Articles - Page 32

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

If you haven’t been to the British Virgin Islands, go. They are a jewel in the crown of the Caribbean. Beyond the sugary sand beaches and predictable tourist bars, a rugged, untamed beauty makes it all feel... undiscovered.
A few years back, I took a snorkeling excursion to the <a href="https://www.bvitourism.com/the-islands/virgin-gorda" target="_blank">Baths on the island of Virgin Gorda</a>, a nature park that offers a labyrinthine journey through a network of caves and secret pools. That might sound a bit daring, but there’s no spelunking involved. Just bring a good pair of shoes.
At the other end of this trek is a spectacular beach called Devil’s Bay. As you emerge from the rocks, it unfolds like a dream, with unspoiled turquoise water shimmering like diamonds in the sun. It’s worth the hike to experience it.
As I explored the crystalline depths, I encountered an octopus. It was a little bigger than my hand but full of vigor. I followed it for what seemed like hours, darting about the submerged rock formations, constantly changing its shape and size.
When I think about the octopus (or plural, octopi – that’s fun to say), the first thought that enters my head is “alien.” It’s not hyperbole: <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/scientific-paper-claims-octopuses-actually-161100373.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAlDc3OtmWaNnugy1CE9jDhDNBqXMsAtCICpCq5Kq276uYXmXNInrAgucHJDs2i3qlWggBfdZtzxrRqcvSIiG-VpDK7TZi4l-I2xm-GG4I4B8RcNFZij_oc_JsnQ7l2DVWTeMIuANjQLBrTCH9uhlnNTJZ0nQjIdG4zO9uovndmu" target="_blank">a scientific paper</a> released last year postulates that these critters exhibit "extraterrestrial biological features." If that sounds more like science fiction than fact, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1R6tOBryY" target="_blank">watch this video</a> of octopi making spectacular escapes from impossible places. They are cunning, intelligent, and able to reach places other species can’t.
It’s clear why this unique creature influenced the name Occtoo. The etymological allusion is obvious, but I wanted to ask <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nmollin/" target="_blank">Niclas Mollin</a>, co-founder and CEO of this new breed of business, how this permutation came about – and why it’s so apropos to his company’s ethos.
“We had a lot of ideas,” he said, bouncing around concepts of infinity and its relationship to persisting data. But under it all, the octopus motif seems to align with the company’s values to reach, connect, and unify – like a cephalopod’s long, sticky arms.
As it so happens, a design company located in their shared workspace helped bring the brand to life – and the rest, as they say, is history. Since its launch in 2019, the startup platform has grown to almost 50 employees across 14 countries, with a hub in central Sweden.
During the course of our conversation, I asked Niclas about the murky depths of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/8-cms-trends-to-watch-in-2023-from-mach-to-metaverse/">digital experience composition</a> (DXC) and how Occtoo is shining through the confusion. We also discussed the importance of the MACH Alliance as a force for shaping the composable landscape and what’s on the roadmap for his vibrant young company.
<h2>Swimming in rivers and oceans of data</h2>
Building businesses from the ground floor is nothing new for Niclas. He’s a steely entrepreneur that exudes confidence, masterfully translating business value into something scalable.
He mustered those traits as a founding member of <a href="https://www.inriver.com/" target="_blank">inRiver</a> – a product information management (PIM) system that simplifies multichannel commerce by making it fast, easy, and visual in nature. The platform enables customers to create, maintain, and distribute product information across multiple sales channels.
inRiver started flowing in 2008, and Niclas spent nearly a decade building it into a powerhouse PIM. Along the way, he saw the opportunity for Occtoo to emerge, specifically as fragmented and siloed data became a key inhibitor to building modern apps.
“There was a big challenge with flowing data and making it available in real time,” he said. “We couldn’t take so long to launch digital experiences. So I decided to explore if we could build something that can help customers innovate faster and launch in a more capable way.”
While not all startups have the good fortune to start with an international customer like <a href="https://www.cartier.com/en-us/home" target="_blank">Cartier</a>, Niclas was able to leverage his network of partnerships to prove out Occtoo’s utility. In the first two years, they landed <a href="https://www.fenixoutdoor.se/" target="_blank">Fenix Outdoor</a> and other leading brands, helping the company reach 500% revenue growth between 2020 and 2021.
This led to an investment by Sweden-based <a href="https://industrifonden.com/" target="_blank">Industrifonden</a> and <a href="https://www.42cap.com/" target="_blank">42CAP</a> for €2 million in early 2021, no doubt buoyed by the rapid acceleration of digital transformation by the Covid-19 pandemic in areas like eCommerce. This continued in November of 2022, with an additional infusion of €4.6M in a round led by <a href="https://newion.com/news/occtoo-raises-e4-6m-to-help-digital-teams-build-relevant-experiences-with-their-low-code-composable-experience-data-platform/" target="_blank">Newion</a>.
<h2>Building customer experiences at lightning speed</h2>
Occtoo is purpose-built around data, hence its claim to the mantle of “The Experience Data Platform.” But therein lies its competitive distinction: Occtoo helps companies build experiences faster by harnessing real time data from internal and external sources – from CRM to ERP, PIM to DAM – and combining it all in a low-code platform. With everything persisting in one place, you can assemble product and editorial content using data from various relevant places.
Sounds cool. But how?
APIs, baby – which, according to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecka-l%C3%B6thman-ryd%C3%A5-b8638a55/" target="_blank">Rebecka Löthman Rydå</a> of Industrifonden, can be rendered in Occtoo “as easily as creating a Slack channel.” These APIs also power additional capabilities like headless personalization, allowing for greater experimentation and optimization.
One of Occtoo’s strongest attributes is its ability to tap legacy and siloed data and make it available and reusable across an omnichannel of frontend screens and devices. At the same time, it’s bi-directional, allowing you to collect behavioral data from app users.
Occtoo’s cloud-native SaaS posture makes it a composable play that accelerates everything in the ecosystem, enabling a faster time to innovation – something critical in our rapidly evolving digital economy. Occtoo also offers a visualization UI that allows for simplified management.
On this point, Niclas analogized Occtoo to an iceberg. “We spent the first couple of years building, [figuring out] how to store data, our graph database – so customers don’t have to think about it,” he said. “Now, Occtoo Studio is the user interface. You can see it, activate it, and front-end developers can get the APIs. It’s all visual.”
<h2>The integration killer</h2>
In my <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/is-the-birth-of-dxc-the-death-of-dxp-a-conversation-with-darren-guarnaccia-president-at-uniform/">recent interview</a> with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dguarnaccia/" target="_blank">Darren Guarnaccia</a>, president at Uniform – a digital composition experience platform (DXCP) –  he emphatically denounced integration glue code as “the lowest value code.” No disagreement from me, but many SIs subsist on costly, long-term engagements and retainers to manage a hornet’s nest of integration code.
Like Uniform, Occtoo is appealing to both enterprises and SIs with the practical equation of time = money. By eliminating the friction around combining and activating data from any source, you can effectively kill the reliance on costly, time-consuming integrations that can sometimes take three, six, or even 12 months to build.
I know enterprises are seeing the benefit, but I asked if SIs were on board with "anti-glue code" solutions like DXC – and if they’re already seeing potential with these tools.
“Yes,” Niclas said unequivocally, “because glue code isn’t fun. The amount of time spent on projects is becoming an issue, but SIs also need to do something with their offerings, as there’s more than just commerce. We need to be asking, 'how can we help with the customer journey?'"
He also believes the SIs realize they can deliver their first DXC-powered project successfully and will be positioned to deliver more projects – and Occtoo has the perfect solution to make that happen.
“If you have Octoo in the offering, you can spend more time working on the dynamics of project cost. That creates more dollars to reallocate to do more – and that’s incentive for the SI. We have all the data needed in Occtoo, and launching the next digital initiative is five times faster.”
Five times faster. Not too shabby when considering time to market. Or your bottom line.
<h2>To be a DXC, or not to be… is that the question?</h2>
Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/" target="_blank">Kelly Goetsch</a> – Chief Strategy Officer at <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/commercetools-acquires-frontastic-adds-composable-frontend-capabilities-to-headless-commerce/">commercetools</a> and co-founder of the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH Alliance</a> – hosted a sort of DXC Family Feud on LinkedIn. The purpose: bring some definition to the emerging “digital experience composition” category. The contestants included Niclas, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/uniform-raises-28m-in-series-a-funding-round-for-composable-dxp/">Lars Petersen</a> (CEO of Uniform), and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/from-legacy-to-composable-whats-the-best-way-forward/">Sana Remekie</a> (CEO of <a href="https://conscia.ai/">Conscia.ai</a>).
The word “family” is apropos because everything about this webinar felt amicable. As Sana observed, this was her first time amongst frenemies. Kelly further amplified this point, suggesting all three panelists might be competing for market share – but only after a category, Wave, or Magic Quadrant had been codified. 
As I shared with Niclas, my experience with each of these leaders has been one of true composable ambassadorship for DXC, where rising tides lift all ships. He agreed and took it one step further.
“Lars came out of CMS, Sana out of search, and Occtoo out of enterprise data,” he said, noting the different layers of the stack. “When we talk to each other, we’re not competing at all. We’ve even pitched together [and] provided elements to help Uniform build cool frontends.”
That camaraderie sounds great, but the big challenge plaguing these innovators is a continued lack of clarity. While Gartner mentioned DXC as an important trend in its recently published Magic Quadrant for DXPs, the lack of “category guardrails” can still confuse potential buyers. Add to that a parsing within the proto-category, from Occtoo's "Experience Data Platform" to Conscia's "Digital Experience Orchestration." 
Niclas didn’t seem troubled by this, perhaps because of his clear focus on data.
“CMS is great, and you need to have that. The commerce engine has its purpose. But you have to include PIM data, enterprise ERP data... and this is where the magic happens [with Occtoo]. We want to help take care of the real business data, the kind that resides in internal facing systems. Persisting the data, the ability to unify data from different sources, and the ability to make it available from one API.”
I asked Niclas where he sees demand. Are RFPs specifically calling out DXC or Experience Data Platforms as a requirement?
“We’re in the early days,” he said. “but now we’re moving towards [being] a best-of-breed solution.”
And with a customer list that includes Cartier, Marquet, and other leading brands, they’re already carving out demand for their service.
<h2>MACHified for a composable world</h2>
As a member of the MACH Alliance, Occtoo has undergone a rigorous approval process to meet the organization’s certification benchmarks. Additionally, Niclas serves on the <a href="https://machalliance.org/insights/staying-focused-why-we-re-expanding-the-mach-alliance-advisory-board" target="_blank">Executive Advisory Board</a>, which is helping to shape the future of the Alliance and serve its growing member community – which now includes 80 vendors, SIs, and enablers.
I asked Niclas what the MACH Alliance means for Occtoo and the industry at large.
“It has a fantastic role to play,” he said. “It puts a light on it, and it would be hard to do [this] alone. The collective power is amazing and the team has done an amazing job.”
Niclas also reinforced what I’ve heard from multiple members and outside analysts: that the Alliance needs to continue its investment in education and certification, so it doesn’t dilute its value. This will continue to be a challenge as more monolithic DXPs shift to composable offerings and focus their marketing on the hype.
As Niclas created one of these MACH-certified composable solutions, I probed to see what he thought of these chess moves by more monolithic DXPs.
“It’s good – they recognize they can’t have data locked in,” he responded. "This is a tricky topic, but I believe that a DXP needs to be constantly evolving to include new technology and approaches – hence, interoperability is going to be key, even if this is a suite bought from one vendor or multiple vendors. The MACH Alliance is important to validate which vendors adhere to MACH principles."
The good news, as Niclas predicts, is that DXPs can use Occtoo to aid their transition to a modern posture. "This is the path moving forward. We can tap into legacy players, and it works – if they admit they are good at one part, and not another. DXPs have strengths.”
<h2>Eight arms towards the future</h2>
Design has been an important attribute of Niclas’ entrepreneurial makeup, from brand to business value. I asked what the roadmap looks like for his still fledgling company and what it takes to design an entirely new category – especially at a time when the economics are, shall we say, rattling the cage.
“You need to be a little crazy to do it,” he said, bending a wry smile in my direction. “When I left inRiver, I [swore] I would never build a category again. I love the building part, but it’s frustrating. Change is hard, and there’s a lot of resistance.”
Resistance may seem futile, but not to this business builder. He is undeniable in his quest to "empower people with data," and he’s focusing his passion on the possibilities – as crazy as they might seem.
Maybe those risks are less daunting when you have more time to explore. As we parted ways, Niclas shared how his two kids (a daughter and son, 20 and 18) have left a wake of space, allowing him and his wife to travel, hike, and even enjoy a glass of wine in the middle of the week.
As I think about Occtoo and its future, I’m reminded again of the octopus. In some ways, its otherworldly abilities to change form and reach impossible places are the very essence of being composable. DXC may feel a bit like wading into alien waters. But a new world of potential awaits below the surface – and leaders like Niclas are taking us there.
If you haven’t yet explored it yet, go.

Occtoo Dives Deep to Unify Data and Kill Integrations: A Conversation with CEO Niclas Mollin

matt-garrepy

Occtoo featured graphic with headshot of Niclas Mollin and Occtoo logo

This week, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a> – a leading digital experience platform (DXP) – announced a strategic partnership with global consulting firm <a href="http://www.kpmg.com/us" target="_blank">KPMG</a>.
Together, the companies plan to deliver the Acquia Open Digital Experience Platform to enterprise customers across the industries and clients served by KPMG. The combined capabilities will enable marketing, content, and IT teams to scale secure digital experiences.
“As pressure intensifies on marketers to win customers and keep them engaged, they’re looking for a platform to bring together insights from first-party customer data and content,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasondgalloway/" target="_blank">Jason Galloway</a>, US Marketing Consulting Practice Lead at KPMG. “We’ve already worked with Acquia to provide their customer data platform to support data-driven marketing. Moving forward, we anticipate Acquia DXP will become a key offering for KPMG clients looking to leverage customer insights and content across touchpoints.”
<h2>Acquia continues to lead in DXP</h2>
Last month, Acquia DXP was listed as a Leader in the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/acquia-named-leader-2023-gartner-magic-quadranttm-dxp" target="_blank">Gartner Magic Quadrant</a> for Digital Experience Platforms for the fourth consecutive year. The report established the relative market position of Acquia and 13 other DXP vendors across B2B, B2C, B2E.
In a <a href="https://www.acquia.com/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-named-leader-2023-gartner-magic-quadrant-digital-experience" target="_blank">news release</a> announcing the ranking, Acquia provided areas of focus they considered instrumental in maintaining their Leader status, including:
<ul>
<li>the release of Acquia Code Studio to provide a complete DevOps environment for <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-do-industry-experts-expect-for-the-drupal-10-launch-heres-what-they-told-us/">Drupal</a></li>
<li>the launch of a new developer portal and Drupal starter kits to accelerate time-to-value</li>
<li>the introduction of speed and scalability enhancements to Acquia Cloud Platform, Acquia CDP, and other products</li>
<li>the creation of a unified data layer across Acquia CDP and the company's personalization solution, giving organizations the power to track unknown to known customers and enhancing first-party data strategies</li>
<li>the integration of Acquia DAM capabilities into Acquia DXP, making it simpler for customers to manage a boom in digital content</li>
</ul>
<h2>Alliance with KPMG provides the opportunity to expand to more enterprise businesses</h2>
With the new KPMG alliance, clients can expect tailored products from Acquia, including its open source content management system powered by Drupal, the Acquia Cloud, a customer data platform, personalization capabilities, and a digital asset management system (DAM). Through the Acquia DXP, these products can be used individually or together, helping customers design the exact customer experience that works for their organization and customers.
“KPMG’s focus on guiding marketing and IT teams to create solutions that meet their precise business needs makes them an ideal collaborator for Acquia,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-reny-0a2a0a163/" target="_blank">Steve Reny</a>, President and CEO of Acquia. “Acquia DXP’s openness enables organizations to not only better connect with customers, but to maximize the value of investments in other martech, e-commerce, and productivity tools. This alliance brings the power of data-driven customer insights and best-in-class digital experience creation and management to marketers.”
<h2>About KPMG LLP</h2>
KPMG LLP is the U.S. firm of the KPMG global organization of independent professional services firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The KPMG global organization operates in 143 countries and territories and has more than 265,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients. Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or related entities. KPMG is widely recognized for being a great place to work and build a career. Our people share a sense of purpose in the work we do, and a strong commitment to community service, inclusion and diversity and eradicating childhood illiteracy. Learn more at <a href="http://www.kpmg.com/us" target="_blank">www.kpmg.com/us</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://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">https://acquia.com</a>.

Acquia and KPMG Form Strategic Alliance to Scale Digital Experiences

cms-critic-staff

“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

mk-patterson

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

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

janus-boye

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

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

This week, <a href="https://hygraph.com/?utm_term=hygraph&amp;utm_campaign=EN_GL_Brand&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_acc=2816788452&amp;hsa_cam=17743993835&amp;hsa_grp=141602476209&amp;hsa_ad=610084431591&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-1681477926128&amp;hsa_kw=hygraph&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjww4-hBhCtARIsAC9gR3YU9uocJkJ2l80xEp1BlGTD-17eTEyFU6i_A1B0oVIDPhzZxjfOz7AaAtL0EALw_wcB" target="_blank">Hygraph</a>, an enterprise-level federated content platform, announced a closing round of Series B funding for $30 million, led by the investment firm <a href="https://onepeak.tech/">One Peak</a>. Other existing VC firms <a href="https://openocean.vc/" target="_blank">OpenOcean</a>, <a href="https://peak.capital/" target="_blank">Peak</a>, <a href="https://squareone.vc/" target="_blank">SquareOne</a>, and a new angel investor, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/boris-lokschin-aba53013/?locale=en_US" target="_blank">Boris Lokschin</a>, co-founder and CEO of Spryker Systems, completed the funding round.
“The demand for connected digital services shows no sign of slowing down, but building everything custom is costly and an innovation bottleneck. Today, organizations not only need to distribute content to multiple devices, but they also need to access and serve up content from a myriad of sources,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-lukaszczyk/" target="_blank">Michael Lukaszczyk</a>, Hygraph CEO and co-founder. “In the same way the headless CMS changed content distribution, Hygraph is disrupting the integration of content and data to enable the creation of new digital services and business models in the content economy. Our new funding round will allow us to further scale our business, as we aim to do for content management what the likes of MuleSoft did for integration.”
<h2>Hello, Hygraph</h2>
Last year, GraphCMS – the first GraphQL-native headless CMS – <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/graphcms-rebrands-to-hygraph-launches-new-federated-content-platform/">rebranded itself to Hygraph</a> and focused on a new federated content delivery platform. Since its rebrand, the Berlin-based company currently employs 70 people globally, and boasts more than 400 customers, including Dr. Oetker, Shure, Samsung, and Philips.
<h2>What is a federated content platform?</h2>
Hygraph calls it the “next generation of content management,” particularly in the next step beyond the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a>. The focus of Hygraph has been to replace “middleware development,” which has naturally occurred since the rise of headless and composable architecture. Through Hygraph’s product, users can connect siloed content across the entire software stack via a single API. Through this approach, content teams can compose content, distribute it and scale it more quickly than by using a traditionally headless system.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/hygraph.png" />
<h2>Hygraph = high growth</h2>
With this new round of funding, investors are anticipating Hygraph to grow their business and expand the reach toward implementing their innovative federated content platform, particularly in North America.
“Despite the rise of the composable enterprise, many organizations are unable to unlock full value from their content,” said David Klein, co-founder and managing partner, and Tatjana Kast, director at One Peak. “Hygraph solves the customization and integration challenges that continue to slow the creation of new or complex digital services at scale. We have been hugely impressed with Hygraph’s strong and capital-efficient growth trajectory and believe that its federated content platform presents a sizeable market opportunity. One Peak is incredibly excited to back the excellent Hygraph team and its founders in their next phase of explosive growth.”
“We are honoured to be able to continue to support Hygraph’s journey,” said Ekaterina Almasque, general partner, OpenOcean. “The Series B validates the company’s unique position as an emerging leader in the next-generation enterprise content management stack. Its powerful GraphQL-native federated platform enables customers to build products like streaming services or fast-moving catalogs with unprecedented speed and ease, without relying on large engineering teams. We’re delighted to be involved in the strides that Hygraph has made since our early-stage investment to reposition the company, rebrand, and show their unique proposition to the enterprise market.”
<h3>About Hygraph</h3>
Hygraph is the enterprise-grade federated content platform that enables content creators to rapidly build and deliver tomorrow’s connected digital experiences at scale. As the next generation of CMS, Hygraph powers a many-to-many relationship between different content sources and devices. Hygraph’s modern API approach allows organisations to innovate faster and at lower cost, whether it’s building content-rich applications, or managing large product catalogues or internal knowledge management systems. Hygraph is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and currently works with 400+ customers globally including Dr. Oetker, Shure, Samsung and Philips.
For more information, visit <a href="http://www.hygraph.com" target="_blank">www.hygraph.com</a>.
<h3>About One Peak</h3>
One Peak is a leading growth equity investment firm with approx. $2 billion in assets under management that invests in technology companies in the scale-up phase. One Peak provides growth capital, operating expertise and access to its extensive network to exceptional entrepreneurs, with a view to help transform innovative and rapidly growing businesses into lasting, category-defining leaders. In addition to Hygraph, One Peak’s investments include Ardoq, Brightflag, Coople, Cymulate, DataGuard, Deepki, DocPlanner, Emnify, HighQ, Infermedica, Keepit, Lucca, Neo4j, Orgvue, PandaDoc, Paysend, Quentic, Spryker Systems, and many more.
For more information, visit <a href="http://www.onepeak.tech" target="_blank">www.onepeak.tech</a>.

Hygraph Secures $30 Million in Series B Funding

Image of new Hygraph logo against a dark background with a graph pattern

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

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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 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

It’s hard to avoid the rocket allusions, but with a product called “Launch,” it’s almost a requirement.
For <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-launches-new-marketplace-to-accelerate-composable-digital-experience-innovation/">Contentstack</a>, a leading <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a> and <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/cms-guides/building-digital-experience-platform-dxp/" target="_blank">composable DXP</a>, the liftoff of its new front-end hosting solution comes at a perfect time. As the market’s focus on composable accelerates at warp speed, organizations are looking for more complete ecosystems to simplify the challenges of building, deploying, and scaling their experiences.
This is where <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/launch/" target="_blank">Contentstack Launch</a> can take businesses orbital. The new solution, which is currently pre-GA, promises a MACH-compliant, low latency hosting solution with fully automated functionality from back-end to front-end.
I had a chance to connect with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-haddock-24697870/" target="_blank">Dean Haddock</a>, the Senior Product Manager at Contentstack who’s helping to pilot the Launch mission. We talked about the new offering and how it completes a vision to deliver everything needed for building composable experiences.
Dean is a fellow CMS journeyman. His story began in open source, working on the early frontier of APIs before they became native to platforms. That eventually led him to Contentstack, where he’s spent the last year focusing on cutting-edge products in the company’s evolving portfolio – which is now reaching beyond its core headless CMS and into middle layer tools like Contentstack’s <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-launches-new-marketplace-to-accelerate-composable-digital-experience-innovation/">Automation Hub and Marketplace</a>.
“Contentstack is now a multi-product platform,” he said. “So a lot of my work is stitching together the fundamental and foundational parts of that architecture and infrastructure.”
This might sound like rocket science, but Dean and the team at Contentstack have been executing on a clear vision for quite some time. That’s led to some stellar investments – including an <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-raises-80-million-series-c-focuses-on-accelerating-the-path-to-composable-for-enterprises/">$80 million Series C</a> that closed in November of 2022. To date, the company has raised $169 million.
Is it enough to reach the moon? Even in a highly competitive market, that’s one giant leap for a headless CMS. Compound it with the gravity of a softening economy – particularly in tech – and the escape velocity shifts.
But this is where Contentstack has a distinct advantage: they’re market leaders. The company is solid and expanding globally from its San Francisco headquarters. They’ve also cultivated a dynamic culture under <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-raises-57-5-million-in-series-b-round-qa-with-ceo-neha-sampat/">CEO Neha Sampet</a> and consistently demonstrated a commitment to innovation.
Couple all that with a solid multi-product strategy and you have the rocket fuel to blast off.
<h2>Bringing content creators and developers together</h2>
From the get-go, Dean wanted to focus our conversation on the critical relationship between content creators and developers, which he believes is the most interesting story around Launch. He was very enthusiastic about it, and I asked him what’s driving his passion. 
“I couldn't be more excited about [Launch],” he said. “Because it's the front-end, putting the head on the headless with CMS and providing this end-to-end digital experience where we have the CMS, the automations, integrations, extensions. Things you can do in the middle layer of your content delivery. And now the front-end, where you can deliver to all to your audiences in a super-efficient, very delightful, easy breezy way.”
“Easy breezy” might be the operative terminology, and what Dean proceeded to share in his demo was exactly that: Launch is helping to eliminate the friction around completing the composable puzzle when building and deploying websites – making the entire process seamless and, well, easy breezy.  
<h3>Deploying Launch with Next.js</h3>
Dean took me through a typical deployment example, and as billed, it all felt smooth. He used a starter stack for Next.js, for which they provide tutorials and documentation. You can do this on your own, but Contentstack offers these flexible “launchpads” that use common rendering methods and auto-populate environment variables.
In seconds, we were able to deploy a staging and production environment with all the essentials – and this is where he notes the connective tissue between content creators and developers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/create-new-project.jpg" alt="Contentstack Create New Project" />
“You'll be able to see the opportunities to bring folks together on the same sides of a ‘walled garden’ instead of tossing things over the fence from content manager to developer using other platforms – and where we can get some efficiencies and scale,” Dean said.
The staging and production environments use Contentstack’s CDN, which automatically triggers rebuilds. You can also schedule rebuilds to help reduce routine DevOps tasks, and there’s a nice Slack integration that allows you to message team members around your workflows.
What was really slick was the degree of visibility across the environments. With Launch, you can always see what’s deploying, what’s live, and what might have failed in the build process.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/environments.jpg" alt="Environments" />
Launch is also framework agnostic, so developers have their choice of any common JavaScript front-end frameworks like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/">Next.js</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-acquires-gatsby-aims-to-accelerate-adoption-of-composable-web-architectures/">Gatsby</a>. This fits squarely with the composable promise of enabling developers to work in the language they prefer.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/portfolio-overview.jpg" alt="Portfolio Overview" />
<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/launch/?creative=651180332057&amp;keyword=contentstack%20launch&amp;matchtype=p&amp;network=g&amp;device=c&amp;campaign=19806932844&amp;adgroup=146548710469&amp;placement=&amp;utm_campaign=fy24-glob-dg-launch-us-ca&amp;utm_medium=paid_search&amp;utm_source=google&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwzuqgBhAcEiwAdj5dRrCGvcWB6oY89DiyAitLebtNklaEF5zT2t22x2RXcJYxcqSUG8ZZSBoCx64QAvD_BwE" target="_blank">According to a video</a> Dean hosted, Launch was originally conceived as a tool that developers would use. To that end, it’s effectively an active CI/CD system that builds and deploys your code immediately after pushing it. This reduces the cumbersome challenges with building CI/CD from scratch.
After our environment was in place, Dean brought us back to Github, where we selected the Next.js starter and gave it a name (aptly, “CMS Critic Demo”). Going back to the prod environment, we were able to pick a delivery token and import the variables. From there, it was as simple as clicking “Deploy” to start building the front-end site.
“So what [Launch] is doing here is going to Github, grabbing my code, downloading it onto our platform, running the build commands, and compiling the application,” he said, describing the automagical process. “When folks start accessing my content, it's going to be caching it on the CDN for super low latency, as you would expect for a front-end, headless hosting solution.”
<h3>Powering content creators </h3>
Deployment took a few minutes to complete, which included the SSL provisioning – yet another headache that Launch resolves. From there, we shifted to the content publisher’s realm and walked through the experience of our new homepage. With everything running off the same codebase, it was a snap to preview changes to any aspect of the page and then push to production in seconds.
"So I could say, ‘here's a production publishing environment where all my production content is going to go,’’ Dean said, narrating the use case. “I can also create lower-level environments, if I want to try out content or maybe write content that then needs to be approved by legal before it goes to publish on the web. The legal team can look quickly for any changes, hit approve, and then content could be delivered to environments as it’s promoted all the way up to production for a final approval.”
It's clear that this use case around governance and compliance is crucial for modern enterprises. While Contentstack’s CMS can certainly handle organizational permissions, the addition of Launch further simplifies vital workflows while accelerating the entire process – allowing content to be published faster and with greater control.
We played a little more with the staging and production sides of the flow, changing colors in headers and updating content elements – and it all felt easy breezy and lightning fast. As Dean explained, with this particular front-end, updates in the CMS were being automatically delivered to the presentation layer. With other packages that use SSG (such as Gatsby) it would require a quick rebuild.
The promise of Launch is greater freedom to build with clicks, not code. Modeling exists on both sides of the “walled garden,” where dev, staging, and prod are all handled in once place like cream cheese – so developers can focus on building while marketers push content and new experiences faster than ever.
“You could also create front-end templates, sites, and microsites that can be deployed from the content management side without ever really needing to engage the developer,” Dean said, codifying that promise of freedom. “So your developers set you up with a handful of different templates and you can just deploy front-ends for any kind of marketing purposes with a really quick turnaround time.”
<h2>Stacked for composable success</h2>
I asked Dean what the roadmap looks like for Contentstack in 2023. They’re now a multi-product vendor – so what does that mean in terms of market strategy?
“You should expect to see more products in the future, more innovations,” he eluded. “I got off a demo today and my mind is blown. I can just tell you that the product team, engineering team, design team – all the folks over here on our side – are doing some very, very cool stuff that will hopefully hit the market in the near future.”
I inquired about the expanding landscape of JS frameworks and how that might influence the Launch vector. “Right now, [Launch] has auto-detection for Gatsby and Next.js because those are two very, very popular frameworks that a lot of our customers and community work with. And there’s also the option to put your own custom build commands in the workflow. But you know, there are a couple dozen plus really popular frameworks out there and new ones every single day. So we'll be adding support for more of those.”
I also probed a bit more about the composable nature of their new multi-product approach and how this all fits with Contentstack’s commitment to MACH. It's worth noting that the company is a founding member of the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH Alliance</a>.
“Fundamentally, we are staying in the composable space, and it is extremely important for us. It’s a core value of Contentstack that you want to use our CMS and go omnichannel across lots of different screens and ways of delivering your content. This [Launch] is just one new tool in a toolbox to deliver your end-to-end digital experience. So if you don't want to use Launch, that's totally fine. You can bring your own front-end hosting service, build custom in AWS, or however you want to do it.”
With so much DIY in the equation, it's also good to see the presence of human service in the digital DNA. Case in point: Contentstack's <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/customer-success/" target="_blank">Care Without Compromise Program,</a> which establishes an agreement to work with other vendors with like-minded technologies to provide solutions to customers. 
One thing Dean said that really resonated with me was how Contentstack’s multiple offerings represent a “supply chain” for your digital experiences. He mentioned it several times, and it really spoke to the idea of interdependence on the parts to deliver the whole. At the same time, the pieces can be interchanged in a composable way. But Launch – and its other products – are built with Contentstack in mind, which provides more features and flexibility.
“You can plug and play with other tools as you need them – or as you want to,” he said. “The fact of the matter is there are lots of different front-end hosting services out there, including the ones that you could build yourself. This one is designed to play very, very well with Contentstack specifically.”
And that’s what makes a composable DXP.
<h3>The countdown to Launch</h3>
If you’re interested in joining the mission, Contentstack Launch is in pre-GA and should be generally available in the next few months. According to Dean, they’re in an early adopter phase, and interested parties can request a demo or apply for early access on the <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/launch/?creative=651180332057&amp;keyword=contentstack%20launch&amp;matchtype=p&amp;network=g&amp;device=c&amp;campaign=19806932844&amp;adgroup=146548710469&amp;placement=&amp;utm_campaign=fy24-glob-dg-launch-us-ca&amp;utm_medium=paid_search&amp;utm_source=google&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwzuqgBhAcEiwAdj5dRrCGvcWB6oY89DiyAitLebtNklaEF5zT2t22x2RXcJYxcqSUG8ZZSBoCx64QAvD_BwE" target="_blank">Contentstack Launch product page</a>.
“If you’re a good candidate for our program, we’ll bring you in, give you a nice bear hug of support, and make sure you have a really good experience.”
Sounds a bit like astronaut training. With "bear hug" service to boot.

Contentstack Launch Aims to Simplify Front-End Hosting: Interview with Dean Haddock, Senior Product Manager

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

Is the Birth of DXC the Death of DXP? A Conversation with Darren Guarnaccia, President at Uniform

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.

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