Item: Optimizely Content Management System
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use the CMS to keep our customers up to date with editorial content. The content is news that can span current events that have an effect on travel, and/or currencies. It is developed by our internal development team, and all the content is edited by a team of content managers.

Pros and Cons

Easy to use editor for creating content
Good forum for help when developing the backend
Good control over who can do what, and in what stage of publishing

The deployment process feels like it could be streamlined
Weird caching issues when removing attributes on pages

Return on Investment

The fact that editors rather than developers can create content saves a lot of time and leaves room for new features to be the focus of development rather than new content.

Usability

Some things can be quite counterintuitive to work with, and unfortunately, Optimizely Content Cloud still uses .NET Framework instead of .NET Core for its backend code. This makes it slightly more difficult to work with for new developers who are only educated with Core, albeit not a very big hurdle. However, once you get a feel for how blocks and pages work, it makes the development of editorial content efficient.

Time to Value

I was not part of the initial setup process, so I am not sure about this.

Alternatives Considered

Umbraco CMS

Umbraco is a similar product that does a lot of the same things well and has a big community behind it when you need help with something. However Optimizely Content Cloud feels more refined to work with, plus the official support is sometimes a godsend when you can't find the reason for a specific problem or need help with a faulty deployment.

Key Insights

Do you think Optimizely Content Management System delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Optimizely Content Management System's feature set?

Yes

Did Optimizely Content Management System live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Optimizely Content Management System go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Optimizely Content Management System again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Visual Studio IDE, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Visual Studio Code, TeamCity, Octopus Deploy

Likelihood to Recommend

If a company is looking for a well supported and easy to use CMS, Optimizely Content Cloud (formerly Episerver Content Cloud) would be easy to recommend. The product has been refined for several years and is well supported both by direct contact with support and by the community. You do however need to have someone with experience of working with the product in order to feel comfortable with development.

Experience of a developer for a mostly content driven site

Software Version

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