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the Free CMSWire NewsletterWe've long considered Web CMS vendors like Sitecore and Ektron to be mid-market players. And to some extent they still are. But with the evolution of web content management towards customer experience management has come a shift in the .NET Web CMS vendor landscape. Here's a look at where the players are today.
Mid-Market .NET Web CMS Vendors
There's a group of .NET-based web content management vendors who we've seen typically grouped into the "mid-market" .NET Web CMS family. These include:
- Bridgeline
- Ektron
- Elcom
- EPiServer
- Ingeniux
- Kentico
- Sitecore
- Telerik — Sitefinity
But with the evolution of web content management to include more features and functionality for digital marketers, this group is shifting. This article takes a quick look at where the respective products are positioned, mostly from a functionality and pricing perspective. This is not a comparative review.
To help keep the comparisons as even as possible, we looked at .NET Web CMS vendors who offer basic web content management, eMarketing/social and eCommerce capabilities.
Sitecore Sits at the Top of Mid-Market
Sitecore's pricing model is based on the number of servers and the number of backend editors/authors on the content management system itself.
On the low-end, for a single server with 1-3 authors/editors, you are looking at US$ 20k for licensing what Sitecore calls its Primary Edition, or entry level solution. But that's only for web content management. If you want Sitecore's Customer Engagement Platform (Web CMS + OMS, its online marketing solution), then you're looking at at US$ 35k (US$20k for Web CMS + US$ 15k for OMS) plus annual support fees.
If you have more than 3 content managers, you must purchase Sitecore's Professional Edition (includes Web CMS and OMS), which starts at US$ 60k for the first server.
While single server installations are okay for a small business using Sitecore for internal purposes, you are more likely going to want a second server to support higher levels of traffic or internal development environments, etc. This means additional costs of anywhere between US$ 20 and US$ 40k.
And if you want a development or staging environment, you need to look at Sitecore's standard enterprise licensing model.
As you can see, Sitecore is arguably getting too pricy for smaller organizations. But then, that's not the market Sitecore is focused on. The company is aiming at the upper mid-market and higher, and their pricing has adjusted accordingly.
Ektron Sets its Sights on the Enterprise
Ektron is another well-known .NET Web CMS provider and historically they have been considered a solution for the mid-market. But Ektron's focus has been shifting towards the enterprise lately. We've seen evidence of this via recent product updates and architecture changes, and their arrival on the lists of analyst reports like Forrester's Wave for Customer Experience.
Note: For related info, see our article Ektron 8.5 Enterprise Ready: New Architecture, Search & a Refined Interface for more information on the latest version of Ektron.
The starting price for the Ektron platform is around US$ 40k. That's the base license for a single external website (domain).
This gets you the core web content management platform. Additional modules for market optimization, social networking and eCommerce cost about US$ 8k more per module. So for the entire Ektron offering the total prices ends up around US$ 64k. This pricing is for 5 authors and, as we stated earlier, a single domain.
If you need more authors and plan to have more than one domain, you need Ektron's Enterprise license, currently retailing at US$ 100k.
This license is for unlimited domains and comes with two CMS servers. You will still pay more for the additional modules (roughly 20% of the license cost per module). The total price ends up around US$ 160k, and for additional CMS servers you pay US$ 25k per server.
Note that Ektron development servers are free with the enterprise license.
EPiServer
EPiServer is a .NET Web CMS that provides both a hosted and on-premise version of their solution.
EPiServer's on-premise retails at US$ 15k per server for a the EPiServer Professional license (unlimited CMS users, a single IIS application) and their EPiServer Enterprise license (multiple IIS applications + some additional features) goes for US$ 21k. The best I can tell you is that licenses are packaged based on technical requirements and functionality, and typically include the cost of developer licenses.
Bundles can include digital marketing, but there are separate licenses — ranging from $6-10k each — for social and eCommerce capabilities, as well as for things like SharePoint or CRM connectors. EPiServer sells its licenses through partners, so you need to contact a partner for specific pricing.
If cloud is your preference, then here's a look at what you will get for a complete EPiServer cloud-based environment for US$ 1800/month:
- SLA 99,5% (24/7)
- Page views: < 50 000 / week
- Data transfer: 300 GB / month
- Data storage: 100 GB
The EPiServer Cloud includes the content management system and EPiServer Composer, a non-technical interface for managing the web experience. The price above supports unlimited CMS users, but does not include e-Commerce, social or digital marketing capabilities — these are all extras.
Telerik Sitefinity
Telerik is one of the few Web CMS providers that display their pricing online. For the Standard Edition, which is basic web content management, you are looking at around US$ 2k for a single domain and 5 authors.
From that point you move to the Professional Edition, retailing at US$ 8k. This includes 10 authors, e-Commerce and support for load balancing. The Enterprise Edition license is US$ 20k for unlimited authors and unlimited email campaign subscribers. The pricing here is definitely geared towards the mid-market. And it's notable that Sitefinity pricing has risen dramatically over the past few years.
Telerik, the vendor behind Sitefinity, is working on its Customer experience story, but is still primarily focused on core content management functionality and e-commerce integration.
The company's recent acquisition of e-Commerce vendor Mallsoft has provided the e-Commerce story, and the mid-term roadmap is dominated by integration of this set of features and general product quality.
Kentico
Kentico is another mid-market Web CMS vendor that is working hard to move up the ladder. Most people believe that Kentico competes most directly with Sitefinity — and the two companies have a healthy rivalry going — but with the recent release of version 6 and their Enterprise Marketing Solution they are squarely taking aim at the mid-to-upper end of the market.
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