In recent times, open-source software has been seen as an increasingly mainstream part of the market. This has been fuelled by the growth of the internet, including the continued market dominance of Apache, and the mindshare of Linux.

Backing by large vendors such as IBM has further solidified the position of open-source solutions, to the extent that the corporate world is now seeing open-source as a viable option.

The field of content management systems (CMSs) has seen particularly strong growth in open-source solutions, perhaps in direct response to the very high prices that commercial CMSs have historically demanded.

A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on your Web site, much like your local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all your content, you don't have to.

• Low cost
• Pay for services, not software
• Having access to the code provides unrivalled flexibility
• Ease of customisation
• Open platforms
• Pool resources across organisations
• Ease of integration
• Community support
• CMS resources can be pooled across organisations