I have been pushing to get Matrix installed for our website at our institution. But the director of Information Technology recently became interested in a CMS called Sitellite. Even though I am making the recommendation about which CMS we should use, she still thinks that Sitellite might be better. I have looked at the features of Sitellite, some of comparable, but it does not offer near the customizability that Matrix does. And I just love the overall interaface and freedom of matrix.
Would anyone be able to give me some tips or pointers on how I can explain what we should go with Matrix, and not a CMS like Sitellite? I want to convince them that Matrix is what we should go with, but I need some excellent points to convince them. Any help with this?
[quote]I have been pushing to get Matrix installed for our website at our institution. But the director of Information Technology recently became interested in a CMS called Sitellite. Even though I am making the recommendation about which CMS we should use, she still thinks that Sitellite might be better. I have looked at the features of Sitellite, some of comparable, but it does not offer near the customizability that Matrix does. And I just love the overall interaface and freedom of matrix.
Would anyone be able to give me some tips or pointers on how I can explain what we should go with Matrix, and not a CMS like Sitellite? I want to convince them that Matrix is what we should go with, but I need some excellent points to convince them. Any help with this?
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The best way is to have a list of business functions, written in generic terms, that you want a CMS to be able to do. These might be things like management of workflow including a step to force content to be reviewed, cross publishing of content between domains, quality of commerical support (if you are using it). Comments from reference sites is also important. Cold call at least two people who use the system that are not on the list provided by any vendor. What similay organisations are using can also be helpful, but you still have to be sure it suits what you want it to do.
Then draw up a matrix (!), and tick the boxes.
The selection of a CMS should be based on what it can do for you in the long term, not how good it looks the first time you see it.
FWIW, Matrix can be a bit daunting the first time you see it in use, but once you ‘get it’ the paradigm is iminently scalable.
Hope this little rant helps. 
Thanks for the tips. Don't worry, I have not just taken a quick look at Matrix, I have been using it for the past 3 months building a test site and understanding how it works so that I can save time when it is used in the real world. Anyone else?
I've never played with Sitellite, so I can't comment on a direct comparison. Rather, I just want to echo Richard's sentiments: Matrix is one of the most infinitely configurable content management systems available. If you go back to your business requirements and map them to functionality, we usually find Matrix wins.
Also remember to include future business requirements, or the "nice to haves"
Thanks. I will keep all these points in mind. Avi, do you have a release schedule that I could quote? Such as, "Matrix is updated about ever 2 months with regular software developement". I just want them to know that Matrix is always being updated and new versions are being released constantly.
Minor versions are released on the first Monday of each month (i.e. 3.10.1 and 3.10.2).
Major versions (3.10, 3.12, etc) occur every three to six months, depending on the amount of additional functionality that's being added to the system. We very rarely set a specific date for a major version release, unless required by a client project.