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The Web CMS Report looks at... Drupal

"It is rare that a Drupal implementation team does not utter the words "there is a module that does that." However, it does take some time for the module developers to catch up to the architectural changes introduced by each major release of the core. Module developers are responsible for testing and giving honest descriptions on the state of their modules (such as alpha, beta, and what version of the core the module is compatible with). A big part of the version compatibility issues with modules is that module developers do not have standard ways to interact with Drupal resources so they write their own database queries and directly access the file system. When the Drupal core changes the way it stores its data, modules break. There is no central body to evaluate modules or state what version they are compatible with. Unfortunately, the best information about the quality of a module is still usually word of mouth by the Drupal specialists who are constantly experimenting with new modules as they are released. "

More about The Web CMS Report

NEW at CMS Watch

The Search & Information Access Report: This newly updated 341-page Search and Information Access Report critically evaluates 23 Search and Information Access offerings from around the globe... Read more

The Enterprise Collaboration & Community Software Report : This newly updated research critically evaluates 27 Enterprise Collaboration and Community Software products head-to-head... Read more

The Enterprise Content Management Report : This newly updated research critically evaluates 32 Enterprise Content Management products head-to-head... Read more

 

 

RFI as rich asset

17-Nov-2009   --  

I was talking with one of our Web CMS Report subscribers today, someone who is leading a state government's effort to modernize its WCM system. The question arose as to how to keep vendors from giving softball answers to hardball questions when submitting a Request for Information. I proposed a simple expedient: Require screenshots.

If a product supports a certain type of functionality via a graphical user interface, the vendor should have no qualms about showing the UI in question, doing the operation in question. It's one thing to be told "Yes, our admin interface supports restricting a user's right to Copy or Move a file" (for example), but a picture, as they say, is worth a thousand workarounds.

What about when the vendor comes back with "This functionality is easily implemented via changes to a configuration file" (or via an API call)? Very well: In that case, let's see the relevant XML fragment (or code snippet) with the changes highlighted. Demand to see the relevant lines of code. Is that so much to ask?

Hey, the worst that could happen is that the vendor will skip past a few of your harder questions -- or complain that your RFI process is just too burdensome. In which case, you've already learned a great deal indeed.

- Submitted by: Kas Thomas, Analyst - Twitter: kasthomas

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