CMS Made Simple Scaled with Akamai

CMS Made Simple (CMSMS) is a free, open source content management system empowering developers to create highly customizable websites without extensive technical overhead. Supported and maintained by the CMS Made Simple Foundation — and designed for flexibility — it offers full control through HTML, CSS, and a Smarty-based templating engine and integrates easily with third-party PHP applications. As the platform grew and began supporting a global community, the CMSMS Foundation needed reliable, scalable cloud infrastructure to host core services. By moving to Akamai cloud computing services, it gained the performance, support, and cost predictability needed to scale confidently.

In its early days, the CMSMS Foundation had relied on small ISPs. As the organization’s platform matured, the need for reliable infrastructure became clear, and Akamai fit the bill perfectly.

Implementing Akamai’s cloud computing services was smooth, largely due to Akamai’s intuitive platform and responsive support. As a globally distributed volunteer team — typically 15 active members with 3–4 dedicated to infrastructure — the CMSMS Foundation needed to make every minute count. Its server team was experienced, but the organization didn’t want the team to waste time wrestling with infrastructure.

Akamai’s intuitive platform and quality support allowed the organization to focus on advancing its CMS platform rather than troubleshooting its technology stack. 

The foundation also gained ongoing peace of mind, which goes a long way in a small organization. The server team was happy and focused on extending and optimizing its CMS.

Akamai-powered infrastructure does more than host the CMSMS websites — it supports the organization’s entire ecosystem. From forums and documentation to module downloads and theme previews, Akamai cloud computing services powered every touchpoint for CMSMS developers and users worldwide.

Predictable costs are one of the biggest benefits of Akamai’s cloud computing services. 

The nonprofit didn’t mind spending money for value, but it also didn’t like surprises. Since partnering with Akamai, the organization’s budget has been stable. From a technical perspective, Akamai’s scale gave the CMSMS team confidence. In fact, trust became foundational to the organization’s operations. With Akamai’s infrastructure behind the platform, they could expand confidently, knowing performance and reliability would follow. As CMSMS is a volunteer-driven project, this predictability was essential.

CMSMS continues to evolve without chasing fads or bloating the platform. It’s building in a way that allows external AI tools to integrate through forms and APIs. That flexibility makes its platform powerful.

As it continues growing, the organization is confident that Akamai will remain a key part of its technology stack. CMSMS says Akamai is a reliable and trusted partner that it would recommend to any organization managing complex, multisite systems and needing everything to work without friction.

CMS Made Simple is supported and maintained by the CMS Made Simple Foundation. The foundation was incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act in 2018.