Articles - Page 143

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

If blogging is your profession, you need to build yourself a personal blog. A blog which you update on topics which are important to you, or perhaps on topics which you wish to write about for clients. However, not only does your blog need to look good, but it also needs to work well for you when you’re typing up content and it needs to work well for your visitors when they eventually read through it.
This then begs the following question, “Which content management system (CMS) is best for blogging?”
Here are my top picks.
<h2><a href="https://wordpress.org/" target="_blank">WordPress (Self Hosted)</a></h2>
Most bloggers do so from a WordPress-powered website.. There’s a good reason for that.
WordPress is quick to set up (especially when using <a href="http://bit.ly/cc-godaddy" target="_blank">GoDaddy</a>), allows you to manage content and digital assets easily, and has a pretty simple admin panel to boot. The learning curve is there, but it’s relatively minimal.
However, the main benefits of WordPress lie in its flexibility. Because it is the most popular CMS in the world, you will find thousands upon thousands of templates and plugins to make your blog look and feel unique. Many WordPress plugins can also be used to extend WordPress' functionality, allowing you to create online stores, communities, and so forth. There's almost nothing it can't do.
Does this mean it's the best blogging platform? Not at all. Some blogs end up overloaded with plugins, bloat and unnecessary addons that are unnecessary and one thing WordPress has started doing is trying too hard to be a full scale CMS. As such, it's virtually impossible to use it without any plugins (none of which are vetted by WordPress themselves) therefore, for those wanting a simple blogging platform that works well and doesn't require tons of plugins to get things done, it's not the best choice. (<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wordpress-joomla-and-drupal-are-not-the-best-cms/">learn more about these issues here</a>)
<h2><a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank">Ghost</a></h2>
Launched in in late 2013, Ghost is designed with one purpose in mind; to be the best blogging platform out there and it does this well. So well in fact, that I've switch this very website over to it entirely this year so now CMS Critic is entirely powered by Ghost.
Dedicated to being a platform for bloggers specifically, Ghost has been built around the needs of a wordsmith. The admin panel is nothing less than beautiful. Ghost maintains a deep focus on content creation above anything else. It really is built for blogging.
There are already a fair number of sleek (and free) <a href="http://bit.ly/ghost-templates">Ghost templates</a> on offer and new platform features are released regularly. With time, I can see Ghost becoming a serious player in the blogging world – if it isn't so already. You can opt to either self host Ghost, or make use of their cloud-hosted solution, Ghost Pro.
<h2><a href="http://www.medium.com/">Medium</a></h2>
Medium is a very interesting and unique alternative. What's nice about it is that it is designed to help you find an audience and to help you write better content. With a very simple and easy to use interface, Medium is a pleasure to use and gets rid of distractions such as sidebars, widgets and plugins while focusing on allowing you to share your stories and quips with the world.
Rather than overwhelm you with formatting, Medium offers you just enough to do what you need to do and nothing more. This makes the writing process painless and so distraction free that you'll likely want to write more just so you can use the editor. It truly is a beautiful setup. Furthermore, you don't need to worry about whether your website on Medium is responsive. Everything scales to all devices so you will never need to worry about how it's going to look on your phone or tablet again.
It's also a collaborative tool that lets you share your drafts with others and collaborate with them to produce better content. You can even thank those who helped you proof read or add ideas to your content.
<h2>Weebly</h2>
For those looking for a simple and easy way to launch a blog quickly, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/weebly">Weebly</a> is a great choice given how easy it is to choose a theme and get something up with little to no technical knowledge.
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/weebly">Weebly</a> offers the ability to expand your blog in the future and incorporates a lot of necessary elements such as analytics, stock photography and a whole lot more. If you need a quick website, Weebly is definitely something to consider.
<h2><a href="https://withknown.com/" target="_blank">Known</a></h2>
Known is a relative newcomer to the blogging sphere. It allows any number of users to post to a shared site with blog posts, status updates, photographs, and more.
Its robust open source framework can be used to build fully-fledged community sites, or a blog for a single user. It's up to you. It's fully responsive and works on any device with ease and is generally quite nice to work with. If you haven't given it a shot, you should (at least to try it out).
<h2><a href="https://write.as/" target="_blank">Write.as</a></h2>
Write.as is an interesting beast. The intent here is not to help you build some elaborate blog but rather to give you a way to quickly get your thoughts down and share them with the world. It offers a very minimalistic writing interface thats sole purpose is to get your content online fast and easily.
Your writing automatically saves as you type. It'll always be waiting, even if you don't “save” before leaving. You can choose to write without a blog or put all of your thoughts together in one place. It's rather cool and worth a look.
<h2><a href="https://postach.io/">Postach.io</a></h2>
Postach.io lets you store your content in either Dropbox or Evernote or both. This lets you choose whichever interface suits you the most (Dropbox files obviously needing to be edited in a text editor and uploaded whereas Evernote has a built in text editor) and work on your content within.
Publishing a post with Evernote is as simple as connecting your account to Postach.io, telling it which notebook in Evernote will contain your posts and then simply writing in that notebook and using the tag “published” when you are done. This tells Postach.io to put the post up on your blog and that's all there is to it. To add images, simply attach them to the note and it will be inserted in your blog post instantly.
The nice part to using the Evernote connection for Postach.io is you can take advantage of the many awesome Evernote apps for mobile devices and tablets that already exist which makes blogging with it a true pleasure.
<h2><a href="http://www.typepad.com/" target="_blank">TypePad</a></h2>
Typepad has been around for a while, and it's a reliable option more than anything else. It's known to be a very secure platform, one that hackers tend to avoid.
It is a hosted solution, comes with integrated analytics, easy design customization features and a relatively small but highly dedicated community. Joining Typepad kind of feels like you joined a writers club, especially since all Typepad blogs have the chance to be featured on the Typepad website. It feels very inclusive and homely.
The downside here is that for its limited functionality, it comes with some fairly heaving pricing. TypePad isn't exactly much of a looker compared to other platforms either
<h2>“But What About MY Favourite CMS?”</h2>
Many of you will now be wondering why I didn’t include the likes of Blogger, Tumblr, Joomla and Drupal somewhere on this list. I can already hear the screeches of, “How are they not even honourably mentioned?!”
The fact is, Blogger and Tumblr aren’t considered robust enough to be worthy of competing with WordPress, Ghost and the rest on a professional scale. If you want to blog about how much you love your kittens, they may be viable options. But I’d never recommend them to serious bloggers.
As for Joomla and Drupal, The former is clunky and not exactly optimized for blogging, whilst the latter is far better suited to large-scale websites. Neither belong on this list, despite having their own uses and strengths.
So, with that being said, I’d recommend sticking to the names listed above. Each one is respected, easy to use, feature rich and optimized for being your blogging playground.

mike-johnston

Choosing a new CRM system is a bit like choosing a new PA – there are tons of them out there, and most of them do the same thing. So how do you decide which is best for your business?
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-01 at 18.46.06.png" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/IMR-McPWRAgtWENOxmtQzliXVWXABsInr-6BE4NiHWYyAD1HCFdEkbdmqCzhTr3Dfu5EHziNHNwhfKnm5HRfSX8VDSFh4kJLupaO_resLWb8fwnJtpbJvl6K9L9DigSMQsylh0c3" />
It really depends on the specific needs and budget of your business. While every business out there will benefit from a CRM system, not every business will have the same requirements.
To narrow down your search, we’ve put together a list of our top ten CRM systems and an overview of why they made the list.
<h2>1. Salesforce (Cloud)</h2>
Salesforce is definitely a crowd pleaser in the CRM game. The clean design makes it very user friendly and easy to organize. You can also connect to your CRM software with the Salesforce mobile app, allowing you to look up client background notes when you’re out on the road and trying to close a sale. You can also add new customers to the database using your phone or any mobile device.
Although its main function is contact management, Salesforce also offers extras such as sales and marketing and employee tracking. Also, as it’s based in the cloud, you’ll receive all updates automatically.
Salesforce packages start at $27 per month for up to 5 users. Whilst the pricing structure can be a little tricky to work out, with a few sneaky additional costs here and there, Salesforce still offers one of the most streamlined and efficient CRM Systems on the market today.
Find out more about Salesforce <a href="http://www.salesforce.com">here</a>.
<h2>2. Insightly (Cloud)</h2>
Insightly is a great choice for small businesses, it’s simple, affordable, and light on the features front. Paid plans kick off at $12 monthly and there’s a free plan that allows you to store up to 2500 records and add a max of 3 users.
Its CRM functions include contact management, project management, and detailed sales reports – everything a micro business needs to stay on its toes. It also grows with your business, so if you get bigger – your CRM can be scaled to meet your added requirements.
Insightly is extremely easy to navigate, but Insightly still offers a one day training program to assist with onboarding employees – which is pretty useful. Again, this one is cloud based, so you can access your system from anywhere at anytime.
Find out more about Insightly<a href="https://www.insightly.com/"> here</a>.
<h2>3. Netsuite (Cloud)</h2>
Netsuite targets all business sizes, but it's best designed for small to medium size companies.
At $79 a month for a basic package, it’s one of the more costly options of the bunch – but it offers a range of highly customizable features in return. Its impressive list of functions includes sales force automation, sales forecasting, order management, and marketing automation. It also has a pretty useful eCommerce addon which allows you to track customer activity on your website.
As there’s no chat function, you’ll have to pick up the phone or send an email to resolve any issues with the system – but with a guaranteed 24 hour turnaround, you won’t be waiting too long.
Find out more about Netsuite <a href="http://www.netsuite.com/">here.</a>
<h2>4. SugarCRM (Cloud &amp; Onsite)</h2>
SugarCRM is a favorite for small to medium businesses.
This popular CRM system can be onsite or cloud based, and prices range from $35 to $150 per user or per month with an added option to buy the software outright. The desktop version integrates with a number of apps, including Outlook, Gmail, Lotus Notes, and Google Apps.
SugarCRM is also open sourced, so its features are easily customized – and it offers an affordable alternative to Salesforce. You can also check out the SugarExchange, which is a marketplace for SugarCRM themes, module extensions, and language packs.
Find out more about SugarCRM <a href="https://www.sugarcrm.com/">here.</a>
<h2>5. Sage (Web)</h2>
Sage has won many awards over the past few years for its CRM Software. The system is very easy to set up, manage, and maintain – making it an excellent choice for a business that’s new to using CRM software.
The interactive dashboard helps sales staff to monitor their opportunities, organize calendars, manage tasks, and also connect with opportunities on LinkedIn. Sage CRM also offers impressive analytical tools which help users to identify the sales opportunities that exist within the database.
Sage offers a free 30 day trial which allows business to ‘test it out’ before committing to a monthly fee. It doesn’t ask for credit card details over the 30 day period and customers have the option to cancel at any time. It’s also pretty low cost, at just $20 per user each month, making it an affordable option for small businesses.
Find out more about Sage <a href="http://www.sage.com">here.</a>
<h2>6. Hubspot (Cloud)</h2>
Hubspot wouldn’t be Hubspot if they weren’t offering us something for free. And their CRM system is no different.
For exactly zero dollars, you can easily manage all of your leads with the autocomplete function and spend website/social media integration. The 360 degree dashboard makes it easy to navigate and a great option for newbies to the CRM world.
Sales staff will fall in love with this CRM because the simple ‘drag and drop’ system allows them to track the entire sales process from start to finish. Hubspot’s full marketing suite is also available to use alongside the CRM if needed – what more could you want?
Find out more about Hubspot <a href="http://www.hubspot.com">here</a>.
<h2>7. Zoho (SaaS )</h2>
Zoho is a budget CRM system that’s best suited to small businesses.
You can onboard up to 10 users for free and it has everything that a start-up business needs to develop, grow, and manage customer relationships. Standard, professional, and enterprise packages are also available – ranging from $12 to $35 per user per month.
Although Zoho offers a budget priceline, it has all of the core functionalities of any CRM. It also has its own social media feed, allowing staff to post status updates, upload photos and collaborate on projects. As with most CRM systems, the mobile app allows allows users to access data anytime and anywhere.
Find out more about Zoho <a href="http://www.zoho.com">here</a>.
<h2>8. InfusionSoft (Cloud)</h2>
InfusionSoft is a combined sales and marketing system with 3 main areas: CRM, marketing, and ecommerce. It’s best suited to small businesses with less than 25 employees and its main goal is to improve the efficiency of the sales process for its users.
You might say that every CRM has that goal – but not every CRM gets the job done like InfusionSoft does. Its in-depth customization features and marketing automation allow you to manage the entire sales cycle automatically. It captures everything about your customers in one place, which is a step up from the traditional CRM software.
With the ecommerce functionality, users can manage and customize their own storefront and shopping cart experience, as well as create custom order forms, invoice clients, and manage their inventory and fulfillment. Infusionsoft also integrates with many third party merchant gateways – making it the CRM that just keeps on giving. However, they’re not giving anything away for free.
If you’d like to get set up with InfusionSoft, you have to purchase a mandatory $2,000 Kickstart service package, which provides users with a personal coaching mentor. Your mentor will then evaluate your current business/marketing style, guide you through Infusionsoft, and aim to improve your business processes. After that, business packages start from $199 per 2 month for 2 users.
Find out more about InfusionSoft <a href="http://www.infusionsoft.com/" target="_blank">here</a>
<h2>9. Workbooks (Web)</h2>
Workbooks is a comprehensive CRM systems that offers a range of functions, including sales and marketing automation and customer support.
The CRM platform is popular with small to medium sized business and offers a fully integrated suite. The basic Workbooks functionality can be used for free by up to two users, whilst the Standard and Business editions are priced at $30 per user, per month and $70 per user, per month respectively.
Workbooks is a great option for businesses seeking a fully integrated customer management system, as the customer support module is very intuitive and allows clients to report issues by generating tickets. These tickets can then be assigned to the correct member of the team for review and can also be flagged for priority status when needed. Although Workbooks is quite basic in terms of features, this CRM is easy to use and offers great core functionality at a low cost.
Find out more about Workbooks <a href="http://www.workbooks.com/">here</a>.
<h2>10. Nimble.com (Web &amp; SaaS)</h2>
This CRM system is an inexpensive CRM option at just $15 a month. Nimble focuses its efforts on creating a better picture of your customer database via social media integration.
The mobile app allows both iphone and android users to access Nimble on the go, where they can manage contacts or add customer notes. The focus with Nimble is really about communication, the social media integration encourages users to think about which mediums are most suitable for their customer support services.
This CRM system also offers a 14 day trial without asking for your credit card details upfront – so you can cancel at any time if it doesn’t meet your expectations. If you do sign up, don’t forget to visit Nimble’s app marketplace, where you'll find 40+ software integration options, including Zoho, Freshbooks, Zendesk, and Evernote.
Find out more about Nimble <a href="http://www.nimble.com/">here.</a>
<h2>Take Your Pick</h2>
There's a plethora of CRM systems out there to choose from, and we think the list above makes up the cream of the crop. With at least one of them, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find the perfect fit for your business.
What CRM System works best for you? Let us know in the comments below, or over on our CMS forum.

Top 10 CRM Systems

grainne-logue

Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware has been awarded a 2010 Bossie award (Best of Open Source Software) by InfoWorld, in the Applications category. InfoWorld's Best of Open Source Software Awards (aka the Bossies) is chosen annually by Test Center editors and reviewers, and recognize the best open source software for business users.
The editors called Tiki “a powerful, integrated, Web-based application” that can “build and maintain websites, wikis, groupware, CMSes, forums, blogs, and bug trackers, as well as make them multilingual.”
The review continues, citing Tiki's “fine-grained role-based privilege system” as a differentiating factor against classic wiki models, such as MediaWiki. Read the full article on InfoWorld.com (<a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source/bossie-awards-2010-the-best-open-source-software-the-year-115" target="_blank">http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source/bossie-awards-2010-the-best-open-source-software-the-year-115</a>)
And don't forget to nominate Tiki for the Packt 2010 Open Source Awards! (http://info.tikiwiki.org/article105-Nominate-Tiki-for-the-Packt-2010-Open-Source-Awards)

Tiki Receives Best of Open Source Software Applications Award

Last month, Adobe announced its decision to discontinue the popular website building app Muse. This decision has upset thousands of creatives all over the world and an onset of social media outcry has ensued, with a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/adobe-systems-adobe-do-not-discontinue-muse">petition</a> to reverse the decision.
Adobe is trying to migrate Muse users over to Dreamweaver in the short to medium term, but this move won’t be appreciated by its core users for a number of reasons. For many long-standing Muse users, Dreamweaver just doesn’t stand up to the task of replacing their favorite app and they’re pretty cheesed off at the implication. Well, they’re cheesed off in general. So let’s examine why.
While the news of Adobe’s decision was an unpleasant notification, it came as no surprise to veteran Adobe product users. The impending discontinuation of Muse is the latest in a line of web app obsoletion following the demise of the incredibly popular Macromedia acquisition GoLive in <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/1133181/golivedead.html">2008</a>. The Muse discontinuation seems to be a hard turn away from WYSIWYG web development, which mirrors what happened with Adobe GoLive when it went the same way.
Muse had initially attracted a lot of users on the back of its simplicity of use as an “InDesign for web development”. When it was initially launched in 2012, Muse was marketed as a program that would allow users to create bespoke, adaptive websites (it added responsive elements in 2015), without having to write a single line of code. Muse later allowed third party plugins to add blogging and eCommerce functionality. The WYSIWYG functionality of Muse allowed designers and other visual creatives to make a step into web development that would have previously required pretty extensive coding knowledge at the very least. This was Adobe’s in-house answer to the DIY website market that demanded ease of use, ease of design, and seamless transition from construction to page. In this regard, it was incredibly successful.
Muse allowed design specialists to bring their designs to life online without the need for specific web development skills and the interface. This was much more intuitive to Muse users than learning how to code in the traditional way. When third party plugins brought blog functionality, eCommerce, animation, social media integration, and other items into Muse’s healthy array of templates and multi-platform functionality, it became a vital part of design-focused agencies and SMBs. This discontinuation hurts these businesses immensely as many of them have built their businesses around Muse’s ease of use.
Is this a move by Adobe to consolidate Dreamweaver as the one stop shop for all aspects of design? It’s hard to say. It could be that Adobe is looking down the track at future web standards and deciding that a WYSIWYG heavy app will be too difficult to maintain. Or it could be that they don’t want to isolate the web development part of their business. It wasn’t too long ago that Muse was being <a href="http://www.developerdrive.com/2011/09/will-muse-kill-the-web-development-industry/">touted as a possible industry killer</a> for back-end web development.
Either way, the fallout from Muse’s discontinuation promises to have a profound effect on the front-end, WYSIWYG, website building market.
<h2>The Great Migration</h2>
Adobe’s discontinuation of Muse isn’t a hard deletion of the app and the company has been very vocal about this. Muse will still be accessible to everyone who currently has it in the CC package but it won’t be updated for bug fixes or to stay in line with new web standards from May 20th, 2019. Any sites built using Muse won’t be deleted if they’re hosted on third party servers but any sites hosted on Business Catalyst (which Adobe allowed for free for short periods of time) will have to be re-published to another hosting platform to remain live after March 26, 2020, when Business Catalyst hosting is no longer available.
In reality, this discontinuation will force a lot of people to migrate their sites and businesses away from Muse. It’s much easier to move a site to a platform that offers similar functionality to Muse than it is to learn CSS or HTML to the level required to sell your services professionally.
The first step here will be platform migration. <a href="https://www.devhub.com/platform-migration">DevHub</a> offers a comprehensive package and this is a vital service if you have multiple sites to migrate to a new server or CMS. The end of Muse will see a large volume of potential users leaving the platform to find sites and programs that mirror what Muse used to do. <a href="https://rallymind.com/">RallyMind</a> is a good option due to our WYSIWYG roots and the “centralized control” function which allows you to manage overall design layout and personalize each of your migrated sites landing page using a Google Sheet.
Adobe’s decision-making in the discontinuation of Muse has certainly <a href="https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2470082">provoked anger amongst users</a> and it will be interesting to see what effect this will have on the company’s position at the top of the food chain in the design world.

The End Of Adobe Muse And What It Means For Users

<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.softwareag.com%2Fcorporate%2Fdefault.asp&amp;esheet=51874631&amp;newsitemid=20180928005064&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Software+AG&amp;index=1&amp;md5=d7ab1aa2879952b56fb926f99ec57059" target="_blank">Software AG</a> today announced the acquisition of Built.io, a San Francisco-based market-leading iPaaS company. Founded by serial entrepreneurs Nishant Patel, Neha Sampat and Matthew Baier, software vendor Built.io introduced its iPaaS offering, Built.io Flow™ in 2015. It has subsequently been named a Challenger in Gartner’s 2018 “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Integration Platform as a Service” and was named a Cool Vendor in the report “Cool Vendors in Pervasive Integration, 2016.”<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180928005064/en/Software-AG-Acquires-Built.io-Accelerate-Leadership-Hybrid#"></a>
Built.io’s Flow and Embed products will come together as a single integrated offering with Software AG’s globally recognized webMethods Integration Platform.
Customers will benefit from easy-to-use and robust integration solutions leading to significantly accelerated time-to-value, critical to the success of IoT and digital transformation solutions.
“The unified vision guiding Built.io Flow was to make it faster and easier to connect any software, system or device,” said Nishant Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Built.io. “Built.io Flow uses a modern architecture to democratize integration and embed it into any product or SaaS service. I am thrilled that Software AG recognized the potential of combining the agility of our cloud-native integration platform with its proven webMethods platform to enable powerful enterprise integration and digital transformation. With our leadership in cloud integration and Software AG’s leadership in digital transformation through enterprise integration, we are jointly able to offer customers the world's most advanced hybrid integration platform.”
The acquisition opens Software AG’s webMethods integration capabilities to any Node.js developer and allows for enterprise-wide participation in integration projects. It also opens Software AG’s application and B2B integration and API portfolios to fast-growing developer communities and a near limitless innovation pool – as seen by participation in the upcoming <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.linuxfoundation.org%2Fevents%2Fnode-js-interactive-2018%2F&amp;esheet=51874631&amp;newsitemid=20180928005064&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Node%2BJS+Interactive&amp;index=2&amp;md5=54fc77c4f8d2991572b9cbf4f434e067" target="_blank">Node+JS Interactive</a>, the world’s largest gathering of Node.js developers, taking place in Vancouver from October 10-12.
“This is an extremely significant acquisition for Software AG to expand its position in the growing iPaaS market and we are delighted to welcome Built.io to the Software AG Group,” said Dr. Wolfram Jost, Chief Technology Officer at Software AG. “Cloud integration is at the heart of digital transformation with 80 percent of the work in IoT projects related to integration. In a world of decentralized IT architectures based on microservices, APIs and events, integration is the core capability enabling end-to-end processes and improving customer experiences. Speed and flexibility in implementing integration projects are playing an increasingly important role in business success. Broadening developer participation within the enterprise, within departments and within open source communities demonstrates our commitment to fully addressing today’s customer needs.”
Built.io also extends Software AG’s iPaaS offering to the small- and medium-sized business market. Software AG’s webMethods integration Cloud’s focus on enterprise customers is complemented by Built.io’s extensive experience in addressing the SMB market and in empowering line of business users within the modern enterprise.
With Built.io Flow, Software AG can now also deliver industry-leading integration via a completely embedded offering: An elegant, cloud-based integration solution that can be easily incorporated into any SaaS application. This enables end users to quickly integrate third party data from over 300 sources directly into their application, providing meaningful context and powerful insights.

Software AG Acquires Built.io to Accelerate Leadership in Hybrid and Cloud Integration

Soario Inc., developers of Symphony CMS, the popular XSLT-powered open source content management system, today announced the launch of Symphony Cloud Hosting, a new cloud-based offering that makes hosting and evaluating Symphony CMS fast, simple and affordable in the cloud.
Symphony Cloud Hosting, built on technology from Standing Cloud, a leading provider of cloud marketplace and management solutions for cloud providers and ISVs, brings choice, flexibility and easy point-and-click deployment and management to Symphony CMS, delivering single-click managed hosting, provisioning, deployment and management at a simple monthly bundled price.
With Symphony Cloud Hosting, customers can choose the hosting provider, data center and geography of their choice from a wide range of 15+ leading public cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, HP Cloud, Rackspace, VPS.net and more. Symphony CMS deployments hosted through Symphony Cloud Hosting on Standing Cloud are completely portable from cloud-to-cloud, meaning users are never locked in to a single platform or cloud provider. They can quickly add capacity or move to another cloud, and are protected against downtime and service outages.
In addition, Standing Cloud’s built-in automated application lifecycle management features provide easy point-and-click access to a range of automated management services, including 24×7 server monitoring, free back-ups, auto-restore, single-click version and resource upgrades and more.
<blockquote>
“We developed Symphony CMS on the principles of flexibility, openness and simplicity, and Symphony Cloud extends that even further,” said Allen Chang, co-founder and chief architect of Symphony CMS and Soario Inc. “Agencies and developers now have the option of instant hosting and management for their sites on a wide range of reliable clouds, while still ensuring that they'll always have complete control over all aspects of their project.”
“We’re excited to help Soario enable their customers to launch and run fully configured instances of Symphony CMS and the underlying application stack, and manage them directly in the cloud,” said Joni Klippert, Director of Customer Development for Standing Cloud. “By reducing the hassles of downloading software and configuring servers, and adding the choice, flexibility and reliability of multiple clouds, we can help them grow the Symphony CMS customer base among agencies, designers and developers.”
</blockquote>
Symphony Cloud Hosting is available today at http://www.soario.com/hosting/. Users interested in evaluating the solution can get started immediately with a no-cost 24-hour “Test Drive” in the cloud, including a fully configured version of Symphony 2.3.1. Following the free trial, users can seamlessly upgrade to a fully hosted account on any one of Standing Cloud’s 15+ supported cloud providers through Symphony Cloud Hosting.
Standing Cloud is a leading provider of cloud application marketplace and management services. We deliver a seamless application layer for cloud service providers, ISVs and technology solutions providers, making application deployment and management fast, simple and hassle-free for their customers.
Our standard application catalog includes 100 open-source and commercial applications; our platform supports multiple programming languages, including Rails, PHP, Java and Python, and a wide range of cloud service providers and orchestration software systems.
Founded in 2009, Standing Cloud is based in Boulder, Colorado. Investors include Foundry Group and Avalon Ventures. Visit us online at: <a href="http://www.standingcloud.com">www.standingcloud.com</a>
About Symphony CMS
Symphony is a leading open-source, XSLT-based web content management system for agencies, designers and developers. Learn more online at: <a href="http://www.getsymphony.com">www.getsymphony.com</a>.
About Soario
Founded by Allen Chang, chief architect of Symphony CMS, Soario offers CMS products and solutions for small to enterprise websites. The Soario team includes diverse individuals from around the world, each with a unique set of skills. Soario leadership team members have all worked with Symphony in various capacities from agency management to design, development, architecture and project management. Learn more online at: www.soario.com

Soario Launches Hosted Symphony CMS Cloud Offering Powered by Standing Cloud

It would appear that the cows have come home: in a surprising move, Sitecore yesterday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire <a href="https://moosend.com/">Moosend</a>, an e-mail marketing automation and campaign management platform used by a diverse set of customers. This includes leading brands such as Domino’s, Interpublic Group, and Sephora, among others. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of May. 
“Moosend perfectly complements Sitecore’s industry-leading core offering to create a personalization powerhouse for modern enterprises," said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tzikakis/" target="_blank">Steve Tzikakis</a>, the CEO of Sitecore. "Moosend’s state-of-the-art marketing automation and AI-powered customer engagement features will streamline Sitecore’s ability to engage, nurture, and convert customer relationships to deliver personalized experiences across every channel. The combined offering will make it easier for marketers to deploy and measure campaigns and automate workflows across the entire customer journey – a game-changer for <a href="https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/responsible-marketing-with-first-party-data" target="_blank">the majority</a> of brands not yet set up for lifecycle marketing.” 
Acquisitions have become almost commonplace among the leaders in the CMS and DXP categories, particularly with solutions that expand a platform's capabilities around data. According to Sitecore, this move was driven by the ongoing shifts in data-driven personalization – and the risks and challenges posed by privacy. While data is essential to personalization, there are mounting concerns around privacy due to breaches caused by problematic data collection methods. This, along with other factors, have businesses questioning the value of personalization at scale. 
In fact, back in 2019, Gartner <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-12-02-gartner-predicts-80--of-marketers-will-abandon-person" target="_blank">predicted</a> that 80% of marketers would abandon personalization efforts by 2025 due to the increased complexity and a lack of consumer trust. It was a gloomy outlook for both marketers and technology vendors, but clearly on point in a world of scaling data privacy governance. 
Consumers are often unaware of how and when their data is being collected and where it is used. They’re also experiencing overload from increasingly cluttered inboxes and mobile notifications, causing them to ignore even the most carefully customized message. The resulting conundrum has left CMS and DXP platforms struggling with how to serve personalized experiences while meeting the consumer expectation of privacy and trust across multiple dimensions. 
“It’s a paradox of modern times," said Tzikakis. "Consumers expect brands to cater to them as unique individuals, providing a consistent experience everywhere and rewarding loyalty in deeper ways; at the same time, they want privacy first – more control over data, less confusion on how it’s used, and an end to creepy targeting and algorithmically garbled messaging that only a bot would love.” 
Recognizing the depth of the privacy problem, Sitecore aims to facilitate both the modern art and science of earning customer relationships through experiences – to make consenting to data-sharing an afterthought. If they can deliver on this vision, they may have a significant advantage in shaping the future of the industry.
The acquisition of Moosend is just the latest move in Sitecore’s ambitious $1.2 billion growth plan. In a highly publicized purchase less than two months ago, the DXP leader <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/" target="_blank">acquired</a> two companies on the same day: Boxever, a SaaS-based Customer Data Platform (CDP) providing decisioning and experimentation, and Four51 – a digital commerce pioneer that powers custom, highly scalable e-commerce B2B marketplace solutions. With the addition of Moosend, it appears that Sitecore has amassed everything it needs to deliver a complete, end-to-end SaaS-based digital experience platform – and elevate their competitive posture. 
<h3>About Sitecore</h3>
Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world’s smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers. A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce, and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies including American Express, ASOS, Carnival Cruise Lines, Kimberly-Clark, L’Oréal, and Volvo Cars rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers. Learn more at <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore.com</a>.

Sitecore Acquires Moosend, Adds AI-Powered Email Marketing Automation

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Apps are the new black. Everyone wants their own. From Mom &amp; Pop shops to blue chip corporations, companies are scrambling to get their brand, product, or service in the app store. If you don't have an app, you might feel kind of lonely. Many developers, who spend their days managing a CMS or developing sites may consider the app market as the new gold country. Is this where you should be digging for gold? Is it time to pack up and move to mobile country?

<h2>The App Question</h2>
Before you rush into the app frenzy, stop and think. Do you need an app? Should you build one? What is the ROI from building an app?
Apps cost money to create. Plus, they have a subtle impact upon your brand. They can either erode your brand integrity or they can build a stronger brand presence and more loyal customer base. An app can frustrate users, or it can be a huge crowd-pleaser. An app can either drive conversions or it can slow conversions. Before you decide to build an app, you need to have an overall mobile strategy.
<h2>The Mobile Imperative</h2>
You probably already know that mobile is huge. You might even be reading this article on a mobile device. Every company with an online presence — which is basically every company by now — needs to have a mobile strategy. That mobile strategy is going to look different for every single company.
Here's the thing to remember about a mobile strategy. As Google's Mobile Playbook explains, having a mobile strategy does not mean having an app. You can have a robust presence on mobile without investing the time and resources into creating an app. Using a website with responsive design, for example, is often a more cost-effective and reasonable solution for many companies.
<h2>What is an app for?</h2>
What's the whole purpose behind an app? There are two broad potential purposes:
1.  Entertainment:  E.g., Pandora, Angry Birds, Kindle, Words With Friends, Instagram, Zombie Apocalypse
Game apps are great. As I write, I have two Words with Friends games going on. (I'm losing both games.) Are you a mobile game maker? Is your company name Zynga? If so, then entertainment apps are perfect for you. If, on the other hand, your company is not in the mobile gaming industry, this is probably not a great option. Some companies, however, have chosen such a strategy.
F'or example, Capri Sun created an iPad game. I downloaded it for my toddler daughter to play. The game consisted of trying to score points by throwing a beach ball into a goal defended by a dolphin. You can also make the dolphin do tricks. It was cute. My daughter played it a few times.
I don't think we've drunk Capri Sun since downloading the app three years ago.
2.  Utility or Information:  Docs to Go, Evernote, CNN, Dropbox, Flashlight, Maps, Weather
If you see someone busy on their mobile device, chances are, they're playing a game or surfing Facebook. If they aren't, they might actually be working, catching up on the news. or emailing a colleague. Useful tools comprise a vast number of apps. Many companies who create traditional software tools have also created useful mobile versions of their software. For example, Evernote users may use the robust desktop version, an equally powerful online version, or a scaled down Evernote for their Android or iPad mini. Most companies, however, are not in position to profit from a new utility app.
<h2>An App that Promotes Your Brand</h2>
One website with an obviously older article discusses apps for “promotional purposes.” The article seems to indicate that promotional apps are a great idea. It can “enhance your status and stand out of other competitors [sic].”
Are brand promoting apps a good idea? It all depends.
Obviously, the Capri Sun app, mentioned above, is promoting its brand. It's probably not trying to become another Zynga. What about Coca-Cola? They have an app, several actually. One of their apps allows you to play games. Another Coca-Cola app allows users to view the history of the Coca-Cola product and brand. Starbucks has created an app that allows users to make purchases, earn stars, create custom drinks, and even get free music. It's like a loyalty card, only it's an interactive app.
Perhaps the overarching reason why a company would create an app — be it an app for utility or entertainment — is to promote their brand. Is this a good idea for your company? Are people going to download an app you made in order to play with a dolphin or read about your brand's history? Do you have an international chain of coffee shops where people can use your app to make purchases? Maybe, but probably not.
<h2>Making a Decision</h2>
Though the siren call of apps is strong, the numbers tell a different story:*
<ul>
<li>73% of mobile users would rather use a mobile website to do shopping, rather than an app. </li>
<li>60% of mobile users prefer entertainment via their browser rather than an app.</li>
</ul>
(Stats taken from http://mashable.com/2012/06/06/mobile-site-mobile-app-infographic/)
There are plenty of good reasons to build an app. App users are generally more engaged with your brand. Besides, apps provide a greater level of interactivity and functionality. As the mobile browsing experience matures, however, there is less and less driving motivation to build an app.
You're out to make an impact, not waste money on a dud. Before you move forward with your awesome app idea, stop and think for a moment. Apps have had their heyday.  Your answer to the app question may be instead to focus your development on responsive design and mobile customization rather than app building.

Should You Build an App?

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SDL,  the leading provider of Global Information Management solutions, today announced the launch of SDL BeGlobal™. SDL BeGlobal delivers a central cloud platform to easily manage and deliver real-time automated translation for multilingual interactions across all forms of corporate communications. Combined with SDL TrustScore™, which enables content owners to publish content in any language with confidence, SDL BeGlobal allows monolingual content managers and business users to easily communicate with their global customers.
With 82 percent of customers severing ties with a company due to a negative experience, today’s customers have higher expectations than ever before (study conducted by Harris Interactive, 2010). In addition to receiving great customer service, customers expect more online and social interactions in their native language.  When it comes to online engagement, only 10 percent of web users that do not speak English will make purchases or engage with sites that are primarily in English (Common Sense Advisory, “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy”). These two key dynamics require companies to be able to communicate with their customers across languages and channels in a trusted, cost-effective way.
“Historically, content translation has been limited by budget and access to professional translation staff,” said Mark Tapling, CEO of SDL Language Technologies. “With constantly growing customer demands, businesses dd flexible alternatives to enable them to translate new types of content. SDL BeGlobal, coupled with new features such as Touchpoints, SDL TrustScore and brand and terminology management, empowers business users to have unprecedented control over multilingual assets in order to meet these well qualified customer needs.”

Through an easy-to-use web-based portal, SDL BeGlobal instantly enables users to manage global, trusted communications with customers in real-time, through one central interface for multiple types of content, communication and social media. SDL BeGlobal is an intuitive cloud platform that can turn any business user into a multilingual publisher, delivering content faster than ever before.
“Global enterprises face tremendous pressure to address the language challenges at the intersection of customer experience and the need for immediacy ,” said Mary Laplante, Vice President and Senior Analyst at Gilbane Group, a Division of Outsell, Inc. “Customers expect real-time content seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, in their language. SDL BeGlobal is a timely market response to the growing demand for solutions that address these challenges. It offers game-changing capabilities for companies that want to bring user-generated content into broader strategies and practices for managing multilingual content.”
“For the first time, here is a product on the market that business users can access to allow them to communicate across languages.  SDL BeGlobal brings powerful, proven automated translation into a secure, easy-to-use cloud platform, with nothing to install,” said Swamy Viswanathan, vice president of products and marketing for SDL Language Weaver. “Through the innovative TouchPoint feature, a single user can determine what they want to translate, the languages and quality required, and the destination of the translated content.  All of this can now be done at a cost not previously attainable.”
“This new platform is pre-integrated with existing Global Information Management solutions from SDL, so current customers can leverage work done in other SDL applications to extend their brand communication across more types of content,” said Mark Lancaster, CEO of the SDL Group. “SDL BeGlobal represents a key part of the Global Information Management solution offered by SDL.”
For more information on SDL BeGlobal, please join one of our upcoming webinars
<a href="http://www.sdl.com/en/language-technology/news-and-events/sdl-events/emea/2010q4/2010-11-10-introducing-sdl-beglobal.asp">Click here</a> to register for the event taking place on Wednesday, November 10 at 16:00 CET. 
<a href="http://www.sdl.com/en/language-technology/news-and-events/sdl-events/nasa/2010/2010-11-18-introducing-sdl-beglobal.asp">Click here</a> to register for the event taking place on Thursday, November 18 at 09:00 PST.
<h4>About SDL</h4>
SDL is the leader in Global Information Management solutions. SDL’s solutions increase business agility to enterprises by accelerating the delivery of high-quality multilingual content to global markets. The company’s integrated Web Content Management, eCommerce, Structured Content and Language Technologies, combined with its Language Services drive down the cost of content creation, management, translation and publishing. SDL solutions increase conversion ratios and customer satisfaction through targeted information that reaches multiple audiences around the world through different channels.
Global industry leaders who rely on SDL include ABN-Amro, Bosch, Canon, CNH, FICO, Hewlett-Packard, KLM, Microsoft, NetApp, Philips, SAP, Sony and Virgin Atlantic. SDL has over 1500 enterprise customers, has deployed over 170,000 software licenses and provides access to on-demand portals for 10 million customers per month. It has a global infrastructure of more than 60 offices in 35 countries. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.sdl.com/" target="_BLANK">www.sdl.com</a>.

SDL Unveils Cloud Platform For Real-Time Automated Translation

A surprise release of a new and open source version of Saurus CMS has become available.  It was released on the 23rd of this month and we just caught it, but hey, better now than never right?
Instead of three basic packages, previously called Free, SE and Full, there is now just one which should fit the needs of most complex modern websites.
<h4>What's included</h4>
The new product package includes the following :
<ul>
<li>Everything previously found in Saurus CMS SE</li>
<li>Section-based meta-info management (SEO)</li>
<li>User access/permissions (ACL)</li>
<li>Profiles and Custom Assets</li>
<li>Internal cache</li>
</ul>
Further details about this change and to grab your copy of either the community or enterprise editions, visit http://www.saurus.info/blog-saurus-cms-goes-open-source/

Saurus CMS 4.7.0 goes open source

Following their success with previous version 2.1, SageFrame have now released community version 3.0 along with some useful improvements.
SageFrame is a CMS which caters to both novice personnel and seasoned professionals, enabling them to build web sites and applications with various purposes quickly, easily and effectively.
With the newly released SageFrame 3.0, users will have their content management experience upgraded, thanks to a range of new features.
<h2>Dashboard Personalization &amp; To-do Lists</h2>
First up is the new ability to personalize your SageFrame dashboard. Not only can you customize the control of every module by making it effortlessly user-friendly, but you can also rearrange how the information appears to best suit the need of you and your team.
Also, for more efficient, effective and productive outcomes, SageFrame 3.0 brings about a new ‘To-Do List' feature. With it, you and your team can plan and exercise the control over the amount of time spent on specific activities. Tasks lists which need to be completed can be added and even organized in the order of priority.
The new ‘Page Help' option also helps you to get familiar with the functions of every feature, module or template that you come across within the platform.
<h2>Fluid Grid System, Multi Parent Portal &amp; More</h2>
With Responsive Design armed from its central core, the all new 100 fluid grid system copes with an absolute fluid grid experience. Adaptive techniques likewise facilitate the faster mobile browsing experience.
SageFrame 3.0 also enables you to use a single hosting account for multiple domain names. You may now manage multiple web portals at a time, thereby having the freedom to assign any portal as the parent or child portal. Furthermore, Content Delivery Networks are now supported, increasing your site’s overall speed and performance.
Finally, along with this new version of SageFrame comes a host of eye-catching templates with premium modules, providing you with more flexibility and choice while developing your site.
Visit the official SageFrame website to find out more about what version 3.0 has to offer.
Additionally, be sure to check out <a href="/products/sageframe/" target="_blank">SageFrame on our CMS Directory</a>.

SageFrame 3.0 Community Version Released

Reality Digital, Inc., a leading provider of white-label social media technology for businesses, today announced a major update to the Reality Digital Opus™ API, a hosted social media API (application program interface). The Opus API 3.0 release includes hundreds of improvements to core technology and introduces over 90 new methods for 25 digital media and social networking features in the product. Offered as software-as-a-service, digital agencies can use the comprehensive social media API to build custom social media communities, mobile social networks, YouTube and Facebook apps, and add online video and social features to existing websites.
“Our Sprite Spark Music and Movie Director Facebook apps had a heavy media focus that required complex social technology to power them,” said Kaare Wesnaes, Director of Creative Development, AKQA. “Reality Digital's social media API gave us all those tools out of the box leaving our team valuable time to focus on the execution of exceptional Flash UI work and the overall concept.”
Opus API 3.0 gives developers instant access to hosted social media features, like online video publishing and member profiles, and enables them to quickly build custom social apps and improve efficiency to market by decreasing development time and reducing budget and resources. Creative agencies, particularly those who have in-house development teams, have benefited greatly from the flexibility that Reality Digital's social media API gives them to create unique social media campaigns.
Key features of the social media API include:
<ul>
<li>Digital Media Management Engine Manage and publish professional branded content alongside UGC (user generated content) uploads, including: HD (high-definition) video, audio, images, documents and Flash animation</li>
<li>Media Socialization Share media with social networks, deep-tag comments, and ratings</li>
<li>Social Networking Integrate user profiles, friends, groups, messaging, blogs, forums, events, polls and feeds</li>
<li>Content Moderation Tools Monitor user generated content including video, blogs, comments and other media and quickly moderate using comprehensive tools to maintain user and brand safety</li>
<li>Admin and Analytics Dashboard Perform an array of administrative activities with 24/7 access to real-time reports and metrics</li>
<li>Multiple Data Format Support Supports both SOAP and REST technologies and includes data output options to JSON, JSONP and XML formats, enabling easy integration with JQuery front-end technology</li>
</ul>
“As brands and their creative agencies develop more complex social media initiatives, agencies are requesting more flexibility in implementing social technology themselves,” said Randy St. Jean, co-founder and chief technology officer, Reality Digital. “While many agencies work directly with our professional services team to build their social media campaigns, a growing number of agencies with in-house development teams prefer to build it themselves. The Opus API gives developers complete control over the process and the ability to layer cutting-edge creative over complex social media technology. This approach eliminates the cycles of building social features from scratch and improves efficiency to market.”
Opus API 3.0 is a fully-hosted service based on Reality Digital Opus™, the company's core social media platform that has been on the market since 2005. A typical engagement includes a license to use the software, hosting and delivery of content, start-up training, documentation and technical support. The company can have an instance of Opus API up and running within one business day of receiving an approved contract.
Opus API 3.0 is available today. To learn more about Reality Digital's social media API, please visit www.realitydigital.com/opus-api.html.

Reality Digital Releases Latest Version of Social Media API Targeted to Creative Agencies

Just before Christmas, <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/" target="_blank">Optimizely</a> – a leading digital experience platform (DXP) provider – delivered a gift that we're still unwrapping: an integrated version of its <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/commerce/b2b/" target="_blank">B2B Commerce Cloud</a> and <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/content/" target="_blank">Content Cloud</a> products.
OK... so maybe the other schwag under your tree had a bit more pizzazz. But this tidy pairing brings some real power to brands, particularly those looking to reach audiences with sophisticated content strategies and digital experiences. The new integration also has to potential to help large marketing teams collaborate more effectively around their content – providing a more complete ecosystem of services.
According to Optimizely, the integration leverages its B2B Commerce Cloud as a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank">headless commerce</a> API, making B2B data and capabilities available in Content Cloud. The coupling enables users to access B2B-specific features in the Commerce Cloud while using Content Cloud CMS to manage all the pages, templates, content, and assets of their website. Content Cloud also lets marketers build and manage multiple sites while leveraging shared data for customers, products, and orders in B2B Commerce Cloud.
Another key feature of the integrated solution is a combined out-of-the-box search engine, allowing users to search products in the B2B Commerce catalog as well as the Content Cloud – and return combined results. Users can also manage their product catalog in B2B Commerce and have them available in Content Cloud.
“Optimizely Content Cloud has a long history of providing marketers with extensive tools for content publication and creation of exceptional digital experiences,” said Justin Anovick, Chief Product Officer of Optimizely. “With the integration of B2B Commerce Cloud, businesses can extend these tools to B2B customers, enabling the delivery of optimal digital experiences across audiences.”
<h2>Powering buying experiences with B2B Commerce Cloud</h2>
To be clear, Optimizely's B2B Commerce Cloud and Content Cloud have been stand-outs in their own right. The former has carved a decent niche as a one-stop commerce solution, decreasing the complexity of a brand's online commerce stack by collectively managing catalogs, quotes, orders, product configurations, and more – all with one holistic view. It also boasts personalization capabilities, leveraging data-driven recommendations to power custom digital commerce experiences.
Optimizely has focused its B2B Commerce Cloud on manufacturers and distributors, helping them configure custom solutions that meet their specific brand requirements. Additionally, the solution has made the connections with an organization's ERP, PIM, and other backend systems more efficient, allowing them to scale their growth across their stack. Those connections are key, and so is maintaining the security of a brand's data; to that end, Optimizely has achieved ISO certifications in its pursuit of assuring the highest standards of data security with B2B Commerce Cloud.
<h2>Create once, publish everywhere with Content Cloud CMS</h2>
On the other side of the integration equation is Optimizely's Content Cloud, a shadow of the former Episerver (which, as you know, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/episerver-to-acquire-optimizely-the-worlds-leading-experience-optimization-platform/">purchased Optimizely in 2020</a> and consolidated under its banner). Content Cloud has been enabling marketing teams to leverage an industry-leading content management system to distribute content across channels with a coupled, headless, or hybrid CMS model – or via Optimizely's global network.
Content Cloud boasts a wide berth of rich features including personalized media management, drag-and-drop layouts and authoring, custom workflows, and more. The system also enables users to create and target personalized content and commerce experiences based on dynamic audience segments. The personalization features come out of the box at a rules-based level but can be upgraded through their <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/hyper-personalization/" target="_blank">AI-powered 1:1 personalization</a> with <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/products/intelligence/recommendations/" target="_blank">Content Recommendations.</a>
<h2>Providing sample resources and implementation support</h2>
One thing Optimizely consistently does well is listen to customers. This has been most evident following the large-scale acquisitions of Episerver and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-acquires-customer-data-platform-zaius/">Zaius</a>, where users needed both training and vision to build confidence around the company's roadmap. This is just one contributing factor to the company's leadership positions on <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner's 2021 Magic Quadrant for DXPs</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/company/press/optimizely-named-a-leader-in-agile-content-management-systems/" target="_blank">Forrester Wave for Agile Content Management Systems</a>.
To help customers get the most from this new integration, Optimizely is releasing a B2B-specific sample site packed with Content Cloud templates and blocks – giving users a pipeline of resources to accelerate their builds. In its press release, the company said that the sample site will answer the "time-to-market metric" variables that many B2B customers weigh when selecting technology vendors. Once again, evidence that Optimizely is listening to the voice of the customer and thinking ahead.
Additionally, Optimizely has named <a href="https://www.nishtech.com/">Nishtech</a> – a full-service digital experience and e-commerce consultancy – as a preferred implementation partner to support the B2B Commerce Cloud/Content Cloud integration. Nishtech is an Optimizely Platinum Partner that has first-hand experience with the new integration and can be contracted to guide customers and their agencies through setting up and utilizing the new integration.
<h2>About Optimizely</h2>
<a href="http://www.optimizely.com/">Optimizely</a> is on a mission to help people unlock their digital potential. With their leading digital experience platform (DXP), they equip teams with the tools and insights they need to create and optimize in new and novel ways. Now, companies can operate with data-driven confidence to create hyper-personalized experiences. Building sophisticated solutions has never been simpler. Optimizely’s 900+ partners and 1100+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 9,000 brands, including Toyota, Santander, eBay, KLM, and Mazda, enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue and grow their brands.

Optimizely Integrates B2B Commerce Cloud and Content Cloud, Combines Headless Commerce with CMS

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