Can Open Source CMS be Profitable? It's eZ

By James Mowery Sep 9, 2008

eZ Systems' Open Source CMS Achieves Profitability

Fact: Open source business models can be profitable and consistent. eZ Systems' open source Web CMS — eZ Publish — has raked up an impressive triple-digit growth and double-digit renewal rates for the first half of 2008.

This is the first time eZ Systems achieved a profitable bottom line. It took 8 years and more than $US 10 million of investments.

Who needs to sell a product, when you can just as easily monetize support, maintenance and guarantees? Well, eZ Systems had it all figured out for the first half of 2008.

The Bottom Line

The first half of 2008 has proven profitable for eZ Systems. “I will let the numbers speak for themselves,” stated eZ Systems' CEO Aleksander Farstad:

583% increase in subscriptions sales
90% sustained renewal rate

The forward-looking company also sees itself experiencing faster growth as a result of having a scalable business model. eZ Systems also hopes that more users will migrate to eZ Publish. With the increasing demand for open source CMS software, it is likely that eZ Systems will succeed.

eZ's Hiring

The web CMS provider touts that the company is a “very innovative” place to work, and that it values “openness, sharing and innovation.”

So, with all the success that eZ Systems has experienced, the company plans on hiring some new employees that will, at first, primarily encompass technical talent. The company, however, has not ruled out exploring new talent in the future for the marketing, sales, support and core development areas of eZ Systems.

Start Strong, End Strong

Well, it is obvious that eZ Systems is headed in the right direction with a strong showing in the first half of 2008 in the CMS market. Perhaps, eZ's partnership with Apple will help propel the company forward faster than eZ itself could imagine.