This article introduces content infrastructure and Content as a service as a way to think about content management. Whereas the traditional web CMS like WordPress and Drupal try to be the single solution for both managing content and creating websites, CaaS vendors focus purely on content management without taking opinions about the output — which still could be websites, but also print, mobile apps, and other devices and channels.In this article you will learn what CaaS is, how it compares to the existing CMS, in which contexts it makes sense to go CaaS, and see some projects built on top of CaaS. We'll also touch on topics such as reasoning why CaaS appeared and how to properly evaluate CaaS solutions. We'll also explain the content of content infrastructure and how that fits into the CaaS approach. Table of contents.What is content infrastructure?Content infrastructure is the modern way to put content management in your stack.
Content as a service (CaaS) or managed content as a service (MCaaS) is a service-oriented model, where the service provider delivers the content on demand to the service consumer via web services that are licensed under subscription. The content is hosted by the service provider centrally in the cloud and offered to a number of consumers that need the content delivered into any applications. Optimize your IT assets and resources with HP Device as a Service (DaaS), a complete solution that combines hardware, insightful analytics, proactive management, and services for every stage of the device lifecycle. Start of content. HP DaaS supports ongoing innovation at Dreamworks VIDEO, 1:30 WORKPLACE.
Building apps, websites and every other digital solution imaginable using content infrastructure is what Contentful is all about.Creating first class user experiences that runs on any platform is now only a matter of integrating content infrastructure in your developer workflow.Content infrastructure requires a much smaller administrative burden than a headless WordPress installation. And it goes without saying that the same is true for a headless Drupal setup. How does content infrastructure work?Developers access content stored within the content infrastructure via API-calls. Working with assets via the APIs is a two-way street — assets can be both downloaded and uploaded to the content infrastructure using your favorite stack.A key feature of content infrastructure is that it’s a hosted solution fronted by a stable Content Delivery Network (CDN). The architecture guarantees low response times for any content and gives a worry-free platform for your digital assets. So now you can spend more time coding and less time babysitting a monolithic CMS. What is Content as a serviceCaaS is as a way to label content infrastructure in a familiar X-as-a-service kind of way.
When it comes to API calls and delivery of content, there are no significant differences between the CaaS and content infrastructure.This article will use content infrastructure and CaaS interchangeably. Differences between CaaS and WordPress/Drupal/another web CMS. Structured content. These CMS encourage content owners to structure their content — to operate in chunks, not page blobs. This reflects the shift from page-centric web to content-centric web. Content strategy expert Karen McGrane's gives some great context of why chunks are much better than blobs.
Decoupled approach. CaaS always means separating the front-end (content presentation) from the backend (content storage and delivery). Essentially, this separation of concerns simplifies the CMS architecture: every piece does its own one thing. Separation of content and presentation. This family of CMS no longer imposes any design limitations on the product. It means that a CMS is only used to manage and deliver pure content and the channel-specific client decides about the visual representation of that content. Cloud setup.
CaaS, as a sub-group of SaaS (Software as a service) approach, moves the content from your servers to the vendor's cloud. That means that every CaaS user doesn't have to set up, maintain, and scale the infrastructure on their own — the vendor does that for each of them.Appropriate use cases for CaaSWe often say that there is no silver bullet – no single CMS which would be equally good both for a personal blog and a huge online shop. However, CaaS outperforms its predecessors in some use cases:. Mobile apps content backend. Having content coming into a mobile app from a CaaS CMS is the best way to have dynamic in-app content without having to resubmit the app to the app marketplace.
Also, using an existing solution as a backend is smarter than building your own (we speak from experience). Multi-channel publishing. CaaS CMS is also highly rewarding when content needs to be reused across different platforms: say, you want to push the same content to a website and to mobile apps. Rich web apps. Modern MVC front-end frameworks, such as AngularJS, React and Ember, play nicely with structured content via APIs.
Integrating with existing services and software stacks. There are contexts in which a CMS could help simplify workflows in an existing project: for instance, taking hardcoded content out of HTML pages, and maintaining them with a CMS instead. Since CaaS CMS all provide an API, they are all highly integration-friendly. Highly custom UX.
The CMS of the web age imposed strong design restrictions. Yes, you could fully customize the UI, but building a WordPress-powered web app from scratch is not very likely.
As CaaS job is to simply push content wherever and whenever necessary, designers will be happy not to hear 'not possible' from their fellow developers. Programmatic content creation. When content is already existing and coming from multiple sources, uploading content into one unified repository is ideally supported by creating content via API as well.Pros and consIf CaaS is that good, why isn't everyone using it already? Well, mostly because it's good in some contexts (see the section above) and not so splendid in others.For example, it's not as good for setting up a personal blog. Or it's not as good when you know that you only want to do a website, and that is it. Because the effort is not worth it: there are other solutions, much cheaper and less complicated, for these particular scenarios.
What drives the adoption of CaaS DevelopersMore and more developers encounter the need to have a CaaS solution. Those are either mobile app developers who need a backend to feed their apps with content, or front-end developers who expect to interact with an API. While those technologies have been around for some time, they are becoming increasingly popular, driving the demand for CaaS.
Your Acceptance. By using or visiting the YouTube website or any YouTube products, software, data feeds, and services provided to you on, from, or through the YouTube website (collectively the 'Service') you signify your agreement to (1) these terms and conditions (the 'Terms of Service'), (2) Google's Privacy Policy, found at and incorporated herein by reference, and (3) YouTube's Community Guidelines, found at and also incorporated herein by reference.
If you do not agree to any of these terms, the Google Privacy Policy, or the Community Guidelines, please do not use the Service. Although we may attempt to notify you when major changes are made to these Terms of Service, you should periodically review the most up-to-date version ). YouTube may, in its sole discretion, modify or revise these Terms of Service and policies at any time, and you agree to be bound by such modifications or revisions. Nothing in these Terms of Service shall be deemed to confer any third-party rights or benefits.2.
Service. These Terms of Service apply to all users of the Service, including users who are also contributors of Content on the Service. “Content” includes the text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, audiovisual combinations, interactive features and other materials you may view on, access through, or contribute to the Service. The Service includes all aspects of YouTube, including but not limited to all products, software and services offered via the YouTube website, such as the YouTube channels, the YouTube 'Embeddable Player,' the YouTube 'Uploader' and other applications. The Service may contain links to third party websites that are not owned or controlled by YouTube. YouTube has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third party websites.
In addition, YouTube will not and cannot censor or edit the content of any third-party site. By using the Service, you expressly relieve YouTube from any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party website. Accordingly, we encourage you to be aware when you leave the Service and to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each other website that you visit.3.
YouTube Accounts. In order to access some features of the Service, you will have to create a YouTube or Google Account. You may never use another's account without permission. When creating your account, you must provide accurate and complete information.
You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and you must keep your account password secure. You must notify YouTube immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account. Although YouTube will not be liable for your losses caused by any unauthorized use of your account, you may be liable for the losses of YouTube or others due to such unauthorized use.4.