and application files of multiple environments, making migration of changes a seamless process.

Subdomains - Native support for multiple subdomains under one Ektron site

Return on Investment

Ektron's easy publishing management features have allowed to publish content more efficiently and of higher quality
Ektron allowed us to integrate information from our ERP and CRM systems which benefits our business goals.

Alternatives Considered

Ektron's built in publishing workflow, eSync service and easily configured and utilized smart form methodology made it a superior enterprise level solution for our purposes. Considering the amount of content editors that we have, it was essential to have a CMS solution which could accomadate their needs as well as be user friendly and intuitive to use.

Likelihood to Recommend

For our organization, we have a great deal of content owners and wanted the features of easy content updating and publishing workflow. Also, it is necessary to have the proper infrastructure to host at least a staging and production environment so that one can leverage the power of Ektron's eSync tool.

Likelihood to Renew

9

We intend to renew our license with Ektron because we are currently satisfied with Ektron's features and have made a significant investment in deploying and integrating it with our systems. Also, Ektron has made a strong commitment to developing it's CMS product and in upgrading between version 8.0 to 8.5 we have attained many additional features and added stability and bugfixes. Ektron's roadmap also includes exciting new functionality on all fronts including Workarea GUI, Search services and Framework API.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Professional services company

Ellucian

Usability

10

Reliability and Availability

9

Ektron CMS : An Eye on the Future

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Optimizely Content Cloud (formerly Episerver Content Cloud)