DotNetNuke rebrands to DNN Evoq, focuses on business solutions + platform

DotNetNuke is no more. The  Platform has now been re-branded to DNN with a renewed focus on its platform for developers and a set of content and social solutions now referred to as DNN Evoq.

What's in a Name Change?

It's not unusual for an organization to go through a rebranding effort. After all, for a company like DNN, which has been around for over 10 years, times change and it's important to keep focus on what's most important (or you can easily get lost in the pile of competing vendors).Changing the name from DotNetNuke to DNN isn't really a stretch. Most of us have been referring to the company as DNN for a while. But now it's official and for DNN, the intent is to show it is evolving with the changing market.

DNN is healthy. It has over 1 million members in its community, with 8 million downloads to date of its open source .NET-based web content management platform. It also has a professional edition which supports over 2,000 customers and its growing. According to Will Morgenweck, DNN VP Product Management, the model is working really well. But Morgenweck acknowledges that things are changing, that people are less loyal, less patient and less engaged and organizations are struggling. This means the product needs to adapt to meet the needs of these organizations.

And there's another reality here. DNN is not just talking developers anymore, but to the business, and technology isn't top of the list of discussion points. So while DNN has been successful in its work with the developer market, it needs to also focus on the business, and that means solutions.

The change in brand, is really just a name change. Morgenweck says they wanted to remove the "dot net" reference to move away a from a technical reference, but stay true to their roots at the same time. And apparently, its community has been pushing it to reebrand to DNN for a while now.

The brand now works like this:

• DNN platform — this is the open source community edition

Then under the DNN Evoq Suite of applications, you get:

• Evoq Social — this is the new DNN social solution introduced last month
• Evoq Content — this is the professional edition of DNN

Note that Evoq is pronounced "evoke" and according to Dennis Shiao, DNN Director of Product Marketing, is meant to to be simple, unique and suggestive of empowerment, creativity and imagination. It's also short and memorable.

The pricing is still the same, the DNN platform and solutions can be deployed anywhere and for any purpose (internet, intranet, extranet or otherwise known as marketing, collaboration, support, commerce, etc..)

Some Updates to DNN

Of course, with a name change can come some new features. And that's just what is happening here. So what's new and improved?

• A New File Manager: Replacing the old file management module, it's now even easier to work with rich media
• More secure: Although DNN is secure by default, new password features enforce best practices for password naming, resetting are in place. There's also a new common passwords list that is continually updated.
• Optimized SEO: URLs are cleaner, simplified, there is improved 404 handling and it's easier to spot 404s