We launched a new Website this week. It has plenty of bells and whistles and some cool technology that I’ve always admired on other sites. After the launch – and the requisite champagne toast – something smacked me upside the head.

This site is an example of an important inflection point.

Why? Because we conceived, designed & built this site in about 3 weeks. We didn’t have an interactive agency. A horde of programmers. Consultants. Contractors. Just us.

The reason this was doable is because our new site is built on an open-source WordPress platform, a template we tweaked and improved, plus an bazillion readily available plug-ins that nixed the need to hand-craft advanced features, bells and whistles — and important management tools (such as SEO optimization). Instead of getting out the coding book, we spent our time deciding which sets of features and capabilities addressed our visitors’ needs.

Oh, and one other thing. Designs, layouts, color palettes and cool doodads can be changed at the drop of a hat. Site management is a snap – and so is the document management system.

The ability to build a Website on a high speed, low drag basis is going to be a huge boon for small and medium sized companies – and a nightmare scenario for Web teams running large corporate sites.

Think of all of those stakeholders who are tired of plodding along behind dotcom Web teams who either can’t or won’t move into the next generation. Forget the need for a maxi budget to throw at an interactive agency. Endless iterations of cool ideas that take forever to wade through – and are then deemed too difficult to execute.

Envision a world where stakeholders’ can design, develop and launch their own sites below the governance and budget radars. Campaign microsites. Marketing side zones. Mini-communities. You name it.

Yep, every dotcom team’s nightmare.

And here’s another inflection point worth throwing into the mix. Once upon a time, only the well heeled could afford the skilled teams and technical experts necessary to create and keep up with innovations that changed the rules of the game. Now, the playing field is leveling. Every company can, and will, look like a major player on the Web.

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