Open source content management is still the way to go and we think Umbraco is still the best. Why else do you think we'd be sending Jon to Copenhagen for another 3 day Umbraco annual developer conference?

We've been using Umbraco to underpin all our sites (on web, mobile and tablet) for years now and nothing has changed our mind. It's still the most flexible open source CMS on the Microsoft platform and it's capable of underpinning sites that range from the very small to the incredibly huge and complex. And because it's open source there's no license fee. Yes, NO LICENSE FEE. We think that's pretty awesome.

Umbraco is a full-featured content management system that is easy to use, simple to customize and robust enough to run the largest sites such as wired.co.uk and asp.net. Vogue uses it and so does Heinz, Yell, Hershey's and Take That. In fact 85,000 websites worldwide from global brands to corner shops and anything in between use it too. This makes it one of the most deployed web content management systems on the Microsoft stack.

We like it so much that we became Umbraco Certified Developers a while back. Jon our Development Director heads up the Umbraco team here and besides overseeing it's integration into most of the websites we create, has created a customised version. This platform (we call it Reach) brings together web, mobile, social and tablet so that our clients can publish their content cross platform at the push of a button. We're planning on creating a website for it so that you can see how this works but we've been too busy implementing it so far.

Of course if you'd like to see it in action, drop us a line and we can demo it to you at your place, at ours, or even over the phone.

If you don't use Umbraco to manage your digital content yet, here's our top 10 reasons for recommending it:

1. It's open source of course

This means no license and you're not tied in to one particular company or agency) for ongoing support and development. Yes, you can shop around if you really want to. But not all Umbraco developers are as good as us.

2. Simple but powerful

This means it's intuitive and easy to use despite the fact that it has a powerful and feature-rich core. The new v.5 release is coming soon and will be packed with loads of new features and upgrades.

3. Limitless design

Unlike so many others, Umbraco does not provide any default visual or structural templates so we can apply it to any design our client's want.

4. Extensible and expandable

It uses plug-ins so that we, as developers, can enhance the core functionality of Umbraco. E.g. Google Analytics integration, Map API's or Blogs or many other, even bespoke, plug in.

5. Accessible content creation

Ah, we love this one because it means we can meet any accessibility requirements we need to, for example W3C.

6. Intuitive content creation

Umbraco simplifies the creation of new content by maintaining minimal, simplistic, and context-sensitive functionality throughout the content publishing process. Users are only presented with relevant and useful options when creating or editing content.

7. Works everywhere

Yes, you can even update your website at the shopping centre if you want. It's cross-browser and cross-platform compatible.

8. Microsoft Word integration

If you need it although you really don't have to because of the web based WYSIWYG editor but sometimes it's just more convenient to use a desktop program to write your content off-line then upload when reconnected.

9. Dedicated media library

Images, docs, videos and flash files stored in the media library, are instantly available everywhere in Umbraco. Upload once use many times. Nice.

10. Built on Microsoft .NET

It is and it uses a  SQL Server database, and XSLT. It supports both custom and web user controls, Ajax , a framework  for dynamic content and javascript, and XSLT for creating dynamic lists.

If you're not on Umbraco already we can get you hooked up. You don't need to redevelop your website, we can integrate it into your existing site if you prefer.

Jon really is heading off to Denmark in a few weeks to check out the latest version release and hook up with the who's who of the Umbraco community. We'll let you know how he gets on and what's new.