Articles - Page 141

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

This week, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/?s=acquia"> Acquia</a> – a leading open source digital experience platform – rolled out an enhanced version of its digital asset management (DAM) platform, offering customers new integrations and API connectivity to further boost their digital experiences.
“Content is at the core of any exceptional digital experience,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeathey/" target="_blank">Jake Athey</a>, VP of Sales and Marketing for Acquia DAM and PIM. “Acquia DAM enables organizations of all sizes to maximize the value of their content by connecting to other software solutions, including a DXP, via built-in integrations or API. Our newest integrations with widely used tools as Shopify, Asana, and Monday.com make content more secure, extensible, accessible, and trackable across a brand’s digital properties.”
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/platform/digital-asset-management" target="_blank">Acquia DAM</a> works within the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/platform/acquia-dxp" target="_blank">Acquia DXP</a> (powered by the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-introduces-composable-enterprise-features-in-latest-version-of-dxp/">Drupal Cloud and Marketing Cloud</a> ecosystem) to push out content across many different channels. With many of today's marketers utilizing images, audio files, and video files for the majority of their content creation, housing those large file assets in the DAM makes searching and accessing them much easier, especially for marketing teams that might be located in different offices.
<h2>What to expect from Acquia DAM</h2>
With the new enhancements, Acquia DAM is now able to integrate with the following:
<ul>
<li>Airtable: Enables customers to use DAM assets to build collaborative applications in Airtable.</li>
<li>Asana: Adds finished assets to the DAM once projects are completed.</li>
<li>Google Sheets: Allows customers to connect their DAM with Google Sheets to capture and use metadata about content, such as when an asset was published and by whom.</li>
<li>HubSpot: New or updated assets in Acquia DAM can be copied into HubSpot. Customers may also choose to set security in HubSpot for all assets or groups of assets managed by the DAM.</li>
<li>Monday.com: Adds finished assets to Acquia DAM once projects are completed.</li>
<li>Optimizely: Connects the DAM to Optimizely content management systems (CMS).</li>
<li>Shopify: Syncs content assets and metadata from Acquia DAM, as well as all product details from Acquia’s product information management (PIM) system to Shopify to support e-commerce deployments.</li>
<li>Slack: Permits users to access Acquia DAM files from their Slack messaging platform.</li>
<li>Smartsheet: Connects Smartsheet and Acquia to automatically sync new or updated assets and metadata from Smartsheet to the DAM.</li>
<li>Templafy: Allows access to brand-approved assets from Acquia DAM within the Templafy document generation platform.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Built on the legacy Widen DAM</h2>
In September 2021, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/">Acquia announced</a> it would acquire Widen, a DAM vendor. Widen had strong brand recognition among enterprise-level organizations and a well-established following, making it a great addition to Acquia's expanding digital experience platform.
After rebranding to Acquia DAM, Acquia has continued to make improvements and provide additional API connectivity for its DAM system.
<h2>Other enhancements to Acquia DXP</h2>
In late December 2022, <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221222005228/en/Acquia-Launches-Enhancements-to-Market-Leading-Customer-Data-Platform" target="_blank">Acquia also released enhancements</a> to its customer data platform, including a unified data layer, an integration with Acquia DAM, and direct SQL access. In that news release, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimidelson/" target="_blank">Jim Idelson</a> – vice president of product for Acquia CDP – promised additional integrations, which are now coming to fruition.
“A key tenet of any composable digital experience strategy is ability to work with data across systems,” said Idelson. “We look for every opportunity to expand integrations between Acquia CDP and other martech systems, and to make it easy for organizations to make full use of their data while respecting the privacy and preferences of their own customers. In 2023, you’ll see additional enhancements from Acquia designed to support customer self-service and broader integrations.”
Acquia’s updates in the last several years have brought its DXP into <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/gartner-dxp-magic-quadrant" target="_blank">the Leader category</a> of the Gartner Magic Quadrant, along with the likes of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-cloud-adds-new-headless-cms-capabilities-updates-to-commerce-integration/">Adobe</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-partners-with-google-cloud-to-take-experimentation-to-the-next-level/">Optimizely</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-announces-updates-to-product-suite-enhances-composable-features-and-innovation-from-acquisitions/">Sitecore</a>.  
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
Acquia empowers the world’s most ambitious brands to create digital customer experiences that matter. With open source Drupal at its core, the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers, and IT operations teams at thousands of global organizations to rapidly compose and deploy digital products and services that leverage their content and data assets to engage customers personally and at scale, enhance conversions, and help businesses stand out. Learn more at <a href="https://acquia.com" target="_blank">https://acquia.com</a>.

Acquia Announces New Integrations as Part of Its Enhanced Digital Asset Management System

mk-patterson

They say March comes in like a lion – and the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH Alliance</a> is roaring.  
This month, the organization has again expanded its ranks, adding four new members. The freshman roster includes <a href="https://reachfive.com/" target="_blank">ReachFive</a>, <a href="https://www.trbo.com/en/" target="_blank">trbo</a>, <a href="https://xtm.cloud/" target="_blank">XTM International</a> and <a href="https://www.yext.com/" target="_blank">Yext</a>.
With this expansion, the Alliance boasts over 80 members, including 33 MACH tech vendors (ISVs), 15 startup ISVs, 27 system integrators, and seven enablers. You can check out <a href="https://machalliance.org/members" target="_blank">the complete list here.</a>
<h2>Welcome to the MACH Party</h2>
<a href="https://www.forrester.com/blogs/buy-an-integrated-platform-not-a-box-of-rocks/" target="_blank">Forrester’s Joe Cicman</a> had it right when he first described the MACH Alliance as the bouncers controlling the velvet rope at the entrance of the "Coolest Tech Club in Town." What he said then still rings true: the wind is at their backs as the market shifts to more composable, MACH-oriented solutions. 
Since its inception in 2020, the MACH Alliance has been growing quickly, each year more than doubling its membership. While we’re still early in 2023, the Alliance has already named eight new members in <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adyen-commerce-layer-and-pipe17-named-newest-members-of-mach-alliance/">January</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-adds-four-new-members-vultr-dept-mapp-and-fulfillmenttools/">February</a>, in addition to this latest crop in March.
Given the amount of market interest and social energy the Alliance is generating – from its recent <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mach-haus-new-york-during-nrf-at-glasshouse-chelsea-tickets-483069683427" target="_blank">MACH Haus New York event at NRF</a> to its forthcoming <a href="https://register.machalliance.org/en-us/mach-two#:~:text=Amsterdam%20%2D%20June%2013%20%2D%2014,through%20which%20to%20inspire%20others." target="_blank">MACH Two in Amsterdam</a> this June – we’re likely to see more members join its exclusive list.
To learn more about current members and their composable solutions, check out the newly minted <a href="https://the.machalliance.org/book/" target="_blank">MACH Book</a>, which launched last month. It's a compendium of resources that includes preambles from the organization's founders, a timeline of its growth and expansion, and a detailed overview of each member within the ecosystem.
The party doesn't show any signs of stopping. At the end of March, the MACH Alliance is hosting <a href="https://machalliance.org/machevents/mach-haus-las-vegas" target="_blank">MACH Haus Las Vegas</a>, held in conjunction with <a href="https://shoptalk.com/us" target="_blank">Shoptalk U.S.</a> Serving as a follow-up to the MACH Haus NYC event, the Vegas venue will feature networking and learning opportunities at one of the largest retail conferences in the world.
<h2>New Kids on the MACH</h2>
While the four newest additions to the MACH Alliance offer unique services, they all maintain the “MACHian manifesto” and identify as being microservices based, API-first, cloud native, and headless (MACH).
Get to know each of new members:
ReachFive
The ReachFive Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) solution enables brands and retailers to securely manage their customers’ identities, preferences, and consents across all channels, markets, and sectors of activity. The Paris-based platform helps users to curate the perfect balance of security, authentication, and user experience – and can easily integrate into a modular ecosystem.
trbo
Hailing from Munich, trbo drives powerful, AI-driven onsite personalization, optimization, and testing capabilities – enabling users to serve recommendations down to the individual level using machine learning capabilities. Founded in 2013, trbo has delivered cohesive and detailed personalization, helping organizations connect with their online customers through each step in the process from selection to checkout.
XTM International
XTM International helps enterprise organizations reach global markets more efficiently with its XTM Cloud. The web-based platform was launched in the United Kingdom in 2002 to help automate and manage web content to meet the rapidly evolving demands of globalization. XTM's translation management system is trusted by customers across the globe and recognized as a best-of-breed platform for reaching a range of audiences.
Yext 
Yext is a composable digital experience platform (DXP) with complementary AI-enabled products. Based out of New York, the platform offers flexible, out-of-the-box integration capabilities that allow customers to build individually personalized tech stacks. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcferrentino/" target="_blank">Marc Ferrentino</a>, President and Chief Operating Officer at Yext, had this to say about the news:
"We're excited to partner with other members of the MACH Alliance as we encourage the transition away from legacy, monolithic infrastructure to best-of-breed technology ecosystems that provide the agility to remain relevant as business strategies evolve and customer needs change. For years, we've innovated and built our Answers Platform with robust out-of-the-box integrations and an open MACH architecture. Now we have an industry certification to prove it. Our customers can look at our membership in the MACH Alliance and confidently know that they can use Yext products with their CDP, commerce platform, business intelligence tools, and more."
<h2>About MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members or otherwise. The Alliance was formed in June 2020 to help enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website.
The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts with the same vision for the future. Learn more at machalliance.org, read here about MACH certification and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/MACHAlliance" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/machalliance/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>.

ReachFive, trbo, XTM International, and Yext Join MACH Alliance

New MACH Alliance members logos from March 2023 featuring ReachFive, trbo, XTM, and Yext.

Spring is in full bloom across the Northern Hemisphere – and so is the "composable" movement. The phenomenon has spread like pollen, germinating in almost every conversation about the future of CMS.
That was certainly the case in January at the <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff24" target="_blank">Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff</a> in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-kickoff-2023-draws-global-attendees-focuses-on-the-future-of-content-and-composable/">"Great Debate"</a> over composable played throughout the sessions. 
As you dodge the discomfort of allergies, you might wonder: how much attention is being paid to this composable stuff?
According to <a href="https://www.zengenti.com/" target="_blank">Zengenti</a>, the company behind <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contensis-cms-looks-ahead-with-headless-focuses-on-performance-interview-with-ceo-richard-chivers/">Contensis CMS</a>, part of the answer lies with Google. Based on recent monitoring, the search volume for the keyword phrase “composable CMS” has doubled – or even tripled – over the last few months, reflecting a sharp rise in the market's interest. 
<h2>So what’s the buzz about?</h2>
For more detail on how the honey was made, Zengenti provided a peek inside the beehive.
In data collected between November 2022 and January 2023, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/google-announces-sunset-of-google-optimize-and-optimize-360/">Google</a> searches for the term “composable CMS” were up by a substantial 300% in the United Kingdom and 150% in the United States. The sampling was tracked using the <a href="https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7337243?hl=en" target="_blank">Google Keyword Planner</a>, and Zengenti applied the query to 15 different countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
While the U.K. and the U.S. realized the most dramatic increase, Germany also doubled its percentage from previous months. When applied to all 15 countries, the total global uptick was 143%.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-chivers-34a36b11/" target="_blank">Richard Chivers</a>, chief executive officer of Zengenti, weighed in on the buzzworthy increases.
“While the term ‘composable’ in the context of digital systems and content management has been around for a couple of years, we are now seeing it enter our combined consciousness on a much greater scale,” Chivers said. “It’s not surprising. We believe that as an agile-aligned technology, it will be transformative for enterprises of all sizes, ushering in a period of even greater and more rapid digital innovation.”
<h2>What is a composable CMS?</h2>
A <a href="https://enonic.com/blog/composable-architecture-the-cms-as-your-digital-experience-orchestrator#:~:text=A%20composable%20CMS%20is%20the,and%20can%20be%20continuously%20improved." target="_blank">composable CMS</a> is an API-driven content management system that marshals the capabilities of a headless CMS with an API orchestrator – sometimes referred to as a composer – all in one. Rather than behaving as just another endpoint in an API-based ecosystem, a composable CMS helps teams work more efficiently by eliminating the monolithic vendor limitations while still enabling integrations with other platforms.
Unlike a composable DXP, which includes headless CMS as a layer and an endpoint, a composable CMS might also provide traditional functionality that marketers rely on for websites – such as in-context previews, inline visual editing via WYSIWYG, and more – all while handling integrations and APIs. 
“For many site owners, particularly those in medium and large businesses, they are operating dynamic websites with multiple third-party integrations, and with multiple technologies co-existing in different programming languages,” said Chivers. “Embracing composable systems will make it much easier to give oversight and complete control to rapidly set new features live or roll-back functionality."
Experts believe <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-roundtable-focuses-on-composability-and-innovation-as-economic-activators-in-2023/">composability</a> will be one of the defining technology trends of 2023, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Is-composable-business-the-most-essential-technology-trend-to-meet-the-challenges-of-2023-and-beyond" target="_blank">including Gartner</a>, which believes 70% of medium and large businesses will feature it as a key criterion when planning applications this year.
As global markets remain unsettled – and the likelihood of a recession looms on the horizon – many businesses are focusing on optimization and productivity across their digital properties. While investments in enterprise software are already softening, composable solutions are presenting an opportunity to improve agility and accelerate time to market for content and digital experiences. 
"Especially at a time of economic uncertainty, [composable CMS] makes it possible for businesses to be more agile," said Chivers, "giving customers what they want quickly all while delivering a better experience.”
The hive mind is certainly buzzing with interest in composability. Will it continue to bloom in 2023?
In the recently published <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/webinar/445907/1051512" target="_blank">Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXPs</a>, it's evident that many of the same vendors are still dominating the leadership quadrant – and embracing a composable position. How will that impact evaluations and decision-making for CMS platforms, particularly as the composable CMSes become a more attractive play?
Maybe when the pollen clears, we'll see what's ahead. Stay tuned. 
<h2>About Zengenti</h2>
UK-based company, Zengenti, is the creator of Contensis. Contensis is a headless Content Management System (CMS) with an integrated deployment platform. Contensis provides a single place to create, maintain and deliver content. Its content modeling, authoring, and governance features help teams to create and keep on top of well-structured content. Open APIs make integrating with leading platforms and products easy to deliver immersive digital experiences for audiences. Contensis powers websites for world-leading organizations across various industries, such as higher education, local government, and the private sector.

Composable CMS Gains Traction as Google Search Volume Triples in Recent Months

Composable CMS as a keyword search term in Google

Over the last two years, we've covered a lot of insights published by the <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=1474142029&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machalliance.org%2F&amp;a=MACH+Alliance" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> as it continues to chart the course for composable.
While the Alliance represents a group of independent tech companies advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems, it has also become a trusted source for data and trends impacting the trajectory of MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, Headless). This is driven by a cabal of thought leaders and industry experts tracking the movement of everything from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a> to the emergence of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/is-the-birth-of-dxc-the-death-of-dxp-a-conversation-with-darren-guarnaccia-president-at-uniform/">DXC</a>.
This week, the MACH Alliance published the results of its third-annual <a href="https://machalliance.org/assets/pdf/mach-global-research%202023.pdf" target="_blank">Enterprise MACHified research</a> conducted by independent firm <a href="https://melresearch.co.uk/" target="_blank">MEL Research</a> in December and January. The charter was clear: gain a deeper understanding of how MACH investments have accelerated over the past 12 months and how these investments impact organizations as they face the headwinds of a challenging economy – or even the specter of a global recession.  
The study surveyed 500 tech leaders from Australia, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. The research indicates an urgency to innovate in a rapidly changing business environment – with MACH as a key mechanism for responding to economic volatility.
<h2>MACH-advanced companies move faster</h2>
According to the research, four in five decision-makers state that economic volatility has impacted their organizational attitudes toward MACH. This has been a key driver behind a major shift in planning and technology investments, with 85 percent of organizations increasing their MACH infrastructure in the past 12 months.
These companies cite multiple benefits to MACH, including the ability to respond to market changes faster, build and implement new functionality quicker, and reduce costs. The study also reveals that they’re more likely to say their infrastructure is keeping up with customer demands and that they’re ahead of their competition than those with lower MACH adoption rates.
<h2>The US is catching up with Europe</h2>
Regarding MACH adoption, there has been an established disparity between the European and United States markets – but that appears to be shifting as the US gains ground. 
According to the research, a lack of board or leadership support is more likely to be a barrier to MACH adoption in the US than in the overall sample (32% versus 27%). This could signal that MACH faces a perception challenge in the US among non-IT professionals, indicating the need for education and awareness to highlight its value and benefits.
At the same time, US organizations that believe they are significantly ahead of their competition are more likely to have increased the proportion of MACH within their infrastructure (47 percent) than those who haven’t (26 percent).
While the survey shows a decline in the proportion of budgets that are being spent on technology upgrades since 2022 in the UK and Germany (from 39 percent to 32 percent in the UK, and from 36 percent to 31 percent in Germany), this has increased in the US (from 37 percent to 41 percent).
Companies in the US also report the largest proportion of legacy tech. On average, 41 percent of IT ecosystems are still considered legacy, establishing a clear need for tools enabling them to improve and upgrade infrastructures at greater speed.
<h2>Time and money spent on upgrades is an expensive ongoing problem</h2>
In the economic vein, the new research uncovered that not much has changed from a year ago regarding the time and money spent on upgrade projects.
Upgrading is a burden that organizations are struggling to solve, and over a quarter are running over 20 projects each year. One in five spend over half of their IT budget on upgrades, and the same number say upgrades take up over half of their IT teams’ time.
In 2021, respondents said 40 percent of their teams’ time was spent delivering front-office upgrades, indicating that the impact of operating with outdated tech is snowballing.
<a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-01-18-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-it-spending-to-grow-2-percent-in-2023" target="_blank">Gartner has forecast that</a> global enterprises will spend about $856 billion on software in 2023. If a quarter of that was spent on upgrades, it would represent more than $200 billion that could be spent on innovation and improvement of digital experiences. 
<h2>Investment is increasingly moving from front-end to back-end</h2>
The research also found front-end solutions are still receiving the most focus for investment. However, this is changing year over year. While 54 percent prioritized front-end investment in the 2022 report, just 39 percent stated this in 2023.
“The data tells us that too many companies are stuck keeping the upgrade wheel turning," said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">Casper Rasmussen</a>, MACH Alliance President. "If you add the cost of time and business stands still, the absolute cost is much higher. At the same time, fewer companies see themselves as agile early adopters, and fewer also see themselves as being ahead of the competition compared to our research a year ago."
In countries interviewed in the 2022 and 2023 reports, the proportion that believe their front-office infrastructure is ahead of the competition has fallen from 75 percent to 68 percent. Organizations with 25,000 or more employees also have the lowest adoption of MACH in their front-end infrastructure – and take a more long-term view on making MACH investments.
“The pace of transformation is relentless, but the cost of not innovating is much higher," said Rasmussen. "While transitioning to MACH is no small undertaking, continuing the status quo is an ongoing, big undertaking, especially for larger organizations, which needs addressing. We’re not going to wipe legacy out of the picture overnight. However, those moving toward MACH are better equipped to mitigate future obstacles.”
<h2>What’s ahead and methodology </h2>
The report was executed by independent market research leader MEL Research. Respondent titles included CIO, CTO, Vice President, Senior Vice President, and Senior Manager. All represent organizations with at least 5,000 employees and have a revenue of at least $500 million annually.
You can <a href="https://machalliance.org/assets/pdf/mach-global-research%202023.pdf" target="_blank">download the full report</a> and review a detailed <a href="https://machalliance.org/assets/pdf/2023-annual-research-infographic.pdf" target="_blank">infographic</a> that covers the findings.
You can also schedule a meeting with MACH Alliance leadership at <a href="https://shoptalk.com/" target="_blank">ShopTalk 2023</a> in Las Vegas to learn more about the research. The Alliance will be hosting several days of networking, educational sessions, podcasting, and more at the <a href="https://machalliance.org/machevents/mach-haus-las-vegas" target="_blank">MACH HAUS</a> located in the Delano Hotel, adjacent to Mandalay Bay where ShopTalk will take place.
Email press team member Megan Lampros to arrange a meeting: <a href="mailto:megan.lampros@machalliance.org">megan.lampros@machalliance.org</a>.
<h2>About the MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization, governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members or otherwise. The Alliance was formed in June 2020 to help enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website.
The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts who share the same vision for the future. Learn more at <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=349526954&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fmachalliance.org%252F%26esheet%3D52478831%26newsitemid%3D20210818005487%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3Dmachalliance.org%26index%3D5%26md5%3Ddb9d7bdff8c8646152c1923d3ff4adc2&amp;a=%C2%A0machalliance.org" target="_blank">machalliance.org</a>, read here about <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=1674984232&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fmachalliance.org%252Fblogdetail%252Fbltfc0a3afbca44303e%26esheet%3D52478831%26newsitemid%3D20210818005487%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3DMACH%2Bcertification%26index%3D6%26md5%3Dba1c5d6e1bf42963a3a8bb59771d09da&amp;a=%C2%A0MACH+certification" target="_blank">MACH certification</a> and follow us on <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3749828-1&amp;h=3336969077&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.twitter.com%252Fmachalliance%26esheet%3D52478831%26newsitemid%3D20210818005487%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3DTwitter%26index%3D7%26md5%3Ddfeea3f8422d14d51b860d90329a6837&amp;a=%C2%A0Twitter" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/machalliance/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>.

MACH Alliance Releases Survey from Global IT Leaders Analyzing Impact from MACH Investments

cms-critic-staff

What's the story with CMS in 2023? Ask <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/" target="_blank">Storyblok</a>.
The headless CMS vendor just published a compelling set of <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/lp/state-of-cms-2023-global" target="_blank">reports</a> about the current state of CMS, reflecting respondents' opinions across 7 countries.
The studies offer interesting data on the most popular content management systems, the pain points and features driving users to new systems, and how organizations plan to change and improve their CMS.
Storyblok published "The State of CMS 2023" global report in February, featuring survey data from 1,639 respondents. Last week, it offered <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/lp/state-of-cms-2023-united-states" target="_blank">a focused US edition</a> reflecting the opinions of 624 respondents. Both samples shed light on various topics, including how users leverage their CMS, which teams represent the largest portion of users, and whether they anticipate using their CMS in the future.
<h2>Monoliths are still winning the popularity contest</h2>
Based on Storyblok's research, platforms like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-cloud-adds-new-headless-cms-capabilities-updates-to-commerce-integration/">Adobe</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wordpress-keeps-classical-editor-alive-acquires-frontity-to-expand-headless-capabilities/">WordPress</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reviews/webflow-review-hybrid-website-builder-and-cms-bridges-the-design-code-chasm/">Webflow</a> remain the leading CMS choices among respondents. It's worth noting that while WordPress continues to own the largest market share as an open source CMS, other vendors like Adobe are considered DXPs – which include CMS as part of their stack. 
In the research, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless</a> accounted for 36% of CMSes. Headless architecture is still a much newer application of content management, and Storyblok hypothesized that lower adoption rates might be due to a lack of knowledge – particularly in the US.
Storyblok also noted that there had been a marginal increase in the percentage of those surveyed using a headless CMS and a marginal decrease in those using a monolithic CMS since its previous <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/lp/state-of-content-management" target="_blank">2022 State of CMS</a> report.
Other data pointed to US respondents as being more receptive to trying a new CMS for proof of concept – suggesting that headless adoption rates might change if they received more exposure to headless concepts. 
Also worth noting: users seem to be "keeping the faith" in their current CMS. Accoring to the research, 87% percent of respondents believe their current system will be effective in the coming years.
<h2>Omnichannel is driving a multi-CMS model</h2>
In the U.S. data, 42% of respondents reported utilizing more than one CMS, indicating that one system might not meet the needs of different departments or functions within a company. However, 44% said they utilized only one CMS – nearly an even split. 
Of those utilizing only one CMS, most respondents indicated two to three teams within their organization are using the same CMS, with marketing and sales dominating that usage.
Because there was a strong quotient of organizations using more than one CMS, the study's analysis contends that one CMS cannot satisfy the needs of each department, and functionality might be limited with a monolithic approach.
Respondents to the study said their CMS is used most prolifically for websites, mobile apps, and eCommerce. In a change from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/storybloks-cms-report-shows-enterprises-are-still-scared-of-omnichannel-content-experiences/">last year’s study</a>, the third most listed reason for organizations to use more than one CMS was to satisfy the need for omnichannel content – a decisive indication that additional multimedia channels are gaining importance in traditional marketing strategies.
<h2>Customers using headless CMS reported satisfaction</h2>
Those surveyed who had switched to a headless CMS overwhelmingly reported satisfaction with their choice. The leading reason: headless CMS is “time-saving." Increased ROI and traffic were also listed as top reasons (among others).
While monolithic platforms may still have the upper hand, headless is clearly gaining ground. The need for omnichannel content has also crept up as the role of marketing to consumers continues to shift. With headless CMSes promising great opportunity in this space, it’s something to watch before the next State of CMS drops.
"The State of the CMS 2023" reports offer relevant and revealing data about the trends in the CMS market – and are well worth a read. You can download them at the links below:
<a href="https://www.storyblok.com/lp/state-of-cms-2023-global" target="_blank">The State of the CMS 2023 Report</a>
<a href="https://www.storyblok.com/lp/state-of-cms-2023-united-states" target="_blank">The State of the CMS 2023: United States Report</a>
<h2>About Storyblok</h2>
Storyblok is a next-generation headless content management system revolutionizing how storytelling scales. With an API-first approach, it helps users create and scale content to any digital channel. Features like the visual editor and digital asset manager mean content creators can work independently. The power of headless’s best-of-breed approach also means that developers can build a perfectly customized tech stack, all protected by Storyblok’s ISO 27001 security certification. Add the benefit of Storyblok’s advanced collaboration suite, and all these teams can come together to work together directly within the CMS. In a constantly changing world with more user experience demands than ever before, brands such as Netflix, T-Mobile, and MindValley trust Storyblok to provide secure, personalized experiences to their users.

Storyblok Publishes Reports on the State of CMS in 2023, Reveals Insights on US and Global Markets

Storyblok State of CMS 2023 graphic and logo

Over the past four years, I’ve been leading an effort to transform our organization’s approach to content. That includes everything from how our team is structured, to how we work, to the content itself.
There are many things that go into a great content strategy. Some of those – CMS, governance, and workflow – get significant airtime. However, I’ve found the most critical factor in delivering a successful content strategy is a high-performing team.
This topic is often overlooked, and it shouldn’t be. As the leader of a high-performing content team, I hope that sharing some of my insights and best practices will help others develop their own teams.
<h2>Anchor to your organization’s purpose </h2>
At <a href="https://www.jnj.com/" target="_blank">Johnson &amp; Johnson (J&amp;J)</a>, purpose is a big deal. J&amp;J’s purpose is to change the trajectory of health for humanity. That’s a tall order and is taken seriously among our thousands of employees across the world. My team creates content to help J&amp;J employees solve problems related to HR, payroll, finance and procurement. We help power the people who are delivering on our purpose.
If our content doesn’t meet our users’ needs, it creates inefficiency, which takes them away from the lab or manufacturing line or out of the operating room. When our content is clear, concise, and accurate, our people quickly get back to work helping patients and healthcare providers.
We anchor to this purpose in everything we do because it connects the work we do to something bigger. Without this purpose, we’re just publishing words on a page.
If your organization doesn’t have a clearly defined purpose, create one. Consider what problem your content is solving, why it’s an important problem to solve and how that connects to your work and the motivation of the team.
<h2>Get creative with roles and talent strategy</h2>
When we began our transformation journey several years ago, we focused on solving some immediate challenges, but also drew inspiration from where we wanted to be in the future:
<ul>
<li>We needed to drive more consistency in our content and in our execution.</li>
<li>We needed a deep understanding of our overall business strategy.</li>
<li>We needed the ability to push back and get our stakeholders comfortable with a different approach to content.</li>
</ul>
This thinking led to the creation of a few critical roles in our team:
<ul>
<li>Content Success (think customer success managers but focused on content): Roles that partner with our stakeholders and users to understand their content needs, assess content performance, and steer the content strategy.</li>
<li>Content Standards: Roles that focus on content standards and governance, actively managing and evolving our content standards, while taking steps to ensure we’re following our standards and course correct when we’re not.</li>
<li>Content Execution: Squads that specialize in different types of content. We deal with everything from formal process documentation to intranet content, to chatbot content. These are different types of content that require different skills and strengths.</li>
</ul>
It’s also important to think creatively about sourcing talent. People without content management experience may still be ideal candidates for certain roles. For example, content success roles may be better suited for someone with deep knowledge of the business.
We’ve also had success recruiting from analogous roles in other fields. People with an instructional design background play well across all of our roles. When it comes to content execution roles, we’ve hired people from our contact center, where they gained experience talking with our employees every day and understanding what they need.
<h2>Establish and reinforce core behaviors to drive successful outcomes</h2>
We’ve established some core behaviors that are critical to the team’s success. These include things like ask why, solve the right problem, improve the right content, take ownership and improvise. These core behaviors focus on things we need to get better at or need to do more of to achieve our goals.
We reinforce these core behaviors as part of our recognition program and talent development discussions. When we recognize someone for great work, we talk specifically about which core behaviors they’re demonstrating.
My personal favorite core behavior is “improvise.” Things are changing so rapidly in our business that our standard processes sometimes fail. When that happens, being able to improvise and make judgment calls in the moment, becomes more important.
<h2>Keep the user at the center</h2>
When we stay close to our users, it ensures that we’re spending time and energy on the right content (one of our core behaviors). We are lucky to have dedicated experience design professionals at J&amp;J and have had the opportunity to partner with them to help us better understand our users’ needs.
This has been critical to helping us ensure we’re meeting the needs of our users and gives us actionable insights so we can course correct when needed. We’ve also gone through design thinking immersion together as a team, which has helped us develop creative solutions and ensure we’re solving the right problem (another one of our core behaviors).
<h2>It’s all about the team</h2>
It takes a great team to be successful at this kind of transformation. It takes a team with a growth mindset, willing to try new things and fail and try again.
I want to extend a big thank you to the content team at J&amp;J. While I’m the one writing this article, this is their story, and all credit belongs to them.
<h3>About <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-spenceley-7058a312/" target="_blank">Mike Spenceley</a></h3>
I’ve been working in the content, knowledge management and communications space in some capacity for most of my career. While I don’t describe myself as a content professional, I am a problem seeker and solver who found a niche in the content space. I currently lead a content team at J&amp;J, where I’ve been for the past six years. Before that I spent 10 years at PwC.
<h3>About Johnson &amp; Johnson</h3>
At Johnson &amp; Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That’s why for more than 135 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world’s largest, most diversified healthcare products company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity.

What It Takes to Build a High-Performing Content Team

michael-spenceley

Illustration of content team working together on developing web content

This week, the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">MACH Alliance</a> announced the addition of two new members: <a href="https://www.onestock-retail.com/en/" target="_blank">OneStock</a>, an ISV, and <a href="https://edg.io/company/about-us/" target="_blank">Edgio</a>, joining as an "Enabler" member. This brings the Alliance's membership total to 80 organizations. 
“Our MACH Certification gives enterprises confidence they are choosing best-in-class vendors that can deliver future-proof technology,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/casper-aagaard-rasmussen/" target="_blank">Casper Rasmussen</a>, president of the MACH Alliance. “With order management central to all channels working together in e-commerce, MACH-based order management provides the flexibility needed as fulfillment becomes more complex.”
<h2>OneStock powers omnichannel order management</h2>
OneStock is a France-based company that touts a composable omnichannel order management solution. OneStock helps retailers, manufacturers, and B2B companies streamline their inventory flow through API functionality – providing greater agility through composable commerce.
“We are delighted to be joining the MACH Alliance, which shares a common vision of excellence in delivering the best possible experience for customers,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/romulusgrigoras/" target="_blank">Romulus Grigoras</a>, co-founder and CEO of OneStock. “Our OMS has been ‘MACH’ built from the origin of OneStock, back in 2015. We can’t wait to work with the other members of the Alliance to continue building the future of frictionless commerce.”
<h2>Edgio enables MACH principles</h2>
Edgio is a content delivery network (CDN) that provides global scale and edge-enabled solutions. Its technology helps businesses meet the growing consumer demand for fast, secure, and frictionless digital experiences. The Arizona-based company boasts clients in 38 countries and services 5% of global internet traffic.
As a new Enabler, Edgio will become a foundational infrastructure partner within the MACH Alliance's best-of-breed community for secure, high-performance services. This includes data storage, cluster or container management, tracing, service meshing, API gateways, and orchestration.
<h2>MACH Alliance continues steady growth</h2>
Since the beginning of 2023, the MACH Alliance has added 14 new members to its roster. Before Edgio's induction, <a href="https://cloud.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Cloud</a> and <a href="https://www.vultr.com/" target="_blank">VULTR</a> were the most recent Enabler members to join the MACH Alliance. CMS Critic has covered numerous <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/?s=mach+alliance">member additions</a> in the certified vendor category.
The MACH Alliance has a rigid certification process for membership, ensuring that MACH Certified companies meet its best-of-breed requirements. For more information, visit <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank">machalliance.org</a>.
<h2>About the MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization, governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members or otherwise. Formed in June 2020, the MACH Alliance helps enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website. The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts who share the same vision for the future. Learn more at <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fmachalliance.org%2F&amp;esheet=52478831&amp;newsitemid=20210818005487&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=machalliance.org&amp;index=5&amp;md5=db9d7bdff8c8646152c1923d3ff4adc2" target="_blank">machalliance.org</a>, read here about <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fmachalliance.org%2Fblogdetail%2Fbltfc0a3afbca44303e&amp;esheet=52478831&amp;newsitemid=20210818005487&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=MACH+certification&amp;index=6&amp;md5=ba1c5d6e1bf42963a3a8bb59771d09da" target="_blank">MACH certification</a> and follow us on <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitter.com%2Fmachalliance&amp;esheet=52478831&amp;newsitemid=20210818005487&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Twitter&amp;index=7&amp;md5=dfeea3f8422d14d51b860d90329a6837" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fmachalliance&amp;esheet=52478831&amp;newsitemid=20210818005487&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=LinkedIn&amp;index=8&amp;md5=a1db2958e174d041221c1705e694b6f0" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>.
<h2>About OneStock</h2>
As Europe's leading Order Management System (OMS) vendor, OneStock provides an intuitive omnichannel order management solution. Based on stock unification and order orchestration, OneStock unifies all available stock and makes it available to all sales channels. As a Web to Store and Store to Web expert, OneStock is customer-centric and offers consistent highly profitable return on investment in addition to enhancing  your customers experience: Order In-Store, Ship From Store, Click &amp; Collect, Reserve &amp; Collect, Returns Management.
<h2>About Edgio</h2>
Edgio (NASDAQ: EGIO) helps companies deliver online experiences and content faster, safer, and with more control. Its developer-friendly, globally scaled edge network, combined with fully integrated application and media solutions, provide a single platform for the delivery of high-performing, secure web properties and streaming content. Through this fully integrated platform and end-to-end edge services, companies can deliver content quicker and more securely, thus boosting overall revenue and business value. To learn more, visit <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fedg.io%2F&amp;esheet=53374696&amp;newsitemid=20230404005770&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=edg.io&amp;index=3&amp;md5=aeb2d13703d2d35f87ad6c39cae2332f" target="_blank">edg.io</a> and follow us on <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fedgioinc&amp;esheet=53374696&amp;newsitemid=20230404005770&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Twitter&amp;index=4&amp;md5=da18aa0e8cddf46303b3667aa0f17d95" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fedgio%2F&amp;esheet=53374696&amp;newsitemid=20230404005770&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=LinkedIn&amp;index=5&amp;md5=6e389c91fcc909d6a55f8307c7f6286b" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, and <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FEdgioinc&amp;esheet=53374696&amp;newsitemid=20230404005770&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Facebook&amp;index=6&amp;md5=a1a51f813b0895149de1864a9f0c5eb3" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.

OneStock and Edgio Join the MACH Alliance, Member Total Rises to 80

MACH Alliance logo with OneStock and Edgio logos

At the risk of sounding cynical...
For as long as I can remember, the customer focus has always been on finding the best CMS – while vendors have been busy trying to win the analyst game.
Yes, products have clearly improved and innovation in the CMS space is happening. But the real story is that most customers are still playing catch-up, often running their digital presence on older versions of multiple products.
I’m not sure vendors will ever stop competing in this "horse race," hoping to land in the leadership position in some diagram. But I’m cautiously optimistic that customers have finally changed their focus to something more sustainable by finding a solution (call it a “digital experience platform” if you must) that’s simply good enough for them.
Let’s look at current trends through that lens and unpack what it means for buyers, vendors, and agencies alike. We’ll start with the buzz…
<h2>Navigating the buzzwords: composable, federated content, and more</h2>
Even if you missed a few weeks of practice (maybe you took some time to work on something other than CMS), you have probably heard of the <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/1/headless-cms-in-2023" target="_blank">headless CMS</a> trend that’s been going on for a while.
Today, several vendors champion “composable” as the one big buzzword and “federated content” as the other. Similar to the past – again, call me cynical – each vendor often has its definition, leaving customers to figure it out on their own.
In brief, I would say:
<ul>
<li>Composable is an architectural approach using different software solutions as building blocks to create a digital experience. For case studies covering this topic: <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2022/12/composable-design-throughout-the-stack-at-salling-group" target="_blank">Composable design throughout the stack at Salling Group</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/composable-cms-gains-traction-as-google-search-volume-triples-in-recent-months/">Composable CMS Gains Traction as Google Search Volume Triples in Recent Months</a>.</li>
<li>Federated content is all about unifying your content and data from different sources to enable better collaboration and a scalable content experience.</li>
</ul>
Then, there’s this thing called DXC: Digital eXperience Composition. Whether you like new three-letter acronyms or not, the problem that DXC is trying to solve is a real one: it’s what we called “composition” in the past, and it’s all about composing the digital experience based on content from different sources. There is indeed an experience challenge looking for better solutions – and niche vendors like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentful-and-conscia-launch-unify-a-multi-space-orchestration-app-for-personalization-and-headless-commerce/">Conscia.ai</a>, <a href="https://kajoo.ai/" target="_blank">Kajoo.ai</a>, <a href="https://www.stackbit.com/" target="_blank">Stackbit,</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/uniform-raises-28m-in-series-a-funding-round-for-composable-dxp/">Uniform</a> are pushing the needle here.
Read more about DXC in this recent conversation with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dguarnaccia/" target="_blank">Darren Guarnaccia</a>, President at Uniform: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/is-the-birth-of-dxc-the-death-of-dxp-a-conversation-with-darren-guarnaccia-president-at-uniform/">Is the Birth of DXC the Death of DXP?</a>
No, it is not. I also shared a more detailed take in my post: <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/1/whats-the-real-story-about-digital-experience-composition" target="_blank">What’s the real story about digital experience composition?</a>
What else is everyone talking about? There’s at least one more big thing.
<h2>It's really an AI-supported world</h2>
In January, we hosted the <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff23/" target="_blank">CMS Kickoff 23</a> and AI wasn’t really a big thing. 
Then, ChatGPT came out – and the game changed.
In each and every peer group meeting since, we’ve talked about the impact of artificial intelligence, be it from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/from-chatbots-to-contentops-how-ai-is-coming-to-your-cms-whether-you-like-it-or-not/">Google’s Bard, Bing’s integration with ChatGPT</a>, or similar tools. The bottom line is that AI is now being taken to the next level – saving time and enhancing platform features for many of our members.
To put things in perspective: compared to other trends, we haven’t just talked about the superpower of AI and how amazing these new tools are. Instead, our group members and practitioners have already adopted AI tools in their work. They've become AI-supported – whether to create sample content, inform analysis, or something more exotic.
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-raises-57-5-million-in-series-b-round-qa-with-ceo-neha-sampat/">Contentstack</a> may not have been the first platform to release an AI feature, but their ChatGPT connector lets you generate content via chat and prompt responses using the OpenAI platform. Other vendors are demoing similar capabilities, which will likely become a feature in most content management systems in the near term.
To quote Silicon Valley legend <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/3/expert-of-the-month-andreas-ramos" target="_blank">Andreas Ramos</a>:
“We are just at the beginning of seeing the practical application of AI in digital marketing.”
Having said that, you might have seen that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65139406" target="_blank">Italy just blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns</a> – and some <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65110030" target="_blank">experts urged a halt to AI training</a>. Stay tuned!
One more buzzword…
<h2>How MACH must you be? </h2>
While I would probably struggle to find someone in the community unfamiliar with ChatGPT, many digital leaders haven’t heard about the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH Alliance</a>.
MACH stands for:
<ul>
<li>Microservices</li>
<li>API-first</li>
<li>Cloud-native SaaS</li>
<li>Headless</li>
</ul>
This unique community of vendors and agencies was formed in 2020 and now includes a set of infrastructure “Enablers” such as <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/aws-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member-reflects-growth-of-cloud-native-solutions/">AWS</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/google-cloud-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member/">Google</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-acquires-gatsby-aims-to-accelerate-adoption-of-composable-web-architectures/">Netlify</a>. To be clear: this is not just about CMS, and for a deeper introduction, see my 2021 post: <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2021/10/11/whats-the-mach-alliance-all-about" target="_blank">What’s the MACH Alliance all about?</a>
Today, the MACH Alliance is a vocal consortium with over 80 members, all promoting best-of-breed technologies and practices that power composable architectures. Vendors pay upwards of $25k to pledge allegiance to the certification and rules of what <a href="https://www.forrester.com/analyst-bio/joe-cicman/BIO14164" target="_blank">Forrester analyst Joe Cicman</a> described in 2021 as “The Coolest Tech in Town Club.” Agencies are paying less for membership but still upwards of $10k.
Looking at the Alliance from the outside and having covered it in several group meetings, here are a few observations:
<ul>
<li>As a community person, I like the idea of a shared ecosystem and collaborative and joint efforts to push the industry forward.</li>
<li>The process of joining is not as transparent as it could be. A few MACH Alliance members have told us about long wait times and less-than-critical technical reviews to become certified.</li>
<li>The annual fee is increasing and seems like a very expensive sticker for your products and collateral. Who is there to pay for this… besides the customer?</li>
<li>Could the Alliance be a bit more open, inclusive and transparent? That ‘insider club’ feeling is hard to quantify but shared by many.</li>
<li>Will the Alliance complicate things as a kind of “new monolith” selling to the enterprise? Hopefully not.</li>
</ul>
With far less marketing muscle, the open source community has long had its own “<a href="https://www.cms-garden.org/" target="_blank">CMS Garden</a>,” which launched in 2013 as a grassroots initiative. The membership fee? €100. 
Let’s move on and talk about the vendor side – and we’ll start with the biggest player.
<h2>We live in a WordPress world</h2>
At the recent <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts" target="_blank">European CMS Experts</a> meeting, we heard from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-mccue-56494910/" target="_blank">Ryan McCue</a> at enterprise WordPress powerhouse <a href="https://humanmade.com/" target="_blank">Human Made</a>, who reminded us that WordPress powers 43% of the Web. Contrary to what you might think, that’s not just millions of small sites for mom-and-pop stores but also wide enterprise adoption from large, complex, and global organizations.
Coming in second is <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-cloud-adds-new-headless-cms-capabilities-updates-to-commerce-integration/">Adobe</a> with less than 15%. And from there, no platform has more than 10% of the market share.
Unfortunately, many industry analysts don’t cover open source well – where <a href="https://www.drupal.org/" target="_blank">Drupal</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla-cms-turns-16-celebrates-with-long-awaited-release-of-version-4-0/">Joomla</a> and <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/vendors/typo3" target="_blank">TYPO3</a> also have notable adoption.
In this crowded and confusing marketplace, you might think consolidation is happening.
I’m not seeing it.
Yes, there are the usual mergers and acquisitions happening. Recently, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-acquires-gatsby-aims-to-accelerate-adoption-of-composable-web-architectures/">GatsbyJS joined Netlify</a>, but that didn’t leave buyers with less options.
Actually, after 20 years, I keep learning about new ones. In fact, Netlify CMS was new to me when I saw the news that they will become <a href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/netlify-cms-to-become-decap-cms/" target="_blank">Decap CMS</a>.
One thing that’s for sure is that money keeps flowing into CMS vendors – not just from customers, but also from investors. Recently, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-raises-80-million-series-c-focuses-on-accelerating-the-path-to-composable-for-enterprises/">Contentstack raised $80m in November</a> and they now have multiple product lines. And just last month, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hygraph-secures-30-million-in-series-b-funding/">Hygraph secured $30m</a> to “power the next generation of content management.” BTW, Hygraph is pushing big on federated content. 
Long story short: as a customer, you have more options today compared to a year ago. This brings me back to where we started.
<h2>Find the CMS that’s “good enough”</h2>
Yes, it still makes sense to go through a proper vendor selection and take time, potentially several years, to understand needs and the marketplace before selecting the right CMS. But a trend that makes me happy is that focus on finding a CMS that’s good enough, rather than necessarily the very best.
Finding a CMS that’s good enough can save you both time and money. Yes, do talk to references, invest time in training and learning, consider what you already have in your landscape – and then get started.
Having said that, don’t worry so much about where the vendor is on some analyst diagram or which club stickers you see on the laptops of your implementation team. Instead, worry about your requirements, budget, deadlines, and success criteria.
Let me finish with a friendly reminder by <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/speakers/morten-elvang" target="_blank">Morten Elvang</a>, European Business Agility Lead at <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en" target="_blank">Accenture</a>:
“Most organizations suffer from project overload. They are simply trying to do too many things at once.”
Good luck with your initiatives.
<h2>Learn more</h2>
In my past marketplaced updates for CMS Critic, I’ve looked at
<ul>
<li>2022: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/will-this-be-the-year-where-cms-is-finally-about-managing-content/">Will This be the Year Where CMS is Finally About Managing Content?</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>2021: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/how-to-make-sense-of-the-cms-market-in-2021/" target="_blank">How to Make Sense of the CMS Market in 2021</a></li>
</ul>
I've also written <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-w3c-cms-selection-process/">What can we learn from the W3C CMS selection process</a>, which had a healthy focus on accessibility, but was very much a selection process focused on finding the best.
<h2>About Boye &amp; Company</h2>
<a href="https://www.boye-co.com/" target="_blank">Boye &amp; Company</a> designs and delivers unique learning and networking experiences that bring similarly motivated and curious decision-makers and practitioners from different organizations together. Members receive direct access to a specialized international network of like-minded professionals through focused peer groups, meetings, and live events to share, learn, and discover new insights. Founded by Danish Internet entrepreneur <a href="https://janusboye.com/" target="_blank">Janus Boye</a> – a CMS Critic contributor – Boye &amp; Company provides a friendly community where strong professional relationships can take form as we discuss the challenges and opportunities across the digital experience space.

The Days of 'The Best CMS' are Over

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Woman putting flowers on a grave with a headstone that reads, "The Best CMS"

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“I get by with a little help from my friends...”
When The Beatles recorded this classic tune, they probably didn’t realize it would one day land on Rolling Stone’s list of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rolling-stone-500-top-beatles-songs/" target="_blank">500 Greatest Songs of All Time</a>. Then again, maybe they did. They were, after all, The Beatles.
We all need a little help sometimes. Case in point: if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the specter of evaluating content management systems, your friends at <a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank">Uniform</a> are providing a little help to get by.
That help comes at just the right time. With so many CMSes flooding the market – from monolithic to headless, open source to composable – finding the right solution can feel a little helter-skelter. Using Uniform's <a href="https://uniform.dev/resources/cms-comparison-guide" target="_blank">CMS Comparison Guide</a>, you can get a vendor-neutral breakdown of some leading CMSes and tips for picking the best tool for your job.
<h2>Navigating the noise with Uniform</h2>
Uniform is a new breed of digital experience composition platform (DXCP) that works with many of the world’s leading CMSes as part of a composable architecture. It gives developers and business teams the tools they need to do their best work and deliver faster than ever.
Uniform works as a value-add for many companies because its product can tap both emerging technologies and legacy systems through what they call an “experience layer.” For developers, this means greater flexibility and less time creating “glue code” between services. For marketing teams, this layer provides a consistent experience in accessing data from multiple sources or previewing content prior to publishing.
No stack would be complete without CMS. Because these platforms play a central role in content development and delivery, it makes sense that Uniform would have insight into the different types of CMSes available – and how to choose the right one for your goals. 
<h2>What’s in the CMS Comparison Guide?</h2>
The in-depth comparison guide catalogs the details of 15 leading CMS vendors, including three monoliths and 12 headless and composable CMSes. Along with side-by-side comparisons, the guide details the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor across features such as content modeling, integration, workflow, and more.
The real "meat" of the guide is the granular comparison table, which organizes the attributes for each system into a large grid. This allows you to scan every vendor's abilities – from delivery APIs to CDN capabilities – with relative ease. 
“The CMS field is getting increasingly crowded, making it difficult for brands across industries to identify a partner and know where to start,” said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/is-the-birth-of-dxc-the-death-of-dxp-a-conversation-with-darren-guarnaccia-president-at-uniform/">Darren Guarnaccia</a>, president, Uniform. “Our guide helps you cut through the noise, as our team has decades of experience working with and for CMS providers. Our platform further assists companies by preventing them from getting locked into a single vendor, fueling more innovation, and eliminating content management pain points.”
Cutting through noise and eliminating pain points? Sounds like the kind of help we could all use from our friends.
If you're ready to avoid a hard day's night, <a href="https://uniform.dev/resources/cms-comparison-guide" target="_blank">download Uniform's CMS Comparison Guide</a>.
<h2>About Uniform</h2>
Uniform DXCP speeds up time to value for composable-experience architecture, lowers development costs, and makes it easy for business users to build digital experiences. A composable orchestration layer for legacy systems and headless APIs in Uniform DXCP eliminates the need for complex custom integration code, which delivers no business value. Instead, available for marketers, merchandisers, and other business users are no-code tools to build digital experiences with content from any source – without submitting developer tickets. Furthermore, Uniform DXCP’s high-performance personalization capability, delivered at the edge, raises conversion and CX for all channels.
Learn more at <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Funiform.dev%2F&amp;esheet=53363599&amp;newsitemid=20230320005058&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=uniform.dev&amp;index=11&amp;md5=44f6949a6ad8549958a74a274dbc71fa" target="_blank">uniform.dev</a> and follow them on <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Funiformdev%2F&amp;esheet=53363599&amp;newsitemid=20230320005058&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=LinkedIn&amp;index=12&amp;md5=c100ec7e79a11df76897aa4ce2fb0f43" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FUniformDev&amp;esheet=53363599&amp;newsitemid=20230320005058&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Twitter&amp;index=13&amp;md5=02b5c59cd07ca0555ebf05eff75f2814" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.

Uniform Releases Comprehensive CMS Comparison Guide

Uniform logo against a blue background featuring logos of various CMS platforms

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.progress.com/">Progress</a>, the company which recently acquired Telerik, has moved to unite two of its products.The company is combining the award-winning <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sitefinity.com/product/overview">Telerik Sitefinity CMS</a> and the newly available Telerik <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sitefinity.com/digital-experience-cloud">Sitefinity Digital Experience Cloud</a> to create what it calls a, “Digital Marketing Command Center”.The aim is to enable marketing teams to orchestrate a guided customer journey across devices and digital channels.<h2>Increased Insight &amp; Actionable Data</h2>Key benefits of this unification include:<ul><li>The ability to gather omni-channel information: With data connectors pulling information from Telerik Sitefinity CMS, Salesforce.com, Marketo, Microsoft SharePoint and Dynamics or other sources of customer interaction, the customer journey repository in Telerik Sitefinity DEC becomes a single source of truth. Having the full context enables marketers to see interactions between a customer (or potential customer), and all aspects of a company’s sales and marketing functions.</li><li>Increased insight: Telerik Sitefinity DEC uses machine learning to relate how groups of customers and prospects interact through all channels, and provides specific recommendations for how to move them toward their goals more effectively. </li><li>Real-time, actionable data: The solution unveils trends that enable marketers to target their actions and run and adjust campaigns in near real time. Telerik Sitefinity DEC provides predictions toward opportunity improvement, while Telerik Sitefinity CMS enables marketers to personalize and optimize marketing programs, or restructure web properties on the fly, to guide people on a personalized customer journey.</li></ul><h2>Telerik Sitefinity Digital Experience Cloud Now Available</h2>In addition, today marks the general availability of Telerik Sitefinity Digital Experience Cloud (DEC), with features including:<ul><li>Persona management: Profiling and targeting based on visitor activities, even for anonymous visitors</li><li>Integration with third-party data sources: A 360-degree view of customer interactions, both digital and non-digital</li><li>Advanced customer analytics (predictive and prescriptive): The ability to define online and offline conversion goals to measure and adjust strategies on the fly, as well as insights and recommendations for best-next activities</li><li>Automated lead scoring and management: Ranking sales readiness of leads against a common definition of “qualified” via a centrally managed framework, shared across sales and marketing teams</li></ul>Progress' Senior Vice President of Application Platforms, Svetozar Georgiev, made these comments:<blockquote>“To be successful, marketers have to understand the complete customer journey, yet with customer data spread among multiple channels, enterprise marketing leaders struggle to attain visibility into customer journeys that would help predict and guide to future marketing and sales strategies.Without visibility, they cannot shift directions quickly to keep up with demand. Telerik Sitefinity DEC, in conjunction with Telerik Sitefinity CMS, enables marketers to turn on a dime, map and react to the customer journey effectively and, ultimately, provide evidence of the direct relationship between marketing investments and results.”</blockquote>To find out more about this product unification, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sitefinity.com/">check out the Sitefinity website</a>.

Progress Unites Telerik Sitefinity CMS & Telerik Sitefinity Digital Experience Cloud

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Since 2009, Vanilla Forums, makers of popular open source community has seen their product downloaded over 700k times. Today they have announced a new major open source version available at <a target="_blank" href="http://vanillaforums.org/">http://vanillaforums.org</a>. There has been over 8,639 code commits made by the community and the Vanilla Forums team to make this release a reality.<blockquote>“This release makes it significant easier to customize Vanilla and further blend it into your existing website with tighter integrations and increase engagement with you community” Lincoln Russell, who was the release manager on the 2.1 open source version.</blockquote>Some of the changes in the Vanilla 2.1 product include: <ul><li>New default theme to be easier to customize, with the Smarty template system.</li><li>Improved the HTML structure of the entire siteEasier for plugin developers to hook into common events</li><li>Added new Homepage &amp; Banner options in the Dashboard </li><li>Social media integrations into core, so community members can easy share and login with Twitter, Facebook and more.</li><li>Easier to do translations in more languages by rearchitecting our activity stream</li><li>Redesigned Profiles for easier navigation</li><li>Simplified permissions</li></ul><blockquote>According to Lincoln “There are too many changes to sort into some coherent summary, but users will be pleasantly surprised by what they find when they upgrade or if they are downloading Vanilla for the first time.” </blockquote>Along with the new open source release, more premium features were added to the  cloud version of Vanilla Forums including a recently announced new native Mobile Theme and Advanced EditorFounded in December 2009, Vanilla Forums is a leader in the community platform market, offering both a robust open source product and a software-as-a-service (cloud) offering that helps provide a great community experience to millions of people worldwide.

Vanilla Forums 2.1 Released

Community champions, intranet managers, knowledge owners, communications specialists, heads of people’s happiness. We may not have the same title, but we all have the same goal: keeping people happy and informed, day after day.It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. And if that someone is you, you’re in luck. You get to take a break to celebrate and bask in your own glory on January 25th 2016.It’s Community Manager Appreciation Day (CMAD), a special occasion to celebrate the ones who work tirelessly writing stories, connecting people, and finding creative ways to share information.<h2>A Day to Brag</h2>It’s a day for us to brag (finally) to the rest of the world about how we’re making a difference – on the people, culture, and even the bottom lines of our organizations. Community managers who are in charge of their corporate intranet sites are on the front lines of business communications – not only making sure information is delivered, but in a relatable and compelling way to employees.Besides, with all the information we receive on a daily basis and our sometimes wavering attention spans, we really only absorb what stands out as interesting or entertaining. And that can be tough to find at work.Igloo Software, a modern intranet company, didn’t want to let January 25th pass without recognizing their most valuable partners in communication.They launched a special CMAD microsite with lots of goodies for community managers, including a manifesto desktop wallpaper, a fortune teller activity, and a blog series featuring customers who manage Igloo communities. Sign up to receive blog articles as they go live, and find out how you can get in touch with Igloo to see if a modern intranet can help you transform your internal communications.To community managers everywhere, keep doing what you do. Even if it’s a lot. At least you have one day a year to sit back, accept a few compliments and gifts, and really feel appreciated.This post is sponsored by Igloo Software, an intranet you’ll actually like. Find more how Igloo Software can help you build a strong community at <a target="_blank" href="http://igloosoftware.com/">IglooSoftware.com</a>.

This Day is For You, Community Managers

When starting a new business, step one is to find out what software you'll need to run your business. Once your business is growing it will be much more difficult to create the technological foundation on which your business will continue to grow. Starting with the right software that suits the needs of your business will get your business intelligence funnel started from day one, instantly providing data you can use to make informed business decisions. Equipped with this data, you can determine what software, campaigns, and content are causing growth and what isn't. This article discusses the technological essentials you'll need to get started.<h3>You'll need software to build, manage, and host your website.</h3>Your website is the most essential part of developing a strong online presence. It is a digital representation of your brand. Keep that in mind when making decisions related to your website. The first step is to find the right <a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/">web content management system</a> (CMS) for your business. Do you need an informational website with a few web pages? Tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.squarespace.com/">SquareSpace</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wix.com/">Wix</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> are likely the best route for you. Do you need a custom web design with more advanced functionality? Tools like <a target="_blank" href="http://www.adobe.com/marketing-cloud/enterprise-content-management.html">Adobe</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kentico.com/">Kentico</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/">Solodev</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sitecore.net/en">Sitecore</a> are more suited to you. There's a lot to consider when choosing the right CMS for your business. Take your time, do your research, and don't pull the trigger until you've found the perfect fit.<h3>You'll need a CRM to manage your prospects, leads, and opportunities.</h3>Sales is the cornerstone of business. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform allows you to streamline your sales pipeline and convert more leads into customers. How does it do this? By giving you a bird's eye view of everyone in your sales cycle from prospects to recently closed opportunities. What CRM system you choose depends on your sales strategy and the size of your sales team. If you have a large sales team, products like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.salesforce.com/">SalesForce</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sugarcrm.com/">SugarCRM</a> might be for you. If you have a small sales team, free tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.zoho.com/crm/">Zoho CRM</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insightly.com/">Insightly CRM</a> are likely better options. Make sure your CMS can integrate with your CRM before signing on the dotted line.<h3>You'll need software that enables you to sell products online.</h3>Some CMS platforms have built-in E-Commerce functionality while others integrate with third party applications. Check your options and if possible, try and go with the native E-Commerce your CMS provides. If your CMS does not have E-Commerce built into it, you'll have to hunt for E-Commerce solutions unless you already have a favorite. Ideally, pick your favorite tools and find a CMS that integrates with them. For example, if you love <a target="_blank" href="https://magento.com/">Magento</a> ensure your CMS integrates with it. With the right E-Commerce solution integrated with your CMS, you won’t only have a great website but a shopping experience in line with the digital experience your website provides.<h3>You'll need a platform for managing social media content.</h3>There are a lot of options when it comes to platforms to manage your social media accounts and the content you publish to them. Which option is best for you depends on your goals with social media. Do you plan on publishing content on a regular basis to several social media channels? If so, you'll need a platform like <a target="_blank" href="https://hootsuite.com/">Hootsuite</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spredfast.com/">Spredfast</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="http://sproutsocial.com/">Sprout Social</a>. These tools allow you to schedule the publishing of your content to your social channels. Don't plan on doing much on social media? Creating social media accounts for your business is still a must. The ROI on social is hard to quantify so consider a more aggressive social strategy. Regardless of the size of your organization or your goals, devising and executing a social strategy is essential.<h3>You'll need marketing automation software to put marketing initiatives on autopilot</h3>Sitting at your computer waiting for leads to come in so you can email or call them is not productive. Distribute relevant content when visitors perform specific actions on your website. Marketing automation tools are what make that a reality without human intervention. Tools like <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pardot.com/">Pardot</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.net-results.com">NetResults</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://mailchimp.com/">MailChimp</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.campaignmonitor.com">CampaignMonitor</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.marketo.com/">Marketo</a> are excellent to automate your website marketing and all have public APIs to integrate with your CMS. As mentioned previously, pick a CMS that allows you to choose which products to integrate with, not the other way around. Once your marketing automation tools integrate with your CMS you've synced up both your website and marketing – both of which are now on autopilot.<h3>You'll need tools to track the success of your digital initiatives.</h3>Even with the tools above at your fingertips, they are worthless without analytics. Key analytics can be conversion and bounce rates on your website. They can also show you what content is working the best. Website analytics allow you to make informed decisions based on the data provided. This leads to more conversions, sales, and a better experience for your customers. Tools like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gooddata.com/">GoodData</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.domo.com/">Domo</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.seoprofiler.com/">SEOProfiler</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://ahrefs.com/">Ahrefs</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://moz.com/">Moz</a> are perfect for this. Without analytics, everything you do is a gamble, as you have no way of knowing what is working and what is not. Your digital footprint is only as valuable as your ability to have a thorough understanding of it and make data-driven decisions accordingly.<h3>Conclusion</h3>Finding the right solution for each of the tools above is vital to your success. Remember that your website is the centerpiece of your online presence. Keep that in mind when selecting vendors for your marketing toolbox. The tools mentioned above all compliment one another. You cannot pick one or two; you're going to need one of each. The biggest decision will be what CMS you choose as that will determine your other choices. Pick a CMS that integrates with the marketing tools most suited to your business. Take your time, do your research, and don't pull the trigger until you've found the perfect fit. Learn more about filling out your online roster today at Solodev.com

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