This is unconscionable. It’s not that they were overcharged for the development… $20k isn’t too bad for a .NET development job. The issue is that the firm chose to develop a content management system from the ground up. This is absolutely unnecessary… there are tons of content management systems out there already. Dropping $20k on a CMS may be a good investment as long as the platform is modular, has support, and is continuously updated with new features. An established CMS that’s got hundreds of customers and millions of dollars invested typically has this… but you’ll never get that flexibility with a new CMS slapped together for $20k… Argh! Makes me angry.

Upon investigation, this CMS was not optimized, lacked analytics integration capabilities, and could only be added onto with more custom development. The development firm knows exactly what they did, they locked the company in and now they’re going to start turning the screws. Unless you’re building some kind of revolutionary new platform, what you’re looking for is already out on the market. Find a CMS vendor and shop until you find one that has the modules that you need. If you’re working with a development shop, ensure they’re using a popular CMS. And make sure you own the license.

You may need to replace firms, but you shouldn’t have to replace your CMS anytime soon. I’d gladly pay $20,000 to modify a proven, existing content management system and customize it to my needs… but I’d never hire any development firm to create one from scratch. CMS systems have evolved and are incredibly robust… with ecommerce, social, search and often mobile integration out of the box.