Articles - Page 33

What I Mean to Say: A Practitioner Perspective on AI, Semantics, and Content Evolution

msalvatierra

It's July, and the world feels like it's melting. Literally. 
As entire continents experience <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/21/heat-wave-records-europe-north-america-summer" target="_blank">record-breaking summer temperatures</a> in the Northern Hemisphere, we're doing what we can to stay cool – and bring you cooler stories from across the CMS and DXP landscape.
This month was hot for a lot of reasons, including <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wix-to-host-first-ever-developers-conference-wix-devcon-2022/">Wix's DevCon 2022</a> – the company's first-ever developer's conference – and of course, the annual epic that is <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reflections-on-wordcamp-europe-2022/">WordPress WordCamp Europe</a>. Cool stuff indeed.
On the ever-present investment side of the ledger, we covered <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/kontent-ai-raises-40-million-to-bring-the-power-of-ai-to-content-management/">Kentico's spinoff of Kontent.ai</a> – and the new company's stellar raise of $40 million. Kontent plans to use the funds to further juice its platform with AI innovation, which has been a key focus area since its inception. We also covered <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/storyblok-launches-1-5m-partner-fund-to-help-agencies-shape-the-future-of-digital-storytelling/">Storyblok's launch</a> of a $1.5 million partner fund to help agencies shape the future of digital storytelling and GraphCMS' announcement that it is <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/graphcms-rebrands-to-hygraph-launches-new-federated-content-platform/">rebranding to Hygraph</a> and what this means for its future growth. 
Just under the wire for July, Magnolia sent a thunderous boom across the CMS market with news that <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/genui-acquires-majority-stake-in-magnolia-and-invests-in-future-growth/">GENUI is acquiring a majority stake</a> in its company, with plans to inject significant growth capital. While details were thin, GENUI has forged quite a reputation over the years as a growth engine for technologies, so we'll be watching as things unfold. 
There are a few other stories from July that you might have missed – so turn down the air conditioning and settle in more for more cool stuff. 
<h2>dotCMS Launches Enterprise Cloud Hosting for Single Page Applications</h2>
<img style="max-width:1000px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/07/dotcms-interface.webp" alt="dotCMS interface" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/?s=dotcms" target="_blank">dotCMS</a>, an enterprise <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/blog/post/migrating-headless-cms-hybrid-headless-cms" target="_blank">hybrid-headless CMS</a>, has <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/company/news/dotcms-launches-enterprise-cloud-hosting-for-single-page-applications" target="_blank">announced</a> that <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/videos/enterprise-spa-hosting" target="_blank">the enterprise cloud SPA hosting</a> feature will be available as part of its standard <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/product/dotcms-cloud" target="_blank">dotCMS Cloud</a> offering.
For businesses running multi-channel content-driven sites, one challenge when spinning up a new single-page application (SPA) is where to host it. By leveraging dotCMS' Enterprise SPA hosting, based on AWS Amplify and backed by the global <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/company/news/dotcms-announces-dotcdn" target="_blank">dotCDN</a>, enterprises can speed up development and content delivery for global marketing campaigns without being forced to contract with a third-party vendor.
dotCMS' cloud offering includes features such as:
<ul>
<li>24/7 critical care</li>
<li>Annual core dotCMS upgrades</li>
<li>Up to 99.98% uptime</li>
<li>No API-rate limiting or throttling</li>
<li>Automated security fixes</li>
<li>Native Web Application Firewall (WAF)</li>
<li>Native dotCDN Content Delivery Network to mitigate DDoS attacks</li>
<li>Secure access with Oauth or SAML-based authentication and with IP Whitelisting</li>
</ul>
"We are providing organizations with a way to quickly deliver their content applications to customers around the world," said CTO of dotCMS, Will Ezell. "This latest offering exemplifies our commitment to security and scalability."
With enterprise SPA hosting, development teams can focus on innovation and building engaging applications to support the business outcomes instead of managing the underlying infrastructure. Enterprises can leverage the new service to save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually that they would otherwise spend on administrative and hosting costs.
<h2>Acquia Partners with Workato to Power Enterprise Connectivity to Acquia CDP, Adds Data Subject Deletion Request Features</h2>
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a>, a leading digital experience company, has made several important updates to its CDP this month. 
First, they <a href="https://www.acquia.com/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-partners-workato-power-enterprise-connectivity-acquia-cdp" target="_blank">announced</a> a partnership with the integration and workflow automation platform <a href="https://www.workato.com/" target="_blank">Workato</a> to power enterprise connectivity to Acquia Customer Data Platform (CDP). They also added new data subject deletion request features that will help their customers comply with the GDPR regulations and privacy laws. Using a new self-service interface, organizations can rapidly process "Right to Erasure" (otherwise known as "Right to be Forgotten") requests associated with regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and more from their customers. 
Partnership with Workato 
Acquia's partnership with Workato will allow organizations to integrate Acquia CDP with hundreds of external cloud services via secure, enterprise-grade APIs through out-of-box connectors. As the company noted: "The connectivity powered by Workato will help customers achieve even faster time-to-value by reducing the time it takes to get their data from their preferred cloud services into and out of Acquia CDP."
Workato is a leading enterprise automation platform that enables businesses, and IT teams to integrate their apps and automate their business workflows. It has been <a href="https://discover.workato.com/gartner-ipaas-mq/p/1" target="_blank">selected as a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Integration Platform as a Service</a> for 4th year in a row.
"We're pleased to partner with Workato to add hundreds of integrations between Acquia CDP and marketing, analytics, and commerce applications," said Mark Picone, SVP and General Manager, Marketing Cloud, at Acquia. "The connectivity powered by Workato will help customers achieve even faster time-to-value by reducing the time it takes to get their data from their preferred cloud services into and out of Acquia CDP."
As a part of the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/" target="_blank">Acquia Marketing Cloud platform</a>, Acquia CDP enables marketers to aggregate and activate data from technologies of their choice into a unified, 360-degree customer profile. From there, marketers can use Acquia CDP to orchestrate personalized, AI-powered campaigns across the entire omnichannel customer journey.
"We're seeing a continued trend around the growing needs for SaaS connectivity, and our partnership with Acquia will allow their communities of partners and customers to keep up with the accelerated demand," said Bhaskar Roy, CMO at Workato. "Not only will they be able to build and leverage robust connectors to their preferred applications, but they will also be able to connect to these applications and automate workflows across them. We're excited to be partnering with Acquia, who has become a leading force in the future of digital experiences by embracing the power of automation."
David Wallace, Research Director, Customer Intelligence and Analytics at IDC, commented: "Digital-first brands must focus on quality, speed-to-value, and agility to deliver the personalized experiences expected by their customers. Customer data platforms help brands achieve their goals not only with productized integrations and APIs but also enterprise-grade, pre-built connectors across an array of digital channels for the flexibility for multiple use cases. Acquia, through its partnership with Workato and inherent low-code tooling enables this increased flexibility."
New Regulatory Compliance Features
Soon after the partnership with Workato, Acquia also <a href="https://www.acquia.com/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-adds-data-subject-deletion-request-features-acquia-cdp" target="_blank">announced</a> they added new regulatory compliance features that help organizations using <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/customer-data-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Customer Data Platform (CDP)</a> to comply with data subject requests and privacy laws in general. 
"This feature for legal and compliance workflows is the latest in a series of self-service updates we're making to Acquia CDP," said Janessa Worrell, Director of Product Management at Acquia. "Our goal is to make it simple for organizations using Acquia CDP to process deletion requests from their own customers, ensuring that these requests are handled quickly. Customers can expect more self-service features in the coming months, removing friction and making common Acquia CDP workflows simpler to execute."
Other recent self-service updates include secure credentials management for Acquia CDP out-of-the-box connectors. Organizations can now generate and manage their own credentials for pre-built connectors to external services such as Facebook or Google.
<h2>WordCamp US 2022 Tickets Sold Out, All Sessions to be Livestreamed</h2>
Two months after the most popular WordPress event, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reflections-on-wordcamp-europe-2022/" target="_blank">WordCamp Europe</a>, has ended, WordCamp US will be hosting its two-day event in San Diego, California, from September 9 through September 11. Like WordCamp Europe, this will be the first in-person event since 2019. 
With the COVID-19 still looming and to allow for adequate social distancing, this year's WordCamp US event is designed as a smaller event - limited to 650 attendees - compared to the previous years. Since it is the first in-person event in two years, the demand was extremely high, and the <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/tickets/" target="_blank">tickets</a> are already sold out but don't worry. You can watch all the WCUS 2022 sessions <a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/livestream/" target="_blank">online </a>without having to purchase any tickets.
WCUS has also begun<a href="https://us.wordcamp.org/2022/speakers/" target="_blank"> announcing its speakers</a>. This year they are making an increased effort to give more opportunities to underrepresented speakers. 
The opening remarks will begin at 9:00 am on Friday and Saturday, and the sessions will run from 9:15 am to 5:30 pm. The last day of the event will be the "Contributor Day" on Sunday.
You can follow the updates via the <a href="https://paper.dropbox.com/?q=%23WCUS" target="_blank">#WCUS</a> hashtag on Twitter.
<h2>Sitecore Experience Manager Cloud (XM Cloud) Now Available</h2>
<img style="max-width:1000px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/07/xmcloud-ui.jpg" alt="SiteCore XM Cloud user interface " />
<a href="https://www.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore</a>, a global leader in end-to-end digital experience software, <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/company/news-events/press-releases/2022/07/sitecore-experience-manager-cloud-now-available" target="_blank">announced</a> that it has released its <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/xm-cloud" target="_blank">Sitecore Experience Manager (XM) Cloud</a>. This latest product release will provide brands with unrivaled speed to market in implementing customer experiences, simplifying design and deployment, eliminating upgrades, and dramatically decreasing ownership costs. With XM Cloud, marketers can instantly create, manage and deliver engaging omnichannel experiences with an industry-leading enterprise-ready CMS.
According to a <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/company/news-events/press-releases/2022/05/us-brand-authenticity-report" target="_blank">recent survey by Sitecore</a>, online interactions play an outsized role in driving engagement between brands and customers. The digital experience, while valued by consumers, creates a scalability issue for marketers to meet demand. <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/xm-cloud" target="_blank">Sitecore XM Cloud</a> provides a comprehensive SaaS CMS for the Enterprise solution for brands by overcoming global scaling problems, including variable traffic, supporting multi-brand architectures, and site security.
For business users, <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/xm-cloud" target="_blank">XM Cloud</a> offers the ability to build pixel-perfect digital experiences via a WYSIWYG authoring experience that can access content anywhere, with embedded testing, personalization, and integrated visitor analytics. For developers, <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/xm-cloud" target="_blank">XM Cloud</a> can be used with headless development techniques, working with modern frontend frameworks and supporting all deployment scenarios.
"Consumer behavior has changed rapidly over the past two years. Audiences have become very digitally savvy and have an expectation from brands to deliver highly personalized customer experiences," said Dave O'Flanagan, chief product officer, Sitecore. "This puts marketers in the unenviable position of trying to meet this expectation, but with tools and solutions that don't deliver, and in some cases hamstring, the needed agility to meet demand. Sitecore XM Cloud provides marketers with a truly end-to-end, SaaS-based solution that not only helps brands meet consumer expectations but also delivers a best-of-class omnichannel customer experience."
Through <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/xm-cloud" target="_blank">Sitecore XM Cloud</a>, the company's entire <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/sitecore-experience-platform" target="_blank">Digital Experience Platform</a> can now be delivered through a modern cloud architecture, providing brands and marketers with:
<ul>
<li>Continued innovation – new features and capabilities will be automatically delivered and integrated</li>
<li>Elastic scaling – "set-and-forget" traffic volume demands</li>
<li>Composability – all of Sitecore's platform solutions can now be purchased independently and will fit in a best-of-breed marketing technology stack</li>
<li>On-the-Fly Engagement – rapidly create experiences to meet constantly evolving market needs</li>
<li>Multi-channel content management - create content once and reuse across any channel and experience</li>
<li>Simplicity for marketers – business-focused tools and intuitive content authoring workflows</li>
<li>Agility for developers – customized builds with modern frameworks</li>
</ul>

CMS Monthly Recap: dotCMS Launches Enterprise Cloud Hosting, Acquia Partners with Workato, Sitecore Releases Experience Manager Cloud, and More

cms-critic-staff

Image of beach with CMS Critic Monthly Recap logo over water

<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/magnolia-announces-new-6-2-release-with-first-ever-headless-digital-experience-hub-2/">Magnolia</a>, a leading software vendor in the global digital experience and content management markets, just announced that investment firm <a href="https://www.genui.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GENUI</a> will acquire a majority stake in Magnolia and inject significant growth capital into the company.
Magnolia is an emerging vendor pioneering the vision of “composable” Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs). DXPs sit on top of content management systems (CMS) and enable brands to orchestrate compelling digital experiences across multichannel customer journeys and devices. The global market for DXPs is forecast to reach 23 billion US dollars by 2028, with an average annual growth rate of above twelve percent from 2021 to 2028.
Magnolia already serves clients in more than 100 countries through nine regional offices – and counts many global brands such as The New York Times, Sanofi, Sainsbury’s, Ping An, and Bechtle as its trusted customers. With the additional funding, the company will continue the expansion of its global sales and marketing footprint including its technology and channel partner ecosystems, accelerate product innovation and increase global market awareness.
<h2>Driving growth with a composable DXP</h2>
Traditionally, DXPs have been purchased as a complete suite of marketing software from one vendor. These have proven to be slow, expensive, and restrictive. Magnolia aims to change that by continuing to invest in its composable DXP.
“Magnolia is uniquely positioned to allow customers to integrate their key applications and platforms - from legacy to modern APIs - and compose a powerful digital experience architecture enabling the overall ease-of-use and agility now expected of modern cloud solutions,” said Magnolia CEO Tim Brown. “With GENUI's support, we will now be able to fully leverage our recognition as a 'Visionary' in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXP to help an increasing number of marketers, authors, and developers deliver fantastic multichannel digital experiences."
"By significantly strengthening the capital base, we are putting Magnolia in a position to even better exploit its market potential and sustainably increase its growth," said Boris Klenk of GENUI. 
Upon completion of the transaction, the entrepreneur Amit Shah, an established expert in the digital experience industry, will become Chairman of the advisory board of Magnolia. “We are seeing a shift away from monolithic application solutions toward modular approaches. This is an exceptional strategic opportunity for Magnolia, which offers a future-proof composable digital experience platform for the enterprise," said Shah.
Exiting investor Elvaston Capital Management GmbH secured a majority stake in Magnolia in 2017, which GENUI is now acquiring. "We have accompanied Magnolia during an extremely positive and high-growth phase in recent years," says Dr. Oliver Thum, Managing Partner at Elvaston. "We are pleased that the company will now take the next steps with GENUI."
The purchase price and other details of the transaction were not disclosed. GENUI was advised on this transaction by CMS (Legal) and Baer &amp; Karrer (Structuring), while Morrison Foerster (Legal Germany) and Walder Wyss (Legal Switzerland) acted as advisors to Elvaston.
<h2>About Magnolia</h2>
Founded in 1997 with a vision to create the first truly open content management system, <a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magnolia</a> is a world-leading digital experience company. Brands who want to move fast and stay flexible choose Magnolia because the company blends the power of an enterprise DXP solution with headless agility. Magnolia operates globally with offices on five continents and more than 200 Magnolia-certified partners around the world.
<h2>About Elvaston</h2>
<a href="https://www.elvaston.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elvaston</a> is an investment company specializing in small-to-medium-sized enterprise software companies in Europe. Elvaston accompanies profitable companies in various segments of enterprise software and focuses on organic growth as well as buy &amp; build strategies.
<h2>About GENUI</h2>
<a href="https://www.genui.de/en/home-en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GENUI</a> is a company founded by renowned entrepreneurs and investment professionals who believe in “Good Entrepreneurship”. GENUI exclusively makes long-term commitments to companies with the goal of creating sustainable growth and social value. Companies are given professional governance by getting access to entrepreneurs with industry-relevant expertise and their corresponding networks.

GENUI acquires majority stake in Magnolia and invests in future growth

paris-tuzun

Image of Magnolia and Genui logos against a green background

GraphCMS – the first GraphQL-native <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/" target="_blank">headless CMS</a> – has just <a href="https://hygraph.com/blog/graphcms-is-now-hygraph" target="_blank">rebranded itself</a> under the new moniker of "Hygraph." 
Why Hygraph?
The company says the word is rooted in an amalgamation of "hypertext" and "graph" data structures, which aligns well with Hygraph's vision of a future – one where the majority of information humans and machines will process is highly complex, structured, and connected.
Along with the epic shift in naming, the company also introduced its new <a href="https://hygraph.com/blog/introducing-content-federation" target="_blank">Content Federation</a>. This powerful set of features will enable customers to unify all their backend services into one universal content API and serve third-party or programmatically created content alongside editorial content.
"We're excited about this new chapter in our company's history." said CEO and co-founder Michael Lukaszczyk. "Launching the Federated Content Platform as a new product category captures the essence of what we're all about: we enable building a mesh of connected content graphs to effortlessly manage and distribute content from any source to any destination. The resulting development velocity within composable architectures is simply mind-blowing."
According to the company's press release, the new brand direction also includes a refreshed website at <a href="https://hygraph.com/" target="_blank">www.hygraph.com</a>.
<h2>Building on the success of GraphCMS</h2>
As with all rebranding endeavors, there are inevitable questions from the market. How companies shape the narrative is a key part of making its rebrand successful – and that's precisely what Hygraph has done. 
According to its website, the company embarked on refreshing its identity and visual presence in an effort to "reinforce the commitment they have made toward enabling outstanding digital experiences on day one." The shift comes at a milestone moment in the company's history, and the new brand provides a stage for promoting its Content Federation features and creating excitement around the offering.
Originally launched in 2017 under the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/graphcms-brings-graphql-to-headless-content-management/" target="_blank">GraphCMS</a> banner, Hygraph is still defining itself as an enterprise-class, API-first content management system known for its versatile GraphQL content APIs. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Hygrapgh is also <a href="https://machalliance.org/members" target="_blank">MACH-certified</a> – and currently powers over 50,000 projects, including those at companies like Dr. Oetker, Philips, Samsung, and Ashley Furniture.
On the more philosophical side of the market ledger, Hygraph has stated its belief that headless CMS has reached a sort of tipping point – and that frontend-agnostic benefits are no longer enough. Rather than adding yet another service to complex stacks, they wanted to expand upon the possibilities of allowing content aggregation from multiple sources programmatically, essentially becoming backend agnostic as well.
From an investment perspective, Hygraph <a href="https://hygraph.com/blog/series-a" target="_blank">recently raised a $10 million Series A Round</a> to build out its vision of unified content APIs and federating the content layer. 
<h2>What is the Hygraph Federated Content Platform?</h2>
Hygraph has provided a detailed view of its Federated Content Platform in a recent article, which we've denoted here. 
The company points out that while cross-platform content consumption and API-first delivery have become the "new normal," content architectures are increasingly complex.
With the rise of best-of-breed systems design and modular architectures, content is now maintained in a myriad of disconnected data silos, resulting in an overwhelming complexity. The risk of serving outdated data and lack of data consistency in distributed architectures is becoming a maintenance burden.
Many organizations perceive custom middleware development as a solution to these challenges, but building and maintaining this is time-consuming and complex.
With the new Content Federation capability, you can bring content from other systems and sources to the Hygraph API without migrating the content itself. There are many use cases where moving content into the content repository isn't possible or desirable. Examples include content for which there is a different system of record (e-commerce/product data such as price or availability, content from a different vendor such as GitHub or IMDB) and content that is maintained in legacy systems that can't be easily migrated.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/07/federated-content-platform-e1658872762419.png" alt="Federated Content Platform diagram" />
<h2>Extending the Hygraph Content API with Remote Sources</h2>
Hygraph's concept of Remote Sources allows customers to extend Hygraph's Content API with content from all these different sources, providing flexibility for front-end developers and downstream applications.
The Hygraph Content Federation architecture consists of the following components:
<ul>
<li>Remote source: a system or product that holds content that needs to be combined with content in Hygraph and which can be queried through a RESTful or GraphQL API.</li>
<li>Custom type: a GraphQL type used for content from a remote source.</li>
<li>Remote field: a field inside a Hygraph model that connects specific remote data to an entry of that model.</li>
<li>Configurable cache: a TTL-based caching layer that guarantees optimal API performance for remote content.</li>
</ul>
Hygraph allows true composability of your tech stack while taking away the heavy-lifting in the backend. As a result, Content Federation can lead to a massive reduction in development time and costs when integrating with multiple APIs.
Interested in learning more? Hygraph offers a free tier for personal and small-scale projects. You can <a href="https://app.hygraph.com/signup" target="_blank">sign up here</a>. 
<h2>About Hygraph</h2>
Hygraph (previously GraphCMS) is the enterprise-grade federated content platform that enables ambitious digital products at scale. With the industry's most versatile GraphQL content API and a novel approach to external data sourcing, the federated content platform enables use cases beyond existing market solutions. Hygraph's capabilities can be extended as a database highly optimized for structured content while giving content creators the tools to build their ultimate content pipeline. Hygraph is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and is currently enabling more than 50,000 teams across the world, including Dr.Oetker, Shure, Samsung, and Philips to rapidly build and deliver tomorrow's connected digital experiences at scale.

GraphCMS Rebrands to Hygraph, Launches New Federated Content Platform

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

Reflections on WordCamp Europe 2022

Queue the fireworks.
Amidst the explosion of acquisitions and partnerships across the CMS and DXP industries, <a href="https://kontent.ai/" target="_blank">Kontent.ai</a> – now formerly Kontent by Kentico – has officially <a href="https://kontent.ai/blog/kontent-ai-has-raised-40-million-in-growth-capital/" target="_blank">declared its independence</a>.
After securing a whopping $40 million investment from Expedition Growth Capital (EGC), the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/tag/headless/">headless</a> Content Management System is now a standalone enterprise for the first time. The next stop on the growth path: enhance its product by bringing AI deeper into its CMS.
Currently powering over 2,000 projects – from websites to apps to <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">headless commerce</a> experiences – Kontent.ai came from humble beginnings. Originally started in 2015 as a business unit of its elder bootstrapped parent, <a href="https://www.kentico.com/" target="_blank">Kentico</a>, Kontent now boasts a roster of global brands, including Algolia, Anaplan, SonarSource, and Zurich Insurance. 
Kentico's fledgling division already employed over 120 staff across five offices on four different continents before the announcement. As a newly-minted independent company, Kontent.ai already has plans to increase its headcount by 100 over the next 12 months. 
By channeling investment into "human power," Kontent will have the resources to expand its global footprint by amping up marketing and sales. It will also have ample funds to further innovate and enhance composable AI across its modular content platform.
<h2>Kentico's rise in the headless CMS market</h2>
Let's face it: headless is hot. In fact, the headless CMS market alone is projected to reach $1.6 billion by 2027. 
In its "<a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3994550" target="_blank">Adopt a Composable DXP Strategy to Future-Proof Your Tech Stack</a>" report, Gartner estimates that organizations that have adopted a composable approach will outpace the competition by 80% in 2023 – specifically when it comes to new feature implementation. 
CMS and DXP vendors are rapidly embracing <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-releases-study-on-adoption-of-mach-technologies-by-tech-leaders-qa-with-sonja-keerl/">MACH and the composable revolution.</a> With this spin-off, Kontent.ai appears to be taking a major step towards becoming a composable DXP. While competition across the stack has been increasingly fierce, Kontent has a critical advantage by not being "the new kid on the block." 
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/tag/kentico/">Kentico</a> has been helping to shape the CMS landscape for almost two decades. As a stable fixture in Gartner's Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms, it has juiced Kontent's prospects significantly – giving it an edge towards success. 
 
<img style="max-width:700px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/gartner-mq-dxp-2022.jpg" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXP graphic 2022" />
 
Despite the blessing of Kentico's DNA, the dream of Kontent.ai has been seven years in the making. During that time, Kontent has established itself as a contender in the headless CMS market, powering content delivery and collaboration at scale. 
<h2>Kontent.ai brings advantages to marketers and developers</h2>
These days, it may sound cliché to position a CMS or DXP as a platform that "unites" marketers and developers. But Kontent.ai believes that both parties have a stake in the digital experience – and by adopting Kontent as their platform, a business can unlock the potential for both parts of its team. 
From a marketer's perspective, Kontent's modular capabilities help organizations unify, organize and manage all business content in a cloud-based repository. Its intuitive authoring experience allows for simultaneous, collaborative work at every phase of the content lifecycle. Using Kontent.ai, content teams can easily plan, create, and review content with streamlined workflows and approvals. Editors can also focus on content without being blocked by structural design choices that govern how and where their content will be displayed.
From a developer's perspective, Kontent's modern, microservices-based architecture allows for seamless integration with other applications and technologies. Robust APIs, webhooks, and flexible content models give developers full control over the structure of their content and how it's delivered to their websites and applications. This ensures clean, organized content can be pulled into any experience or technology stack, saving developers time and allowing them to focus on the best way to display information. Meanwhile, the cloud-based infrastructure means there are no concerns over maintenance – and virtually no downtime or performance issues.
<h2>Delivering centralized content to distributed organizations</h2>
According to the company, there has been an ever greater need for Kontent following the rise of hybrid and remote work. As global companies shifted due to the pandemic, they needed to centralize content and reproduce digital experience at scale while employees leveraged and produced across different locations. 
Using Kontent.ai, multinational organizations are able to ensure consistent content across languages and regions, with no need to jump in and out of other apps. The result: improved real-time collaboration and planning that saves both time and money.
<h2>Using composable AI to evolve content management</h2>
It's clear that Kontent.ai is looking to push the boundaries on technology. Following its recent investment news, the company has been doubling down on the development of its composable AI features. 
So what is "Composable AI" anyway? According to Kontent, it's the application of machine learning capabilities directly within its CMS, so it's available where its needed – and can be distributed to support specific teams, workflows, use cases, or delivery channels. 
Kontent believes that for AI to bring true value, it needs to be purposeful, targeted, and actionable. In achieving these things, AI will enable Kontent's customers to improve all aspects of content operations, from creating more relevant content to optimizing results to automating repetitive tasks. 
<h2>Rapid change ahead as Kontent.ai and Kentico appoint new CEOs</h2>
As part of the announcement, the separation of the two companies will also bring changes to the captain's chairs: the newly formed Kontent.ai will be led by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartomlo/" target="_blank">Bart Omlo</a>, while <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominik-xperience-pinter/" target="_blank">Dominik Pintér</a> will take the helm at its former parent. Kentico's current CEO and founder, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petrpalas/" target="_blank">Petr Palas</a>, will become Chairman of the Board for both companies.
"With this investment into Kontent.ai, now as its own company, we're excited to expand our global footprint helping enterprise teams scale their content operations, make the most of machine learning and AI, and deliver exceptional digital experiences," said Omlo. "With Kontent.ai's modular content platform, we push the boundaries of content management to give our customers the competitive edge."
Kentico recently introduced a new cloud-native version of its digital experience platform called <a href="https://www.kentico.com/" target="_blank">Xperience by Kentico</a> – which was chosen as <a href="https://www.kentico.com/discover/blog/kentico-xperience-received-gartner-customers-choice-for-dxp" target="_blank">Gartner's Choice for DXP</a> last year. Xperience is a separate tool designed for midmarket companies, and Kentico plans to continue supporting its growth and enhancement. Additionally, the company is investing heavily in product development – and as part of the funding announcement, will also receive an additional $20m of committed capital from EGC that will be used to support its growth in the future. 
<h2>About Kontent.ai</h2>
Kontent is the world’s leading cloud-based headless CMS platform. Robust APIs, webhooks, and flexible content models give developers full control over the structure of their content and how it’s delivered to their websites and applications. The APIs deliver clean, structured content that can be pulled into any experience and technology stack. On top of this headless foundation, Kontent includes an intuitive authoring experience that lets marketers focus on content creation, allowing developers to focus on building engaging online experiences that look great in every channel. Kontent’s customers include AC Milan, Oxford University, Konica Minolta, REWE Group, and Vogue. Learn more at <a href="https://kontent.ai/" target="_blank">www.kontent.ai</a>
<h2>About Kentico</h2>
Kentico Software is an established global company with two award-winning content management and digital experience products: Kentico Xperience, a fully integrated DXP platform, and Kentico Kontent, an enterprise headless CMS. Kentico has customers in over 120 countries, with offices located in six countries on four continents. Over the last 16 years, a community of 1,000+ partners has formed around Kentico. Learn more at <a href="https://www.kentico.com/" target="_blank">www.kentico.com</a>

Kontent.ai Raises $40 Million to Bring the Power of AI to Content Management 

Kontent.ai logo against a white and turquoise background

<a href="https://www.storyblok.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Storyblok</a>, a headless content management system (CMS) that enables developers and marketers to deliver powerful content experiences on any digital platform, just announced the launch of its $1.5M Partner Fund. 
This new initiative will enable Storyblok to support the growth and success of its agency partners and develop co-marketing activities. The goal: evangelize a best-of-breed, headless architecture as the foundation for agencies to create and scale better content experiences for their clients.
In its press release, Storyblok says that the money will be distributed to partners through multiple initiatives. This includes a $5K budget that every Storyblok Certified Partner can use to highlight its collaboration with Storyblok in any way they wish. This can encompass events, guerilla marketing, content development, ad campaigns, and more. 
On a fun note: from now until September 10th, Storyblok is also running a contest for Certified Partners to submit their most creative co-marketing ideas for the chance to double their dedicated budget to $10K.
<h2>Expanded benefits for Storyblok Certified Partners</h2>
In addition to the new Partner Fund, <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/partners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Storyblok Certified Partners</a> will receive benefits such as free development spaces with Storyblok’s CMS, revenue share, the ability to build custom apps, a dedicated success team, and much more.
“Partners played an important role in the growth of Storyblok during the past couple years,” said Barry D'Arcy, VP of Partners at Storyblok. “We appreciate the steps they took to help us get where we are today, and so we as a partner team and Storyblok as a whole would like to pay those good deeds forward to all of our partners, both old and new. The Partner Fund is one example of how we want to support our partners’ growth and boost their businesses with Storyblok. We all have stories to tell—let’s do it together.”
At CMS Critic, we've followed Storyblok's "storied" rise over the last few years as the company expanded its global footprint through partnership channels. This includes the development of a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/interview-headless-cms-storyblok-expands-partner-program-with-u-s-agency-campbell-ewald/">partner program with U.S. Agency Campbell Ewald</a> in 2021.
“We’ve seen so many great marketing initiatives around Storyblok that allowed our partners to grow,” said Thomas Peham, VP of Marketing at Storyblok. “With the $1.5M Partner Fund, we not only want to help our partners with a dedicated marketing budget, but also team up with them to tell more stories at scale while shaping the future of digital storytelling together.”
Get more details in the <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/partners/partner-playbook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Partner Playbook</a>, and visit the <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/partners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Partner Program</a> page to learn how to become a Storyblok Certified Partner.
<h2>About Storyblok</h2>
Storyblok is a headless CMS that enables developers and marketers to deliver powerful content experiences on any digital platform. Developers create flexible components that are independently managed by content teams through a collaborative visual editor and customizable workflow. Published content is delivered through an API, so changes are made once and will appear everywhere: websites, mobile, IoT, the metaverse, and beyond. This approach reduces maintenance and makes content management more efficient. Leading brands such as Adidas, Renault, and Marc O’Polo use Storyblok to manage and share their content with the world. Storyblok was named the #1 CMS for 2022 by G2.
For more information, visit <a href="https://www.storyblok.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.storyblok.com</a> and follow Storyblok on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/storyblok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://www.twitter.com/storyblok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>.

Storyblok Launches $1.5M Partner Fund to Help Agencies Shape the Future of Digital Storytelling

<a href="https://www.wix.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wix</a>, one of the industry's leading website builders, announced its first-ever developer conference, <a href="https://www.wixdevcon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wix DevCon 2022</a> – which will take place September 7 - 8 in New York City.
Wix DevCon will present a unique opportunity for the broad developer community to learn about the company's growth as a cutting-edge developer platform and ecosystem. The two-day event will consist of talks from a range of Wix experts and leadership, including CEO Avishai Abrahami.
Attendees will also hear from Yoav Abrahami, Head of Code and Chief Architect for Velo – Wix's full-stack development platform that empowers users to build, manage, and deploy professional web apps rapidly.
According to Wix, DevCon will enable attendees to learn and exchange ideas, elevating and extending their development skills by exploring the newest Wix developer-centric products, tools, and technologies. 
And the icing on the cake: event attendees will also be the first to hear about new Wix product announcements.
“Wix DevCon 2022 will bring our community of developers together for a unique insight into how Wix tools were created, how to get the most out of them, and offer the community a chance to interact and learn from one another,” said Abrahami. “An immersive, differentiated, and exclusive experience, attendees will have unparalleled access to the heart of development at Wix, enabling them to confidently create the business capabilities they need. Furthermore, at the event, we’ll unveil an exciting new product innovation that will change the future of web development at Wix.”
<h2>Offering both a no-code website builder and a full-stack development platform</h2>
Wix – which is best known for its incredibly popular drag-and-drop website builder – has become a go-to platform for artists, freelancers, and small business owners looking to establish brands online without the hassle of coding and complexity. 
While it competes with well-known brands like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/squarespace-a-diy-website-builder-1/">Squarespace</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/duda-snaps-up-snipcart-to-boost-e-commerce-capabilities-qa-with-ceo-itai-sadan/">Duda</a>, and <a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Weebly</a>, Wix has carved out a competitive advantage with its array of rich templates, its progressive <a href="https://www.wix.com/blog/2016/06/wix-artificial-design-intelligence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wix ADI</a> (Artificial Design Intelligence), and solid user support. 
Two years ago, Wix introduced <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wix-introduces-editor-x-offers-designers-advanced-tools-for-building-custom-websites/">Editor X</a>, its new drag-and-drop web builder for web designers and digital agencies that are seeking to push the aesthetic limits without the hassle of coding from scratch. From there, the company continued to enrich its customization features. 
With the introduction of DevCon, Wix seems poised to transform its customer base by attracting more developers to the flock. By providing a more expansive platform that offers both a no-code website builder and a full-stack development platform, Wix is also upping the ante on how "custom" a website or app can be when built with its technology. This means users are no longer limited, regardless of their goals as a small business, agency designer, or advanced developer. 
<h2>How to Attend Wix DevCon 2022</h2>
As mentioned, Wix DevCon bites into the Big Apple in early September. The sessions will include groundbreaking product reveals, live tours through the Wix developer ecosystem, engineering talks, programming workshops, fireside chats from the industry experts, and community showcases of the best websites built on Wix.
Wix DevCon 2022 will be held from September 7 - 8 at <a href="https://lavan541.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lavan541</a> in New York City. Sessions begin at 8:00 AM and last through 4:00 PM (EST). 
Wix DevCon is completely free. However, space is limited, so the company recommends registering early to ensure your spot. If you can't make it to NYC, no worries – you can see the entire program virtually via the event website.
For tickets, session schedules, speaker lineups, and more, visit Wix's beautiful DevCon website at <a href="https://www.wixdevcon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.wixdevcon.com</a>
<h2>About Wix</h2>
Wix is a leading platform to create, manage and grow a digital presence. What began as a website builder in 2006 is now a complete platform providing users with enterprise-grade performance, security and a reliable infrastructure. Offering a wide range of commerce and business solutions, advanced SEO and marketing tools, Wix enables users to have full ownership of their brand, their data and their relationships with their customers. With a focus on continuous innovation and delivery of new features and products, anyone can build a powerful digital presence to fulfill their dreams on Wix.

Wix to Host First-Ever Developers Conference, Wix DevCon 2022

As fireworks pocked the night skies across the U.S. this past weekend (a celebratory signal that summer has arrived), we had a chance to reflect on a busy June. Needless to say, it was a scorcher – especially in the CMS and DXP sector. Once again, we saw platform vendors holding major events around the globe, with several piling up on one another. 
One standout we covered at the very end of May was <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reflections-from-sanitys-structured-content-2022-conference/">Sanity's Structured Content 2022 Conference</a>, which offered some unique perspectives on the position of content as data. The substance was unique, relatable, and truly applicable to attendees – with some terrific keynotes from the likes of Dirk Voetberg from Spotify, Kusum Kanwar from Shopify, and Carrie Hane from Sanity. We took a snapshot of the event's sessions, which were held live in San Francisco and virtually in Oslo and London. Definitely worth checking out. 
While economic uncertainty continued to obscure the horizon for enterprise software vendors, companies like Strapi bucked the trend by <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/strapi-secures-31-million-in-series-b-funding-plans-to-enhance-open-source-headless-cms-and-deliver-cloud-platform/">securing $31 million in Series B funding</a> to enhance its headless CMS. We also tracked <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/visual-content-management-platform-boom-acquires-visual-production-company-lemonone/">acquisition news from BOOM</a>, a visual content management platform, as it announced the purchase of LemonOne – a visual production vendor. Along with updates from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/craftercms-releases-version-4-0-adds-api-powered-git-capabilities-and-composable-features/">CrafterCMS</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/proventus-as-announces-release-of-relatude-cms-and-e-commerce-version-6/">Relatude CMS</a>, it was a busy 30 days.
As always, there were a few more stories sizzling on the backburner – right next to your hot dogs and burgers. So grab an ice-cold lemonade, light up a sparkler, and keep reading...
<h2>Shopify invests in Sanity, connecting commerce with content</h2>
We've already mentioned Sanity's fantastic Structured Content 2022 event, but the news doesn't end there. In June, the content platform <a href="https://www.sanity.io/blog/shopify-invests-in-sanity-connecting-commerce-with-content" target="_blank">announced</a> a partnership with <a href="https://shopify.com" target="_blank">Shopify</a> that includes a strategic investment from the e-commerce juggernaut. Sanity is the first CMS partner to launch an app for Shopify’s headless commerce framework, <a href="https://hydrogen.shopify.dev/" target="_blank">Hydrogen</a>, and is Shopify’s only public investment in a content platform company to date. The combo will offer Shopify’s millions of merchants new capabilities to improve shopping experiences by significantly "inspiring" product and brand content. 
As noted previously, Sanity approaches content from a unique angle by treating content as data. At the same time, storytelling lies at the heart of Sanity's vision – something that permeated the themes of its Structured Content 2022 event. One of the conference keynotes featured Kusum Kanwar, Senior Product Lead at Shopify, who talked about how content makes commerce "human." Both companies share a common focus on this expanded value of content – and now, by joining forces, Shopify and Sanity aim to bring commerce and content together so merchants can tell their stories, inspire audiences, and flexibly adapt product information, brand assets, and other content faster than ever. 
Shopify’s investment codifies Sanity’s potential as a complementary resource for sellers. The <a href="https://www.sanity.io/shopify" target="_blank">Sanity Connect </a>for Shopify app was purpose-built to operate with Shopify’s headless commerce stack, which features both Hydrogen and Oxygen. Armed with these capabilities, merchants building custom storefronts on Shopify can also deploy immersive product content with rich media, embed product content on external channels, enable one-click ordering anywhere on a website, orchestrate promotions to email and social media, and much more.
 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/07/dotcms-image.jpg" alt="Image of dotCMS logo over a screen shot of the CMS user interface" />
<h2>dotCMS unveils major updates to its content authoring experience</h2>
<a href="https://www.dotcms.com/" target="_blank">dotCMS</a>, a leading hybrid-headless content management system, has <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/company/news/dotcms-unveils-major-updates-to-the-content-authoring-experience" target="_blank">announced</a> the latest edition of its platform. The new update includes a drag-and-drop content palette and story-like block editor, along with other enhancements to the overall content authoring experience. These product enhancements come on the heels of what dotCMS calls its "best year yet" in 2021, with that momentum driving a positive outlook for 2022.
In an effort to remain nimble around digital transformation, enterprise organizations are embracing <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-releases-study-on-adoption-of-mach-technologies-by-tech-leaders-qa-with-sonja-keerl/" target="_blank">MACH architecture and composability</a>. While microservices-based headless architecture brings many benefits and allows developers a great deal of freedom, brands cannot ignore the needs of their content authors – who are often forgotten in the shift to headless. 
The new dotCMS drag-and-drop content palette makes page building easier and improves the flow of content editing. In addition, the <a href="https://www.dotcms.com/docs/latest/changelogs" target="_blank">latest LTS version of dotCMS (22.03)</a> features a JSON-Based Content Store and improved content search results. 
<h2>Acquia Partners with Workato to power enterprise connectivity to Acquia CDP</h2>
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a>, a leading digital experience platform, announced a partnership with integration and workflow automation platform <a href="https://www.workato.com/" target="_blank">Workato</a> to power enterprise connectivity to the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/customer-data-platform" target="_blank">Acquia Customer Data Platform (CDP)</a>. Organizations can integrate Acquia CDP with hundreds of external cloud services via secure, enterprise-grade APIs through out-of-the-box connectors.
With Workato-powered integrations like this (and others), marketers can achieve a faster path to connectivity with the services they already use. As a part of the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud" target="_blank">Acquia Marketing Cloud</a> platform, Acquia CDP enables marketers to aggregate and activate data from technologies of their choice into a unified, 360-degree customer profile. From there, marketers can use Acquia CDP to orchestrate personalized, AI-powered campaigns across the entire omnichannel customer journey.
 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/07/wpe-img-chianti-1024x512-v01.png" alt="Image of WP Engine plugins from Delicious Brains" />
<h2>WP Engine acquires popular Delicious Brains WordPress plugins, including developer favorite Advanced Custom Fields</h2>
<a href="https://wpengine.com/" target="_blank">WP Engine</a>, a leading <a href="https://wordpress.org/" target="_blank">WordPress</a> digital experience platform for websites and apps, <a href="https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-acquires-delicious-brains-plugins-including-advanced-custom-fields/" target="_blank">announced</a> it will acquire five of the most popular developer-centric tools for WordPress from <a href="https://deliciousbrains.com/" target="_blank">Delicious Brains</a> – strengthening the company’s offerings for both traditional and headless managed WordPress. 
The plugins have a total installed base of approximately 4 million users and are widely adopted by WP Engine’s customers. The acquired software includes <a href="https://deliciousbrains.com/wp-migrate-db-pro/" target="_blank">WP Migrate</a>, <a href="https://deliciousbrains.com/wp-offload-media/" target="_blank">WP Offload Media</a>, <a href="https://deliciousbrains.com/wp-offload-ses/" target="_blank">WP Offload SES</a>, <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-search-replace/" target="_blank">Better Search Replace</a>, and a preferred developer go-to called <a href="https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/" target="_blank">Advanced Custom Fields</a> (ACF).
The acquisition of these widely-used WordPress plugins will expand WP Engine’s portfolio of market-leading developer tools, including WP Engine’s <a href="https://localwp.com/" target="_blank">Local</a>, the #1 Local WordPress development tool; <a href="https://wpengine.com/genesis/" target="_blank">Genesis</a>, the #1 WordPress theme framework; and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/atlas-content-modeler/" target="_blank">Atlas Content Modeler</a>, which simplifies the development process of creating content models for headless WordPress sites.

CMS Monthly Recap: Shopify Invests in Sanity, dotCMS Updates Content Authoring Experience, WP Engine Acquires Plugins, and More

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<a href="https://proventus.no/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Proventus AS</a>, the company behind the Relatude CMS and E-commerce platform, just announced the release of <a href="https://relatude.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Relatude Version 6</a>, a huge upgrade with .Net 6 support as the headline feature.
"Version 6 of Relatude is one [of] our biggest releases ever," said  Ole Gulbrandsen, Director, Relatude at Proventus. "Moving the whole platform from the classic .Net Framework to the multiplatform .Net 6 has been a huge task. As part of the platform change, we have modernized a lot of the public APIs, and most importantly, we have removed a lot of old code. Our platform is now a nimble, modern, and adaptable platform ready for the needs of tomorrow."
<h2>Cross-platform support, enhanced performance, and improved developer experience</h2>
One of the many benefits of moving the Relatude platform to <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/whats-new/dotnet-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">.Net 6</a> is the cross-platform support in .Net 6. It allows developers on Windows, Linux, and Mac to run Relatude on their development machines, and customers can host Relatude on Linux or Windows, either in the cloud or on-premise.
Since the introduction of .Net Core in 2016, the .Net team has focused on improving performance. Over the years, .Net has gone from a decent framework to what many consider to be the fastest full-stack web framework. This also aligns well with the philosophy of the Relatude team, where performance is important for scalability, user experience, hosting costs, and managing complexity.
Another major improvement with .Net 6 is the developer experience, which Relatude says has been important for its internal team and end developers. .Net 6 also supports C# 10, which continues the long tradition of continuous improvements to C#.
<h2>About Relatude CMS and E-commerce</h2>
Relatude CMS (<a href="http://www.relatude.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.relatude.com</a>) is a .NET-based web content management (WCM) system powered by the Relatude Content Engine. Designed for the future of content management, it takes advantage of the benefits of structured content by using a content graph that is key to delivering value to the customer. 
Relatude E-commerce (<a href="http://www.relatude.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.relatude.com</a>) is a unique .NET-based E-commerce platform powered by the Relatude Content Engine. It offers the ultimate in flexibility and extensibility.
<h2>About Proventus AS</h2>
Proventus AS (<a href="http://www.proventus.no/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.proventus.no</a>) is a Norwegian software company developing and distributing Relatude CMS and Relatude E-commerce. Its customers cover a wide range of industries, from small companies with advanced needs to large and multinational corporations with complex web presences.

Proventus AS Announces Release of Relatude CMS and E-Commerce Version 6

Strap yourself in, because <a href="http://strapi.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strapi</a> has some big news. 
The open source headless CMS vendor just announced that it has raised $31 million in Series B funding led by <a href="https://www.crv.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CRV</a> – bringing the company’s total funding to $45 million. Flex Capital and Index Ventures also participated in the round along with new angel investors including former Github CEO, Nat Friedman, Algolia co-founder Nicolas Dessaigne, and Netlify CEO, Matt Billmann Christensen. 
As tech enterprises mull the realities of a souring global economy, Strapi seems bullish about its future prospects. And why not? With 45,000 stars on GitHub, 750 contributors, and 7 million downloads, Strapi is clearly establishing its position as a premier headless CMS in a growing sea of commoditized competitors. 
“This round speaks volumes about Strapi’s rapid adoption among developers who need a content management system customizable enough to overcome the complexity associated with a long tail of use cases that works across more and more devices, formats, sources, and stakeholders,” said Pierre Burgy, CEO, Strapi. “It gives us the opportunity to continue building a sustainable business and invest in the development of the Strapi open source community and ecosystem. Most importantly, it will enable us to deliver on our mission of empowering millions of people to share and manage any content, anywhere.”
“Finding a content management system that delights developers and allows them to move fast while providing the content managers with a high level of autonomy remains a challenge for many companies,” said Reid Christian, general partner at CRV. ”With its developer-first approach based on open source and customization, Strapi is uniquely positioned to solve that challenge for many companies across a large range of applications and use cases.”
<h2>Delivering composable solutions with headless CMS</h2>
Founded in May 2016 as a school project by Pierre Burgy (CEO), Aurélien Georget (chief product officer), and Jim Laurie (chief user success officer), Strapi is a leading open source headless CMS. The platform is in use across a wide range of industries and at many Fortune 500 companies such as AT&amp;T, eBay, IBM, and Toyota.
More than ever, composability seems to be the essential ingredient for building modern digital experiences. According to Strapi's press release, more than 25,000 companies use its CMS to save countless hours developing future-proof applications – making content management more composable and collaborative.
To bolster its composable posture, Strapi has embraced a marketplace strategy that has already amassed more than 2,000 plug-ins and providers to date. To navigate this massive and open ecosystem, Strapi announced the launch of its <a href="https://market.strapi.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strapi Market</a>, giving users the option to leverage new features or integrations as part of their projects. 
<h2>Scaling success in the Strapi Cloud</h2>
At this year's <a href="https://conf.strapi.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">StrapiConf 2022</a>, the company revealed plans to launch Strapi Cloud – a new solution for easily deploying, hosting, and scaling Strapi projects. The PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) approach embraces the company’s open source DNA while preserving Strapi’s unique customization capabilities. 
With Strapi Cloud, the company is offering a seamless deployment process that enables developers to start their project locally, customize it according to their needs, version it through Git, and deploy it in seconds.
General availability for Strapi Cloud is planned for 2023. In the meantime, anyone interested in the company's beta program can <a href="https://strapi.io/cloud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">join the waitlist</a>.
To learn more about Strapi’s vision for the future of Content Management, go to: <a href="https://strapi.io/blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://strapi.io/blog</a>.
<h2>About Strapi</h2>
Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS: 100% JavaScript, extensible, and fully customizable. Strapi enables developers to build projects faster by providing a customizable API out of the box and giving them the freedom to use their favorite tools. Content teams use Strapi to autonomously manage all types of content and distribute it from one CMS to any channel including websites, mobile apps, or connected devices. The remote company has employees in more than 10 countries and is scaling its team globally. To learn more, visit <a href="http://strapi.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strapi.io</a>.
<h2>About CRV Ventures</h2>
CRV is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage tech startups. Since 1970, the firm has invested in more than 500 startups at their most crucial stages, including Airtable, DoorDash and Vercel. Founders need more than capital to build a great company.

Strapi Secures $31 Million in Series B Funding, Plans to Enhance Open Source Headless CMS and Deliver Cloud Platform

With a name like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/tag/storyblok/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Storyblok</a>, we expect a good story.
That's exactly what we received yesterday when the headless CMS player <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/mp/storyblok-s-technology-ecosystem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the launch of its new <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/partners/technology-ecosystem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Technology Ecosystem</a> – a curated collection of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/tag/mach/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MACH</a>-ready technology solutions that can be integrated together with Storyblok as the central content hub. 
According to Alin Tanase, Technology Partner Manager at Storyblok, having a dedicated Technology Ecosystem was the "missing piece of the puzzle" in the company's growing partnership program. Building it from the ground up and relying on agency experience helped Storyblok see the gap and identify the potential. 
<h2>A MACH-driven technology ecosystem </h2>
The Storyblok Technology Ecosystem provides a ready-made set of integrations for e-commerce, localization, deployment and hosting, personalization, marketing, analytics, and more – allowing businesses to build successful digital experiences across channels with best-of-breed, composable technology. 
Launched in 2015, Storyblok has embraced the principles of MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud, and Headless) from day one. Having <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/mp/storyblok-joins-the-mach-alliance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined the MACH Alliance</a> last November, Storyblok believes the future belongs to marketplaces that are built with MACH in mind – and its new ecosystem reflects a continued commitment to the tenants of building scalable MACH architectures. 
The new Technology Ecosystem provides integrations for some of the biggest names in e-commerce, including <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BigCommerce</a>, <a href="https://www.netlify.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netlify</a>, <a href="https://cloudinary.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cloudinary</a>, <a href="https://commercetools.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercetools</a>, <a href="https://spryker.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spryker</a>, <a href="https://www.shopify.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shopify</a>, <a href="https://lokalise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lokalise</a>, <a href="https://www.vuestorefront.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VueStorefront</a>, <a href="https://ninetailed.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ninetailed</a>, <a href="https://www.algolia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Algolia</a>, <a href="https://instantcommerce.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instant Commerce</a>, <a href="https://www.centra.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centra</a>, <a href="https://www.scayle.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SCAYLE</a>, and <a href="https://vercel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vercel</a>. The library features add-ons and plug-ins to Storyblok's API-driven CMS to extend its functionality, increase its value, and deliver a best-of-breed, future-proof platform designed to fit any need. 
"We want to offer businesses a strong ecosystem of powerful API-led technologies to support the growth of their digital offerings," said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrydarcy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barry D'Arcy</a>, VP of Partners at Storyblok. "Partnering with other best-in-class solutions allows us to co-innovate and deliver better digital outcomes." 
We had the chance to connect with D'Arcy last year, and he <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/interview-headless-cms-storyblok-expands-partner-program-with-u-s-agency-campbell-ewald/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared some of his views</a> on the CMS market and the value of being headless.
<h2>Powering the future with Jamstack and cloud technology partnerships</h2>
According to analyst firm <a href="https://www.forrester.com/bold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forrester</a>, the future of digital experiences lies in ecosystems. They recommend picking an ecosystem rather than just a single vendor, as innovation through such communities will help organizations gain speed, agility, and resilience.
Storyblok seems to be squarely focused on this vision. While the company provides a vendor-specific headless CMS platform, the development of a corresponding technology ecosystem will help expand the value of its technology across a composable channel of options – enabling users to build in multiple directions without the persistent challenge of monolithic vendor lock-in. 
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/">Jamstack</a> will play a crucial role in the new technology ecosystem, which is evidenced by comments from Netlify – a key partner in this new initiative. "Jamstack is an approach to build for the web that has generated a large global community and movement over the past six years," said Sarfaraz Rydhan, Senior Director of Business Development at <a href="https://www.netlify.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netlify</a>. "Netlify is focused on bringing the modern web community together and enabling the benefits of Jamstack with our platform alongside partners and customers. We are delighted to be part of Storyblok's Technology Ecosystem to help empower our customers to build better digital experiences with the Jamstack."
Storyblok is also offering integrations with infrastructure players like Cloudinary to power the management of digital video and media assets. "Cloudinary firmly believes in establishing relationships with other software companies that share our belief in headless, API-first software and composable technology," said Gary Ballabio, VP of Technology Partnerships at <a href="https://cloudinary.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cloudinary.</a> "Which is why we're so excited to be a part of the Storyblok Technology Ecosystem."
You can visit the <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/partners/technology-ecosystem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Technology Ecosystem</a> page to learn more and see the full list of partners.
<h2>About Storyblok</h2>
<a href="http://Storyblok – an enterprise headless CMS that enables developers and marketers to deliver powerful content experiences on any digital platform – today announced the launch of its Technology Ecosystem. This new program is a curated collection of MACH-ready technology solutions that can be integrated together, with Storyblok as the central content hub. The Storkblok Ecosystem is a curated collection of tech solutions that can be integrated together, with Storyblok at the center. It’s a universe of endless technology possibilities. Some of the technology partners include BigCommerce, Netlify, Cloudinary, Commercetools, Spryker, Shopify, Lokalise, VueStorefront, Ninetailed, Algolia, Instant Commerce, Centra, SCAYLE and Vercel. “We want to offer businesses a strong ecosystem of powerful API-led technologies to support the growth of their digital offerings. Partnering with other best-in-class solutions allows us to co-innovate and deliver better digital outcomes.” said Barry D'Arcy, VP of Partners at Storyblok. &quot;Jamstack is an approach to build for the web that has generated a large global community and movement over the past six years,&quot; said Sarfaraz Rydhan, Senior Director of Business Development at Netlify. &quot;Netlify is focused on bringing the modern web community together and enabling the benefits of Jamstack with our platform alongside partners and customers. We are delighted to be part of Storyblok's Technology Ecosystem to help empower our customers to build better digital experiences with the Jamstack.&quot; &quot;Cloudinary firmly believes in establishing relationships with other software companies that share our belief in headless, API-first software and composable technology - which is why we're so excited to be a part of the Storyblok Technology Ecosystem,&quot; said Gary Ballabio, VP of Technology Partnerships at Cloudinary." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Storyblok</a> is an enterprise headless CMS that enables developers and marketers to deliver powerful content experiences on any digital platform. Developers create flexible components that are independently managed by content teams through a collaborative visual editor and customizable workflow. Published content is delivered through an API, so changes are made once and will appear everywhere: websites, mobile, IoT, the metaverse, and beyond. This approach reduces maintenance and makes content management more efficient. Leading brands such as Adidas, Pizza Hut, and Marc O'Polo use Storyblok to manage and share their content with the world. Storyblok was named the #1 CMS for 2022 by G2.
For more information, visit <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.storyblok.com</a> and follow Storyblok on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/storyblok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://www.twitter.com/storyblok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>.

Storyblok Launches New Technology Ecosystem Featuring MACH-Ready Solutions

If you just heard a loud noise echo across the digital marketplace, it might have been a sonic boom. But don't let your ears fool your eyes: this was a visual explosion, and it has us intrigued.
A few days ago, Milan-based start-up <a href="https://boom.co/" target="_blank">BOOM</a> acquired Berlin-based visual production start-up <a href="https://www.lemonone.com/" target="_blank">LemonOne</a> for an undisclosed sum. Now, that might not ordinarily catch your eye (or your ear), but what got our attention was the growth of a relatively new sub-category: visual asset management (VAM).
Not to be confused with the abundant plethora of TLAs (three-lettered acronyms), VAMs are evolving the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/">digital asset management (DAM)</a> charter by focusing more deliberately on the role of imagery within an ecosystem. Along with housing files like photography, VAMs go further by offering tools that enhance the management of creative files, brand elements, video components, and more. 
VAMs seem to have a number of different applications, but there's a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/visual-asset-management-what-why-you-need-kevin-bouffard-c-e-t-/" target="_blank">great overview</a> by Kevin Bouffard of 3SixtyEdge about a use case for construction. In it, a VAM provides a more immersive experience for integrating different image assets into a 360-degree tour of a building or property. Very cool stuff. 
As you might guess, VAMs are a perfect content management repository for agencies and marketing departments that are developing integrated visual solutions. As such, BOOM's acquisition of LemonOne further expands its content capacity to help creative teams build visual campaigns, organize imagery, collaborate on ideas, and publish visual content anywhere online.
<h2>BOOM makes waves by managing the full visual lifecycle</h2>
Founded by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacopobenedettiai/" target="_blank">Jacopo Benedetti</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/federicomattiadolci/" target="_blank">Federico Mattia Dolci</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/giacomo-grattirola-1b8a58100/" target="_blank">Giacomo Grattirola</a>, BOOM has specialized in visual asset management. The company has raised over $18M in seed, Series A, and Venture funding in the last three years and has grown rapidly since its launch in 2018 – now serving clients in over 80 countries.
The acquisition of LemonOne strengthens BOOM’s presence in Europe, accelerating the delivery of its mission to create a scalable environment that empowers digital companies to effectively manage their full visual content lifecycle – from initial production to final distribution – from anywhere in the world in line with e-commerce growth and increased demand for visual content.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/06/boom-workspace-screen.png" alt="Boom Workspace Screen" />BOOM Workspace Screen
“This is a major leap forward in BOOM’s strategy to serve the whole of Europe and beyond through our ground-breaking digital platform," said Federico Mattia Dolci, CEO of BOOM. "We have been growing our team across Europe and the Americas, and we are now delighted to join forces with the team from LemonOne. They bring fresh energy, passion as well as a wealth of vertical expertise. We look forward to doing great things together!”
<h2>Squeezing the juice from LemonOne</h2>
Founded in 2017, <a href="https://www.lemonone.com/" target="_blank">LemonOne</a> has grown to serve online marketplaces, real estate agencies, and food delivery companies with on-demand, tailor-made visual content for their digital presence.
LemonOne’s clients will join BOOM’s network of customers – which includes major names such as Dolce &amp; Gabbana and Houzz – on the BOOM Worksite, a centralized platform that enables digital enterprises to organize, share, and collaborate on visual assets with internal and third parties.
LemonOne’s team will join BOOM’s workforce to boost service capacity for its growing customer base and enable the company to focus on its technology and product arms as it develops its new SaaS platform, Worksite. Meanwhile, LemonOne’s photographers will join BOOM’s community of visual content creators, enabling BOOM to serve a broader range of customers across mainland Europe.
“BOOM is breaking the ground to develop a revolutionary category leader in the space of visual asset management while LemonOne built a European market leader for digital photo production," said Maximilian Schwahn, Co-Founder at LemonOne. "By joining forces and being able to offer every company a one-stop-shop solution for booking, collaborating, and publishing visuals, we are able to reach our founding vision even faster. Therefore, we are super happy to partner up with BOOM and benefit from each other’s strength to make 1+1=3 for all our customers as well as our community.”
If you’re interested in checking out BOOM, you can <a href="https://boom.co/get-started/" target="_blank">get a free demo here</a>.
<h2>About Boom</h2>
<a href="https://boom.co/" target="_blank">BOOM</a> is a Saas company that powers smart solutions for visual asset collaboration, management, and production. Through a centralized end-to-end platform, BOOM allows creative and marketing companies to create, organize, collaborate on, and publish content anywhere online, making their workflow fast and frictionless from start to finish. BOOM’s client portfolio includes international players such as D&amp;G, Deliveroo, Glovo, and Westwing, all of whom have enjoyed BOOM’s visual production resources as well as the platform’s service as a single source of truth for all their visual assets.
<h2>About LemonOne</h2>
Lemon One provides businesses such as major online marketplaces, real estate agencies, and food delivery companies with on-demand photos within hours through algorithms that match them with a broad network of photographers. With Lemon One, businesses get tailor-made, high-quality visual content for their online presence, without extra effort.

Visual Content Management Platform BOOM Acquires Visual Production Company LemonOne

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