Learn More CMS. Earn More $$$.

Content Management Systems of today are giving unprecedented power to web designers and developers to create, maintain and supercharge websites. A three-part twist of fate within the last year has braided an uncanny win-win-win for designers and in-house managers to put them in the driver's seat, and give them a real source for hope:

1. Open Source Proliferation: The past twelve months has witnessed an unprecedented explosion of innovation in the open source space. Drupal, Joomla, Alfresco, Plone, Typo3 and other highly sophisticated OS CMSs have been percolating for years; however, the past two years have proven particularly eventful and beneficial for the marketplace.

That leads us to point number two...

2. Elections Breed Innovation: Every four years, there's a "reveal" that takes place, as Presidential campaigns dump hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) in the attempt to activate the electorate and garner votes.

The 2000 Presidential campaign for John McCain set the bar on how to fundraise and get the message out, using the power of the web. The 2008 Presidential campaign for Barack Obama schooled the good Senator (and the rest of us) that "good enough" isn't good enough.

In fact, the Obama Campaign taught us all - oh, about 1,000 lessons - on how to use the web to activate our respective audience. The mobile web is now engaged, as is the strategy of incorporating user generated content into the communication and activation strategy itself.

And the third ironic point of this win-win-win...

3. The Economy Tanked: Bad news for most folks means free open source CMS solutions are getting that second look (and sometimes first look) by business leaders at corporations and non-profits. Ask the folks at the non-profit powerhouse Blackbaud whether they've had to compete against Drupal for a major non-profit installation. Ask the suits at Vignette whether the "ankle-biters" of yesterday using Plone, Joomla, Drupal or Alfresco aren't taking a healthy mouthful of profit from their bottom-line.

While the argument of total cost-of-ownership, as well as maintaining certain competitive advantages remains a legitimate argument in favor of closed source solutions, one can't deny the case for up-front savings on licensing fees has served as rather powerful leverage to earn the open source consultants a front-row seat at the proposal table.

Open source designers and developers: the door's open. The time's right. Today, decision makers are still reeling from Q408. But by the spring of 2010 (Q110), they'll have accepted that the world has changed; accepted their once-bloated-now-meager tech budget has not only been slashed, but combined with marketing.

My advice to Open Sourcerers? Swing that door wide-open right now, and make sure you're first in line when they need smart, timely solutions which make best use of their once-bloated-now-meager tech-marketing budget.