Articles - Page 39

Brightspot Illuminates the Future of CMS with Human-Controlled, AI-Powered Storytelling 

matt-garrepy

Top Headless Commerce Platforms

cms-critic-staff

Headless commerce image of headless horseman and shopping bag

Rarely does a week go by without a noteworthy update from WordPress, the heavyweight champion of CMS platforms.Much of the recent focus has been on enhancing the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/">Gutenberg</a> framework and providing users of the open source platform – which powers roughly 64 million websites – with a stable and rewarding experience. Gutenberg, known in some circles as the “WordPress block editor,” was introduced in WordPress 5.0 in late 2018. It was the platform's answer to the next wave of low-code site builders like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wix-announces-wixstores-wixjet/">Wix</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/squarespace-a-diy-website-builder-1/">Sqaurespace</a>, as well as WordPress community apps like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elementor-hits-3-million-sites/">Elementor</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/">Divi</a>.While Gutenberg struggled to find terra firma in its early days (everyone hates change), it found more adoption as developers tapped its ability to create custom blocks and minimize shortcodes.In the latest update, WordPress Gutenberg 11.7, users will see some really nice enhancements and, as usual, a collective of bug fixes. Global styles and full site editing have been improved, the navigation editor experience has been made more intuitive, and you now have more control to adjust the spacing between columns.<h2>A more intuitive and lighter navigation experience</h2>The navigation block underwent a series of changes intended to provide a more intuitive navigation management experience. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/design.png" alt="plus icon to add link" />Now, you can add links simply by <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34899">clicking on the “+” icon</a> without an additional block selection step. Additionally, you can use a <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35196">slash inserter</a> to add a link. This is all part of the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/34041">lighter navigation block experience</a> efforts.Navigation links can <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34978">now be transformed</a> into other block types such as site logo, home link, or social icons. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/navigation-links.png" alt="navigation links" />The navigation link now <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35324">supports custom font size and line height</a>. Link labels, such as “previous post,” may now be a <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34952">part of the link to the post itself</a>. Mobile menus also <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35077">reflect the justification settings</a> of the desktop menus. <h2>Global styles and full site editing</h2>Global styles extend the capabilities of full site editing by bringing a higher level of customization to Gutenberg and WordPress. Together, these features enable users to have improved control over layouts and aesthetics beyond the context of single pages and posts. Global Styles also provide consistency across a website without having to edit individual blocks or pages.The site editor experience gets a full "spit and polish" in this new release. For example, the template editor now features a <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34732">convenient back button</a> to ease returning to the site editor. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/back-button-e1634763932360.png" alt="back button" />Switching between editing different template parts was made more accessible by listing the available areas in the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35202">template details</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/template-switching.png" alt="template switching" />The site editor was also equipped with <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35241">padding settings for specific template parts</a>. Color palette settings are also available in a <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35109">separate panel in the global styles sidebar</a>. Another cool feature: duotone support was extended to the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35344">site logo block</a> for rendering logo elements in a duochromatic fashion.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/global-styles.png" alt="color palettes" /><h2>Columns block support for tweaking the gaps and margins</h2>Personally, we think this is the most exciting feature that Gutenberg 11.7 brings. The columns block now <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34630">allows you to adjust the space between the columns</a> and the margins surrounding the block. Combined with <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35241">customizable template part padding</a>, it is the most flexible layout-building experience Gutenberg has ever had. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/column-spacing.gif" alt="column spacing" /><h2>Other notable highlights</h2>11.7 adds the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35083">ability to create pages</a> directly from the link popup. Up to this point, it was only possible via the Navigation block – but now this feature is exposed on every link.The popup also <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/35143">underwent subtle visual adjustments</a>. In addition, <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/35060">empty links can no longer be added</a>, making adding one by mistake even harder. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/10/empty-link.png" alt="empty link checker" />You can see the complete list of new Gutenberg 11.7 features and bug fixes <a target="_blank" href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/10/14/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-7-october-13th/">here</a>.

WordPress Gutenberg 11.7 Enhances Site Editing, Navigation Blocks, Column Spacing and More

paris-tuzun

In the CMS and DXP lexicon, "composable" has become foundational terminology. For more robust digital experience platforms, this typically translates into reusable components that enhance the building and personalization of websites and apps. But on the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a> side of the ledger, composable architectures are evolving omnichannel capabilities in some innovative ways.
To that end, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-contentfuls-175m-investment-round-means-for-the-future-of-cms/">Contentful</a>, a headless content management platform, has announced a partnership with <a href="https://conscia.ai/">Conscia</a> – a Toronto-based Content Intelligence Platform – to launch an app called Unify. Purpose-built for new and existing Contentful customers, Unify joins together content from multiple Contentful spaces and other applications and provides a "unified" API response for frontends to consume, thereby enabling a composable architecture for all digital channels. 
Unify is of particular relevance to brands that are looking to expand their headless commerce strategies with more personalized experiences. As shoppers continue to embrace digital, organizations are relying on omnichannel to deliver the right experience at the right time, regardless of the endpoint or device. Contentful and Conscia are helping brands orchestrate these experiences by breaking down silos and harmonizing their content ecosystem. 
"Contentful is a leader in evangelizing the headless approach of delivering content to digital applications," said Sana Remekie, Conscia's Chief Executive Officer. "We're proud to partner with Contentful to offer multi-space and multi-source content orchestration to its customers and are really excited to bring Unify to market."
<h2>Creating a Unified Payload</h2>
It's true that many existing platforms allow you to "stitch" together content from multiple sources. However, there are inherent challenges and limitations with the status quo approach. 
First and foremost, there are often too many inputs such as CDP, PIM, third-party data sources, and other APIs. Further, the standard model for weaving together content from multiple sources tends to be based on JSON, REST, GraphQL, or Next – all of which are very code-heavy. This requires the ability to reconcile a lot of complex queries that can lead to long payload times and significant performance issues. 
To address these problems, Contentful and Conscia created Unify, which sits on top of Contentful's multi-space architecture. It provides an intuitive, flexible, no-code method for assembling localized and personalized experiences for all channels and accelerating the digital supply chain. 
Unify's ability to federate content from legacy and siloed enterprise applications into Contentful's global delivery infrastructure results in faster, more reliable delivery to all digital channels – including web, mobile, voice, chatbots, call centers, and more.
"Unify is very much in line with Contentful's vision of breaking down organizational silos and serving as a centralized content platform to power continuous and connected experiences across channels," said Kevin Zellmer, VP of Partnerships at Contentful. "We are very impressed with Conscia's ability to simplify and democratize a process that typically requires significant cost and time." 
To learn more about the Unify solution, you can visit <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3319163-1&amp;h=2301233572&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.conscia.ai%2Funify&amp;a=www.conscia.ai%2Funify" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.conscia.ai/unify</a>.
<h2>About Conscia</h2>
Conscia is a knowledge graph that has the ability to unify customer data and content from disparate systems through a schema-agnostic data pipeline, enrich, relate, tag, and classify the data, and finally distribute this knowledge through APIs. With Customer and Content Intelligence so deeply interconnected in a central knowledge graph, Conscia empowers digital and marketing teams to compose meaningful, consistent, and personalized content experiences across all channels at scale. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.
<h2>About Contentful</h2>
Contentful, a leading content platform for digital-first business, helps over 30% of the Fortune 500 and thousands of brands around the world create and manage digital experiences for their customers across any channel. It enables greater speed and scale than traditional CMS solutions. Contentful unifies content in a single hub, structures it for use in any digital channel, and integrates seamlessly with hundreds of other tools through open APIs. Companies such as Gucci, Plaid, Goodrx, Intercom, Notion, Staples and many others rely on Contentful's platform.

Contentful and Conscia Launch Unify, a Multi-Space Orchestration App for Personalization and Headless Commerce

Sitecore’s epic <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/" target="_blank">$1.2 billion growth plan</a> keeps bearing its fruits, this time with the addition of a new SaaS DXP. Sitecore yesterday <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/company/news-events/press-releases/2021/10/sitecore-announces-the-future-of-the-digital-experience-platform" target="_blank">announced</a> Sitecore Experience Manager Cloud – the first entirely cloud-native CMS offering the design flexibility, integration-friendliness, and authoring experience for business users to create and deliver personalized digital experiences. 
Sitecore’s new SaaS DXP, which is available for customers from today in most regions globally, is built on a composable architecture, so end users can buy best-of-breed products or an integrated platform that scales to support high volume content, visitor, and data processing needs. The composable approach enables brands to capitalize on Sitecore’s 1,200+ strong partner ecosystem, extensive developer network, and deep-rooted expertise in helping enterprise businesses manage and enhance the customer experience across all industries and regions.
The company also announced a range of new product updates that integrate recent acquisitions and the launch of a subscription-based learning resource. <a href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore Symposium</a>, the biggest annual Sitecore event, was full of announcements, including a range of new product updates that integrate recent acquisitions and the launch of a subscription-based learning resource, all accompanied by John Legend’s singing performance. 
Sitecore’s $1.2B investment last year has been the largest capital investment in the martech space. The investment spurred a series of acquisitions of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/" target="_blank">Boxever, Four51</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-moosend-adds-ai-powered-email-marketing-automation/" target="_blank">Moosend</a>, and, lastly, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-ai-powered-search-platform-reflektion/" target="_blank">Reflektion</a>.
With the new SaaS DXP, customers can now configure and connect products through APIs as needed to gain faster time to value and have the ability to flex their creativity to create differentiation in the market faster than the competition. With microservices-based, cloud-native technology, the option to scale up or down and quickly change content across different channels is possible.
<blockquote>“Today’s announcement confirms our ambition to disrupt the market and help brands stay ahead with cutting-edge technology. Our recent acquisitions have been fundamental to building the most advanced composable platform available today, something we see as the future of DXP. Customer expectations are everchanging, so it is essential brands are empowered to work in real-time, adapting experiences to keep up with the demand. We’re supporting them with the technology to make this possible. By bringing our portfolio together in the cloud, brands can achieve this and enjoy a truly integrated, flexible, and scalable platform – delivering personalized experiences for their customers, whatever the channel.”
- Steve Tzikakis, Sitecore CEO</blockquote>
Below you can find a list of updates to Sitecore’s offering:
<h4>Sitecore Discover</h4>
Following the acquisition of Reflektion in September, <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/discover" target="_blank">Sitecore Discover</a> empowers commerce businesses by adding individualized search and merchandising capabilities. 
With 93% of all online experiences starting with search, this is an essential update empowering brands to offer end-to-end, personalized experiences using AI-powered technology that understands and predicts customer patterns, context, and needs.
With Site Discover, you can deliver a 1:1 shopping experience with tailored search results and recommendations driven by AI in real-time.
<h4>Sitecore Personalize</h4>
Sitecore yesterday announced its new SaaS Personalization Engine powered by technology from the company’s Boxever acquisition. Boxever, a SaaS-based Customer Data Platform (CDP) providing decisioning and experimentation, allows Sitecore to enhance customer intelligence with AI-driven personalization tools. Personalize allows brands to experiment and be agile to customers’ evolving digital behaviors. The AI-based technology empowers digital leaders to deliver next-level, real-time experiences, optimize their conversion funnels and engage customers with relevant content and offers.
<h4>Sitecore Health Cloud</h4>
Sitecore Health Cloud is an offering of Sitecore Experience Platform in Microsoft Azure that caters to the specific intricacies of the U.S. healthcare market. The technology, which is scheduled to be HIPAA ready in Spring 2022, will empower providers to offer engaging and personalized patient experiences using data, delivering great healthcare services in a secure and compliant manner.
<h4>Sitecore Learning</h4>
Sitecore also announced three new tiered learning subscriptions – Essentials, Professionals, and Advanced – to help more professionals across the industry become Sitecore certified. Created to meet the demand for education that matches the speed of Sitecore’s DXP updates and additions, the resource will enable users to learn about products from online courses and instructor-led tutorials. They will also allow professionals to learn about other Sitecore products, opening up possibilities to expand and enhance their capabilities and address the challenge of siloed teams. To find out more about Sitecore’s learning resource, visit: <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/knowledge-center/getting-started/training" target="_blank">learning.sitecore.com</a>
<h2>About Sitecore</h2>
Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world's smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers. A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce, and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies, including American Express, ASOS, Kimberly-Clark, L'Oréal, and Volvo Cars, rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers. Learn more at <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore.com</a>.

Sitecore Announces the Future of the Digital Experience Platform, Launching Industry’s First Enterprise SaaS Offering

When it comes to content management systems, there's one platform that makes headless "like butter."
Of course, we're talking about <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/dynamic-landing-pages-with-components-and-buttercms/" target="_blank">ButterCMS</a>, an aptly-named brand that's been making solid gains over the years, particularly around the rise in popularity of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/" target="_blank">JAMstack</a> and MACH-related microservices. The platform powers static site generators like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gatsby-unveils-v3-0-cloud-hosting-and-more-at-gatsbyconf-2021/" target="_blank">Gatsby</a>, for example – and makes it incredibly easy to connect their CMS to a fast, secure, high-performing frontend site.
Recently, the company announced some slick new additions to its <a href="https://buttercms.com/features/#fastcontentupdate-localization" target="_blank">content localization capabilities</a> that aim to simplify the workflow, allowing users to translate content to any language right within the Butter UI.
Not to spread it on too thickly (pun intended), but this is exactly the kind of feature that CMS platforms need to serve global initiatives. The new functionality empowers international teams collaborating on projects to access information and quickly translate it for their specific region – all with just a few clicks. It also prevents any duplication of effort, allowing projects to be completed faster and more efficiently.
We've got more details below, but we'll butter you up with a little something extra: a brief Q&amp;A with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lumetta/" target="_blank">Butter's CEO, Jake Lumetta</a>. Read what the company's founder had to say about their new localization capabilities, composable CMS, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/" target="_blank">JAMstack</a>, and the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/" target="_blank">headless</a> frontier. So grab your toast and dig in.
<h2>A new tool for clients with international teams and topics</h2>
There's no question that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2021/12/27/this-is-the-future-of-remote-work-in-2021/?sh=6f9e6f441e1d" target="_blank">growth of remote work</a> – and consequently, the rise of remote teams. This has been felt on a local level, but international teams have been working from a distance for quite some time.
According to Butter, companies with growing international interests need products that make working with their remote teams easy and effective. As such, their new localization enhancements are targeted at taking the work out of managing distributed teams, specifically marketers and translators across the globe.
The expanded set of features is a big leap forward in both speed and convenience for ButterCMS customers, giving them the option to import content in English – or any other language – as a base template to work from for any project. Once this base version is created, individual users can then copy that content and translate it for any region using simple features in the navigation menu.
<h2>Butter CMS localization: process and options</h2>
On a more granular level, the process of importing and translating content in ButterCMS is designed to be very intuitive. For example, when modifying content for a specific region, a user can select “Copy From” in the menu, and import existing content from any other locale. There's also a scrollable drop-down menu that includes all the languages that have been configured in a user's account, making it easy to select options on the fly.
After the base content has been imported, the content can be translated manually by local experts, via API by Google, or through another third-party service of your choice. Another point of convenience: regions that have already been translated are highlighted for quick recognition.
<img style="max-width:706px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/image001.jpg" alt="localization settings - languages dropdown" />
There's no limit to the number of languages you can support. That means your team members from any corner of the world can translate content to accommodate local languages and meet cultural-specific content requirements.
From a permissions perspective, another new feature is the ability to <a href="https://buttercms.com/kb/enabling-localization-and-creating-localized-content" target="_blank">control editing privileges</a> for various regions at the user level, allowing teams on the ButterCMS Enterprise plan to ensure that only approved members in a designated region can make changes to their specified content. This feature streamlines the interface for international teams, minimizes confusion, and prevents unauthorized changes.
<img style="max-width:502px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/image003.gif" alt="locale access checkboxes" />
<h2>Additional CMS features and updates</h2>
For Butter, "convenience" has always been a key attribute. Their interface is familiar and intuitive, making it easy to learn and use. Along these lines, they've made several recent updates that improve the content production process – making it more flexible and less time-consuming.
For example, there’s a new <a href="https://buttercms.com/features/#fastcontentupdate-preview-changes" target="_blank">resizable preview panel</a> that lets users preview live content inside the same window where they are currently editing. You can also use the same click-and-drag functionality to control the size of the API explorer window. This prevents the hassle of toggling back and forth between windows while working.
<img style="max-width:600px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/image004.gif" alt="Resizable review panel" />
<a href="https://buttercms.com/features/#flexiblecontentmodeling-components" target="_blank">Reusable components</a> help keep the development process as simple as possible with a unique component picker tool, allowing marketers to build dynamic landing pages using pre-defined, pre-styled components. It’s a powerful feature for building dynamic landing pages without relying on a developer.
Another is Butter’s pre-configured <a href="https://buttercms.com/features/#flexiblecontentmodeling-blog-engine" target="_blank">blog engine</a>, which makes it really easy to add an SEO-friendly blog to an existing website or app. It supports all of the popular frontend frameworks, with drop-in SDKs for any language.
Users can also take advantage of Butter's native <a href="https://buttercms.com/features/#medialibrary" target="_blank">Media Library</a> to host all the files necessary for a blog, app, or website. The Media Library can hold images, videos, audio files, PDFs, and more – and all files are distributed securely via <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/" target="_blank">Amazon CloudFront’s CDN</a>.
<h2>Summary and pricing</h2>
ButterCMS has just upped its game with some great content localization enhancements. Whether you’re managing content for a mobile app, a hybrid web app, a static site, or just a blog, the platform provides an array of tools and features to improve your development and marketing efforts.
When it comes to pricing, there are several <a href="https://buttercms.com/pricing/" target="_blank">plans</a> available that meet the needs of everyone – from freelancers and startups to enterprises and agencies – and can be scaled as your organization grows.
<h2>Q&amp;A with Jake Lumetta, CEO and founder of ButterCMS</h2>
CMS Critic had a chance to connect with Butter's CEO and founder, Jake Lumetta. We asked about their growth opportunities, composable and reusable CMS trends, and what makes their headless CMS stand out in the crowd.
<hr />
CMS Critic (CC): With localization being such a key focus in your recent update, it seems fair to say that ButterCMS is growing globally. What are your core markets? Where are you seeing the most growth internationally?
Jake Lumetta (JL): Butter has customers around the globe and in every vertical you can imagine.  If you need to manage content for a modern, highly performant application, then Butter is a great fit for your team. We've seen amazing growth in e-commerce, marketplaces, SaaS, e-learning, and financial services.
CC: Composable and reusable components are becoming essential to a CMS. Can you tell us more about your component strategy? What aspects are low code/no code? And how customizable is the framework?
JL: We heard early on from our customers that they wanted to build with components in Butter.  We built a field type called Components which enables our users to group related fields together in an intuitive way. A simple example might be an SEO component that contains all SEO meta information you might want to control for a page.  Butter Components work nicely alongside the concept of reusable components for your Front-end.  Design and marketing can work hand in hand to determine and build out beautiful and customizable experiences using Butter Components. We've made using Components really intuitive for non-developer users with another concept called a Component Picker as well. This allows any marketers to build out a custom, unique page or section of a website or mobile app using any components that they need.
CC: Headless is fast becoming the focus of the CMS market. What would you say is Butter’s most unique advantage when considered against the landscape of options – particularly those that are growing rapidly in the JAMstack?
JL: One of Butter's unique advantages is our laser focus on superior customer support and experience. Our customers want to get their hands on the product and quickly get a proof of concept running with their preferred tech, and we allow every person to easily do that. Our Customer Success team aims to promptly support all folks at any stage of using Butter. We provide resources for learning, using, and scaling the use of Butter so that people can answer their own questions quickly. Our product is also simply more intuitive than most on the market – for both developers with our straightforward API and for marketers with our intuitive and clean interface.
<h2>About ButterCMS</h2>
ButterCMS offers a modern content management solution that helps companies across several markets tackle projects and manage content with ease. Their API-driven headless CMS has enjoyed strong success in several verticals, including e-commerce, agencies, SaaS, and marketplaces. Butter offers extensive documentation and a convenient API explorer interface for quick and painless integration with any application or website. If you need additional help, they offer live, personalized support for all clients.

New Content Localization Capabilities from ButterCMS: Q&A with CEO Jake Lumetta

More big news from Umbraco, right on the heels of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/umbraco-cms-acquired-by-software-investor-monterro-interview-with-ceo-kim-sneum-madsen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their recent acquisition</a> by Monterro: the launch of <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cms/umbraco-9/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Umbraco 9</a>.
As the company claims on its website, "with every new release of Umbraco, you get a CMS that's simpler." That seems central to this new version, which promises a simpler experience for editors, developers, and web agencies that rely on their user-friendly, flexible, and fully customizable content management system.
Umbraco 9 features a complete update of their CMS technology stack, with a move from .NET Framework to now running completely on .NET 5 (previously known as .NET Core). According to the company, this transformation will offer enhanced performance and scalability, a cleaner architecture, and compatibility with macOS, Linux, and Microsoft Windows – opening up Umbraco to a larger pool of web developers.
“Moving Umbraco completely to the latest version of .NET future proofs the platform, providing a robust CMS on the most relevant and modern technology familiar to—and expected from—today’s web developers,” said Kim Sneum Madsen, CEO of Umbraco. “Making Umbraco cross-platform as well means web agencies struggling to find developers will have even more options as Linux and macOS developers – and not just those working on Windows – recognize the benefits Umbraco offers.”
Founded in 2005, Umbraco’s CMS "family" includes its flagship, open-source Umbraco CMS, as well as Umbraco Heartcore (a headless CMS), Umbraco Cloud, and Umbraco Uno – a one-stop platform for non-technical marketers and creative agencies. 
With help from its active community of more than 220,000 members, including a large “best-of-breed” partner network that offers customized solutions that integrate with Umbraco, the company now counts more than 700,000 websites worldwide—the majority in Europe and the U.S.—running live on its solutions.
<h2>Umbraco provides cadence for major new version releases, taps community for validation</h2>
The launch of Umbraco 9 also kicks off the company's plan for steady releases of new major versions. This cadence is aligned with Microsoft .NET Long Term Support (LTS) releases, which means users can be confident that future Umbraco LTS versions are always updated to the latest Microsoft technology.
“With Umbraco now on .NET 5, not only do we get some significant baseline improvements from the framework, but we can finally take advantage of some of the huge performance gains available in these latest .NET releases,” said Benjamin Carleski, senior developer, ProWorks Corporation. ”Umbraco 9 brings the latest advances to the CMS, such as string and Regex optimizations, and is fully compatible with .NET 6, with its round of further enhancements, when it releases later this year. Umbraco developers will also get access to an improved config system, Lucene.NET 4 enhancements, better member/user integrations, and so much more that has been added to Umbraco in v9.”
With help from long-time users like Carleski – and thousands of members of their open-source community – Umbraco 9 is “clearly ready for global use,” Madsen added. He went on to say: “Developers and their web agencies can be confident using Umbraco 9 for new projects today and long into the future, all without worrying about multiple frameworks or running multiple versions in tandem. They get a user-friendly and up-to-date CMS on modern and secure technology with a clear upgrade plan, making it even easier to create new digital experiences for themselves and their clients.”
To learn more about Umbraco 9, <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cms/umbraco-9/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visit Umbraco's website</a>.
<h2>About Umbraco</h2>
Danish Umbraco was founded in 2005 with the vision of making the complex simpler. The company offers a user-friendly best-of-breed platform for content management (CMS) based on open-source technology. With more than 700,000 installations, Umbraco is one of the most deployed Web Content Management Systems on the Microsoft stack. Its success lies in the open-source model, a unique community of more than 220,000 developers and users, and a well-established partner network of digital agencies. Umbraco has 100 employees and is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, with a branch office in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit <a href="https://umbraco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.umbraco.com</a>

Umbraco 9 "Future Proofs" CMS with Complete Move to .NET 5/ASP.NET Core

Image of Umbraco 9 logo in space illustration

Ah, the bliss of early autumn. Can you feel it in the air?
As September ends and nature's majestic foliage blooms across the Northern hemisphere, our editorial staff is catching its collective breath. It's been a summer like no other, with a pandemic still stoking uncertainty in most parts of the world. But one thing is still certain: digital transformation is exploding – and shows no signs of slowing down. 
In the CMS and DXP territories, we've been following the continuous saga of consolidation and the rabid race to expand features. This month alone, we saw <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-acquires-video-collaboration-platform-frame-io/" target="_blank">Adobe acquire Frame.io</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-ai-powered-search-platform-reflektion/" target="_blank">Sitecore purchase Reflektion</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/duda-snaps-up-snipcart-to-boost-e-commerce-capabilities-qa-with-ceo-itai-sadan/" target="_blank">Duda snap up Snipcart</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/" target="_blank">Acquia buy Widen</a>. The game is getting tight at the enterprise level, and we'll be monitoring activity across our sector as we approach the end of the year. 
In the meantime, here are some other snippets we've been following in September. 
 
<h2>Cloudways releases Top 9 WordPress page builders based on performance</h2>
<img style="max-width:750px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/best-wordpress-page-builders-banner.jpg" alt="Best WordPress Page Builders Banner" />
<a href="https://www.cloudways.com/en/" target="_blank">Cloudways</a>, the managed cloud hosting platform, has selected the top 9 WordPress page builders based on active installations and positive user reviews. The company vetted each entry through a rigorous testing and review process, giving us their top choices based on a variety of criteria. 
So what is a WordPress page builder, anyway? Quite simply, it's a plugin that replaces the classic WordPress editor with a third-party UI. In most cases, this interface lets you drag and drop elements like buttons, social icons, galleries, and images onto a template. There's no code or complexity involved, and almost any user can be successful without a steep learning curve. 
That said, most drag-and-drop builders do bring a modicum of frustration and compromises to the experience (translation: you don't always get exactly what you want). There's often more complexity than you bargain for, and page builders do lock users into their own unique, non-standardized code - so you're stuck with it. They also have a tendency to <a href="https://pagely.com/blog/wordpress-page-builders/" target="_blank">slow down a website</a> with added bloat.
Then why use page builders? Well, in the early days of the web, deep development expertise was needed to build almost any kind of website. Although WordPress was initially designed to give people the ability to publish websites without creating and coding from scratch, the leading open source content management system has become more and more complex over the years – evolving into a platform that is vastly different from its origins. 
Today, it's getting easier to design and develop websites thanks to the evolution of more reliable website builders, and that's why Cloudways has invested in their assessment. And without further ado, here are their top 9 picks:
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.brizy.io/" target="_blank">Brizy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/" target="_blank">Beaver Builder</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/10-best-plugins-for-elementor-page-builder/" target="_blank">Elementor</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.seedprod.com/" target="_blank">SeedProd</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-pagebuilder/" target="_blank">WP Page Builder</a></li>
<li><a href="https://siteorigin.com/" target="_blank">SiteOrigin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://oxygenbuilder.com/" target="_blank">Oxygen</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zionbuilder.io/" target="_blank">Zion</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.boldgrid.com/" target="_blank">BoldGrid</a></li>
</ol>
The Cloudways page builder review is jampacked with information, including which speed testing tools they used, the number of active installations and star ratings of each page builder, and their performance analysis results according to GTmetrix, PageSpeed Insight Performance Analysis, Pingdom Performance Analysis, and K6.io Performance Analysis. Click here to <a href="https://www.cloudways.com/blog/wordpress-page-builders" target="_blank">read the review</a> and dig into the details. 
<h2>UserWay and Duda partner to make professional websites more accessible</h2>
<img style="max-width:800px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/usw_duda-60460a9263e4c180db740dd2b08cfba0.jpg" alt="UserWay and Duda logos" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/duda-snaps-up-snipcart-to-boost-e-commerce-capabilities-qa-with-ceo-itai-sadan/" target="_blank">Duda</a>, the professional website builder, announced the addition of <a href="https://userway.org/" target="_blank">UserWay's</a> AI-powered accessibility widget to their Duda App Store. 
A nearly ubiquitous fixture on websites, Userway's cloud-based widget provides accessibility solutions without refactoring your website's existing code – helping to ensure a comprehensive legal and regulatory compliance framework covering ADA, Section 508, WCAG 2.1 AA, and much more.
There are currently <a href="https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health" target="_blank">one billion people</a> living with disabilities worldwide, and over the last decade, digital accessibility has become one of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/why-your-website-has-to-be-just-as-ada-compliant-as-your-office-building/" target="_blank">the most important and talked-about issues</a> in the web and digital industries. UserWay is helping to address that with a simple, elegant solution that makes accessibility more attainable. For Duda, adding the UserWay feature helps provide their customers with more assurance that their digital experiences are more accessible. 
"We are constantly looking for ways to better serve our customers," said Itai Sadan, Duda's founder and CEO. "Adding UserWay's accessibility technology to our platform allows web professionals the freedom to design their websites without having to worry about the effects their choices have on accessibility. Some web professionals fear that being accessible will be limiting, but UserWay's solutions change that. We're proud that sites created on our platform will now be more accessible for those with disabilities."
Duda customers will be able to quickly strengthen the accessibility of their websites by quickly and easily installing UserWay's Accessibility Widget – which works perfectly out-of-the-box on any website built with Duda. This includes both purchased and premade templates as well as hand-crafted templates and designs.
You can learn more about it on Duda's website at <a href="https://www.duda.co/signup" target="_blank">https://www.duda.co</a>
<h2>Hyland launches OnBase in AWS Marketplace</h2>
<img style="max-width:720px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/e0030_thumb_big_media.png" alt="Hyland OnBase" />
<a href="http://www.hyland.com/" target="_blank">Hyland</a>, a leading enterprise content management (ECM) and process management provider, is now offering their <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-pt2svfcpfgiga?sr=0-1&amp;ref_=beagle&amp;applicationId=AWSMPContessa" target="_blank">OnBase platform in the AWS Marketplace</a>, supporting the evolving needs of organizations to better manage digital information from anywhere and support their shifting work environments.
Hyland is best known for its <a href="https://www.onbase.com/en" target="_blank">Onbase</a> and <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/perceptive" target="_blank">Perceptive</a> content management products, which securely centralize enterprise content and deliver relevant information to users across a wide variety of industries – including healthcare, finance, insurance, higher education, and manufacturing. Hyland commands the second-place position in the Leader Quadrant of <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/explore/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-content-services-platforms" target="_blank">Gartner's 2020 Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms</a> and has been <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/learn/it-programs/forrester-wave-content-services-Q2-2021" target="_blank">named a content platform leader</a> in the Forrester Wave Report for Content Platforms, Q2 2021.
Designed to efficiently manage content, processes, and cases, OnBase connects and centralizes business-critical content in one secure location. As more organizations choose cloud technology to run their operations, Hyland's cloud-first vision and development methodology set the foundation to support evolving business practices – delivering relevant information when and where users need it to increase productivity, improve customer experience, and reduce risk across the enterprise. 
The addition of OnBase in AWS Marketplace with further Hyland's cloud-first vision – providing organizations across the globe with the business dexterity they need, leveraging content management, business process management, and intelligent automation solutions with the scalability, reliability, and security of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
"Our <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/company/partner-program/strategic-alliance-partners/aws" target="_blank">work with AWS</a> has never been stronger, and we're proud to leverage its infrastructure to power OnBase in the Hyland Cloud," said Ed McQuiston, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Hyland. "With joint customer success stories spanning the healthcare, government, insurance, and financial services industries, Hyland and AWS are better together, providing leading cloud-based content services solutions to help organizations thrive in the next normal."
Hyland had been on a buying spree in the past few years, acquiring both <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-acquires-alfresco-focuses-on-cloud-and-global-expansion-of-enterprise-cms/" target="_blank">Alfresco</a>, an open-source content services platform, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-enters-agreement-to-acquire-nuxeo/" target="_blank">Nuxeo</a>, a content services and digital asset management (DAM) platform.
<h2>WordPress Gutenberg 11.5 achieves a full site editing milestone</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/headings-framecap-2048x1152-1.jpg" alt="WordPress Headings framecap" />
Did Gutenberg ever take a break from his printing press? Not likely. Once books could be printed at scale, the demand was never-ending. 
 The same holds true for the folks at WordPress – who seem to never pause on their updates and improvements the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/" target="_blank">Gutenberg editor</a>. Just two weeks after releasing 11.4, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/" target="_blank">11.5</a> hit the streets with a host of new features. Busy bees to be sure.
Here are a few noteworthy additions:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33991" target="_blank">Block Gap support</a> now provides opt-in to control for users to choose the distance between items within a block. This feature has also been added to the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34456" target="_blank">Columns</a>, <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34570" target="_blank">Title</a>, and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32367" target="_blank">Navigation</a> blocks.</li>
<li>Following the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359" target="_blank">introduction of Flex Layout</a> in <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/" target="_blank">11.2.0</a>, now Flex Layouts are supported within the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34493" target="_blank">Social Links</a> and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34535" target="_blank">Group</a> blocks. </li>
<li>The Social Links block now has a "Flex" justification option for automatic best-fit. </li>
<li>There's a <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/34535" target="_blank">new variation of the Group block</a> that allows for Flex Layout. You can try it by choosing "Row" from the block inserter.</li>
<li>The Heading Levels menu has been redesigned to a vertical orientation, making it easier to visualize the hierarchy.</li>
<li>There's also a new setting to <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33656" target="_blank">customize the Next and Previous Page indicators</a> in the Query Pagination block, allowing the addition of an arrow or a chevron to your designs.</li>
</ul>
To see the full list of updates and fixes, check out the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/09/17/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-5-16-september/" target="_blank">WordPress 11.5 release notes</a>.
<h2>Canva Raises $200 million at $40 Billion valuation, fueled by the global demand for visual communication</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/canva_cofounders_ltr_cliff_obrecht_melanie_perkins_cameron_adams-scaled.jpg" alt="Canva cofounders" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/canva-button-gives-cms-users-integrated-graphic-design-tools-for-visual-content/" target="_blank">Canva</a>, the graphic design and collaboration platform, is now officially a "unicorn" valued at $40 billion. This comes after the company raised another $200 million in funding led by the investment management firm <a href="https://www.axios.com/canva-200-million-billion-valuation-t-rowe-price-8ace330a-2b17-403f-9d9f-97efdc223885.html" target="_blank">T.Rowe Price</a>.
Melanie Perkins, the CEO and the co-founder of Canva, launched the first version of the platform in 2013 to make graphic design accessible to everyone. The Canva platform can be used for many things, from designing resumes to creating a wide array of marketing materials including social media images, logos, posters, business cards, presentations, cards, reports, reports, infographics, and more. 
With 60 million monthly active users across 190 countries, there are now 7 billion total designs created on Canva at a rate of more than 120 designs every second. Canva also boasts over 500,000 paying teams on their platform, with their latest release catering to large teams and enterprises across the globe.
The latest funding round will be used to expand Canva's team of more than 2,000 employees, which the company expects to double in the year ahead.

CMS Monthly Recap: Canva Raises $200 million at $40 Billion Valuation, Hyland Launches OnBase in AWS Marketplace, and More

CMS Monthly Recap text lockup with image of autumn trees and foliage

<a href="http://www.progress.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Progress</a> is making progress.
And that says a lot given their long history in the business applications marketplace. Founded in 1981, it’s fair to say that the software vendor has “seen it all” and helped shape the current BA landscape. But such longevity can result in a paleolithic perception, especially when technology "years" are measured in days.
But that hasn't been the case for Progress. More recently, the company has focused on deepening its innovation across an expanding digital experience portfolio – starting with its acquisition of <a href="https://www.progress.com/blogs/progress-software-announces-agreement-of-intent-to-acquire-telerik" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telerik’s Sitefinity CMS</a> in 2014.
With the accelerated pace of digital transformation felt throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Progress has experienced steady growth, even <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/progress-software-stock-surges-as-fiscal-q3-results-crush-expectations-raises-year-view/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crushing analyst expectations</a> for Q3 2021. This comes on the heels of another key <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/09/23/2302618/0/en/Progress-Announces-Acquisition-of-Kemp-Adding-Application-Experience-to-Industry-Leading-Product-Portfolio.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquisition of Kemp</a>, a leader in the burgeoning Application Experience (AX) space, for a tidy sum of $258 million in cash.
Progress, yes. But not just for the sake of progress. There’s a plan in play, and there’s nothing “old guard” about this market leader’s vision for the future.
<h2>A shifting digital experience platform (DXP) marketplace</h2>
While Progress evolves their broader BA stack, Sitefinity continues to be a bellweather brand in the CMS and DXP storm of fragmentation and consolidation. This has been a critical advantage given the seismic shifts rippling across the DXP market.
As people and businesses move to more digital-first and contactless solutions (again, a by-product of Covid-19), having a solid digital strategy is essential. The demand for partners with proven experience and digital maturity has helped accelerate the pivot by streamlining technology adoption, reducing operational complexities, and eliminating many IT and compliance challenges.
This has been true for the entire DXP sector, which has experienced unprecedented growth.
But it’s not all rosy: Progress’ <a href="https://www.progress.com/campaigns/sitefinity/whitepapers/dxp-needs-to-be-less-complicated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent research</a> shows that 35% of organizations haven’t implemented a DXP solution because the products on the market are too complex, expensive, and monolithic – resulting in underutilized features that add to a bloated pricetag.
<h2>What to expect from Sitefinity DX 14.0 </h2>
With the release of <a href="https://www.progress.com/sitefinity-cms/dxp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sitefinity DX 14.0</a>, the company is injecting greater agility, flexibility, and extensibility into their digital experience platform (DXP) – providing a host of new capabilities for low-code integration, chat-driven engagement, and enhanced headless content delivery.
“As the core of a composable DXP, Sitefinity DX 14.0 puts pieces of the puzzle in place, giving organizations a powerful solution – without being overly complex or costly – for creating digital experiences that drive businesses forward,” said John Ainsworth, SVP, Core Products, Progress. “Organizations can be confident that through integrated content and commerce, combined with advanced marketing insights and headless experience delivery, they can create omnichannel experiences that deliver the right content, at the right time, on the right channel. This is no longer a choice, but a must for those who want to stay competitive.”
Along with the aforementioned enhancements, Sitefinity DX 14.0 will enable integrated, tailored experiences delivered and managed at scale. In that sense, organizations can fashion their own unique DXP solution by choosing which functionalities meet their unique business goals and challenges – and empower them to create composable digital experiences.
<h2>Sitefinity DX 14.0 features</h2>
With the new release, users will be able to:
<ul>
<li>Execute strategic, data-driven marketing: Create and execute marketing campaigns that are informed by interaction history via comprehensive touchpoint attribution modeling to drive more conversions and increased ROI.</li>
<li>Capitalize every channel in less time with multichannel experience management: Engage visitors across every stage of the funnel and customer lifecycle. With the hybrid content management capabilities of Sitefinity DX, comprising its headless content-as-a-service API framework, marketers can seamlessly execute a consistent and personalized experience across audiences’ key touchpoints. Additionally, organizations can drive visitors to positive outcomes by incorporating Progress’ powerful AI-driven chatbot platform, NativeChat®, into their Sitefinity experiences.</li>
<li>Boost efficiency through simplified system integration with low-code tools: Automate marketing operations and reduce implementation efforts through expanded connectivity between the systems necessary to deliver a well-orchestrated omnichannel experience. Leverage simplified workflows, service hooks, and low-code integration with components of existing tech stacks.</li>
<li>Scale global content and campaign delivery: Deliver content quickly and efficiently across channels with enhanced content synchronization capabilities. Improve content governance for multisite experiences across several business departments, units, locations, and brands with comprehensive multisite user group management.</li>
<li>Ensure delivery of a smooth page experience: Ensure an engaging and pleasant visitor experience and optimize SEO rankings, user engagement, and conversion. Marketers can get dedicated, out-of-the-box support for the newest Google Page Experience requirements.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Forging a leadership role in the DXP space</h2>
The last two years have seen a constant battle for enterprise dominance in the digital experience platform space. While both <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner</a> and Forrester have incrementally shifted the players on the board, few disruptors have made the treacherous climb to compete with the likes <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/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/">Acquia</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/episerver-rebrands-as-optimizely-following-acquisition/">Optimizely</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/">Sitecore</a>.
Still, there’s lots of room for growth in the DX market. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/870924/worldwide-digital-transformation-market-size/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20spending%20on%20digital,almost%207%20trillion%20U.S.%20dollars." target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Statista</a>, global spending on digital transformation is projected to reach $1.78 trillion next year – and between 2020 and 2023, that number balloons to almost $7 trillion.
Those figures are driving more opportunities for platforms to “progress,” and that certainly seems to be the case with Progress as they launch a broader vision of completeness around their DXP offering. This began with CMS many moons ago and has hence evolved into a confluence of marketing and optimization capabilities.
Sitefinity has managed to adapt and thrive throughout the course of these changes and seems poised to continue its growth. While it hasn’t shed its mantle of being a core CMS, the DXP moniker – and its now composable nature – should provide greater control to users and businesses as they tackle the unrelenting needs of digital transformation.
"Content management was the underlying piece of any DX platform until organizations realized that it alone wasn't enough,” said Paul Nashawaty, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. "The increasing need for flexibility and integration with other systems led to the emergence of the composable DX platform. What makes this technology powerful is the flexibility it provides – organizations can integrate only the components and systems they need and customize them as consumer behavior and market trends change."
In the past year, Sitefinity DX has earned multiple recognitions and reviews. Most recently, it was named a “Leader” in <a href="https://www.progress.com/campaigns/sitefinity/whitepapers/dxp-grid-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">G2’s Spring 2021 Grid® Report for Digital Experience Platforms</a>. The recognition was based on a variety of factors, including features and functionality, market presence, and customer satisfaction. Sitefinity DX was also named a “Major Contender” in Everest Group’s Digital Experience Platform (DXP) PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2021.
You can check out Sitefinity DX 14.0 at <a href="https://www.progress.com/sitefinity-cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.progress.com/sitefinity-cms</a>.
<h2>About Progress</h2>
<a href="http://www.progress.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Progress</a> (NASDAQ: PRGS) provides the leading products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact business applications. Our comprehensive product stack is designed to make technology teams more productive, and we have a deep commitment to the developer community, both open source and commercial alike. With Progress, organizations can accelerate the creation and delivery of strategic business applications, automate the process by which apps are configured, deployed and scaled, and make critical data and content more accessible and secure – leading to competitive differentiation and business success. Over 1,700 independent software vendors, 100,000+ enterprise customers, and a three-million-strong developer community rely on Progress to power their applications.

Progress Launches Sitefinity DX 14.0, Enhances Digital Experience Delivery with Global Scale

Progress Sitefinity logo with 14.0 version number

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With little time to reflect on <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-ai-powered-search-platform-reflektion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sitecore's recent acquisition of Reflektion</a>, another enterprise DXP has helped itself to strategic snack – providing more evidence that the market's appetite for expansion is still voracious. 
Just a few days ago, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/faq/acquia-acquires-widen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Acquia</a>, a leading digital experience platform, announced its purchase of <a href="https://www.widen.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Widen</a> – a cloud-native digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM) provider. 
While the past 18 months have seen a relentless cycle of consolidation across the industry, it now seems that <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gartner's crop of DXP leaders</a> are playing pole position around critical gaps in their DXP stack. What started with optimization and customer data is now evolving into a heated race for robustness on every level – and for Acquia, digital asset management has been missing from the mix.
Here's more on what the acquisition could mean for the Drupal-based DXP platform.
<h2>Widen bring best-of-breed DAM and PIM capabilities to Acquia</h2>
Widen's value proposition is fairly simple: it unites <a href="https://www.widen.com/blog/digital-asset-management" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital assets</a> such as rich media, product information, and marketing content into a single workflow and provides an intuitive interface that democratizes access to a brand's resources. 
In layman's terms, it makes finding and using assets like video, graphics, and copy much easier for marketing professionals (or anyone for that matter).
Whether you're a content strategist, UX designer, marketer, or web developer, delivering a great user experience is always the mission – and good content is essential to that goal. Widen has focused on the asset side of the Content Operations flow, enabling users to enhance their experience with access to the right components. 
Acquiring the capabilities of a DAM and a PIM are "strategic gold" for Acquia. To create personalized customer engagement at scale, brands are creating immense volumes of digital content. Traditionally, DAMs have helped simplify a marketer's access to this content while managing versions and workflows to ensure consistency. But within the context of a DXP, a modern DAM must also provide robust technical capabilities and extensibility. Additionally, a PIM solution should enable product data enrichment with marketing copy and digital assets to easily create branded product content. 
Together, these capabilities help organizations create and refine distinctive digital experiences based on evolving customer preferences – which is exactly what Acquia aims to do. It's also worth noting that the worldwide market for <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5311981/digital-asset-management-market-global-industry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DAM is projected to grow to $8.5B by 2025</a>, a 15% CAGR. <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5304126/product-information-management-global-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PIM is set to increase from $8.8B last year to $18B in 2027</a>, an 11% CAGR. This underscores the value of the investment. 
"Acquia has long been an established leader in managing textual website content," said Dries Buytaert, Co-founder, and CTO of Acquia. "Now, with Widen, we will be able to offer world-class capabilities around rich media and product information content. Widen is consistently ranked a leader by industry analysts for vision, execution, and market presence. We have numerous joint customers today and believe Widen software will deliver value to Acquia Marketing Cloud and Drupal Cloud customers. We're excited to welcome the Widen team to the Acquia family and to collaborate with them on Acquia Open DXP."
<h2>Acquia Open DXP with Widen maximizes the value of digital content </h2>
When it comes to expanding the stack, the buying spree continues – and Acquia was already leading a similar trajectory as other DXPs, particularly in the Customer Data Platform (CDP) layer. Aquia <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-digital-commerce-unifies-data-content-commerce-and-digital-merchandising/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired AgilOne</a> two years ago, while in the last six months, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sitecore acquired Boxever</a> and Optimizely <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-acquires-customer-data-platform-zaius/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired Zaius</a>. 
While some other platforms have already addressed DAM capabilities as part of their DXP offering, Widen presents a more advanced solution that will enable Acquia with key advantages. Now, marketers will be able to create, review, manage, distribute and analyze content across the entire lifecycle and support complex marketing workflows and enterprise DXP requirements.
"With Widen, we continue to differentiate Acquia Open DXP by adding enterprise-grade, cloud-native DAM, and PIM capabilities," said Mike Sullivan, President, and CEO of Acquia. "We will immediately invest in accelerated development of the Widen solution and leverage our global capabilities and partner network to bring it to marketing organizations that use Acquia Open DXP to manage, transform and deliver digital assets at scale."
Widen also goes beyond managing creative assets to include storing unstructured data such as legal documents, insurance claims, and contact lists. The marketing-friendly Widen PIM solution delivers product data from creators to customers – centralizing it for syndication across websites, catalogs and e-commerce channels. 
Widen also brings a portfolio of more than 700 customers to the Acquia ecosystem, including notable brands like Carnival Cruises, Crayola, Energizer, Kohler, LG, McCormick, New Balance, Progressive, and more. This is yet another differentiator for Acquia as they look to compete with other leading enterprise platforms. 
"Content is the heart of any digital experience," said Matthew Gonnering, CEO of Widen. "It influences action across marketing channels; email, social media, content management systems, marketing campaigns, e-commerce, product information management, and more. By combining with Acquia, a company that shares Widen's belief that radical innovation starts with commitment to customers and the community, we will continue to rapidly innovate our solutions to support the first and only open digital experience platform."
Widen will be available as part of Acquia Open DXP or as a standalone offering. To read more, visit the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-continues-rapid-growth-plans-acquire-widen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Acquia</a> or <a href="https://www.widen.com/blog/an-open-message-from-widen-ceo-matthew-gonnering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Widen</a> blogs.
The transaction is expected to close in late September 2021.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
<a href="https://www.acquia.com">Acquia</a> 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 engage customers, enhance conversions and help businesses stand out.
<h2>About Widen</h2>
Established in 1948, <a href="https://www.widen.com/">Widen</a> builds high-performing software that empowers organizations to create impactful, measurable and consistent brand experiences. Its platform spans brand management, marketing resource management, and product information management solutions and has enabled over one million marketers, content creators, and technologists at over 660 global brands to better connect with audiences. Customers include Dyson, New Balance, Energizer, Laura Mercier, Nars, Zeiss, Salvation Army, Citizen Watch, the Atlanta Falcons, Carnival Cruise Line, and many more. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, and with a European office in London, UK, Widen has the highest customer loyalty in the digital asset management (DAM) industry.

Acquia Widens Its DXP Stack with Widen, Acquires DAM and PIM Capabilities

More WordPress in the press – and the operative word is headless. 
We're covering a couple of big announcements today that are certain to have lasting impacts on the WordPress community. What's clear is that <a href="https://automattic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Automattic</a>, the company that owns WordPress, seems to be listening intently to its users – and gearing up to challenge the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headless CMS marketplace</a>.
Without further ado, (don't) stop the presses...
<h2>The Classical Editor isn't being laid to rest – yet</h2>
It's not hyperbole to say that the introduction of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gutenberg</a> in 2017 caused widespread uproar across the WordPress community. And why not? The Classic Editor allowed you to create and manage your content in an ultra-simple way, almost like a word processor. This simplicity is also what powered WordPress to market dominance. 
In a race for parity with other page editors such as <a href="https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beaver Builder</a>, <a href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Divi,</a> and <a href="https://elementor.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elementor</a>, WordPress <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released Gutenberg</a> – their answer to a block-based editing experience. Unfortunately, the Classical Editor was destined for demise, and WordPress scheduled an official sunset on December 31, 2021.
The Gutenberg release has been a bumpy road for users as they struggled to adapt. That said, things are improving: over the last few years, WordPress has worked steadily on Gutenberg, releasing updates every two weeks with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-monthly-recap-salesforce-completes-acquisition-of-slack-contentsquare-accelerates-ml-capabilities-and-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cool new features</a>. 
While many WordPress users appreciate the evolution of Gutenberg, the Classical Editor retains a fierce and loyal following. Now, it seems that the voice of the community is driving change. In a bold move, WordPress has agreed to <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/08/an-update-on-the-classic-editor-plugin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continue supporting the Classical Editor for another year</a>. They said it was" the right call for the project as well as the community." 
Personally, we think it's the right call as well. Change can be challenging, and users have the most valuable voice in defining a product's horizon. Perhaps WordPress could have metered their timetable based on community input, allowing them to better read the tea leaves. That said, if there's one constant to change, it's that people will always resist it on some level. 
We'll be monitoring the community feedback as things unfold.
<h2>Frontity joins WordPress, goes headless</h2>
<a href="https://frontity.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontity</a>, the open-source <a href="https://reactjs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">React</a> framework for WordPress, has been acquired by Automattic, the parent company of WordPress. Their team will contribute to the WordPress open-course project and focus on the Gutenberg editor – improving the blocks and themes in addition to making the WordPress sites more performant.
In 2019, Frontity launched their open-sourced Frontity Framework as a way to ease the integration between WordPress and React for building websites. This doesn't mean they will push React to WordPress; rather, the unification will help improve the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/updates-on-wordcamp-2021-wordpress-5-8-beta-details-and-gutenberg-enhancements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full-site editing</a> developer experience and contribute to WordPress' front-end tooling, performance, and UX. 
There's no question that <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/tag/headless/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headless CMS</a> has exploded in popularity. With traditional (or coupled) CMS platforms, the content management back-end is completely tied to a website's front-end. This effectively limits content creators and developers just to the website pages and templates that are managed and rendered in the system itself. 
With a headless CMS, you are truly "channel agnostic." That means you can manage content via the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAMstack</a> (JavaScript, API, and Markup) with different front-end static site generators using <a href="https://reactjs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">React</a> or <a href="https://vuejs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vue</a>. But the omnichannel only begins at the website layer: with a headless CMS, you can manage content on a wide range of endpoints, from <a href="https://www.storyblok.com/mp/headless-as-digital-signage-software" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital signs</a> to <a href="https://www.luminary.com/blog/serving-content-to-iot-devices-with-a-headless-cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wearable tech to IoT devices</a>. The possibilities are endless. 
When we think of a traditional CMS, the first thing that comes to mind is WordPress. While it powers more than 40% of all websites on the internet, it's still considered a traditional CMS as its architecture links the front-end (HTML templates, Javascript) to the back-end via a database (MySQL). However, in recent months, WordPress has signaled a deepening investment in headless delivery, particularly with their Gutenberg initiatives. The Frontity acquisition codifies this mission by introducing a static site generator with serverless pre-rendering to the WordPress ecosystem.
"I believe there's still a lot that we can learn from decoupled systems, and we can incorporate those learnings into WordPress itself as we emphasize performance, flexibility, and ease of development," <a href="https://ma.tt/2021/08/frontity-to-join-automattic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Matt Mullenweg,</a> founder of WordPress. "I look forward to Frontity joining WordPress and channeling their efforts into the WordPress APIs, documentation, and Gutenberg's full-site editing tools." 
<a href="https://frontity.org/blog/announcing-frontitys-e1m-funding-round-with-automattic-and-k-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Automattic's 2020 investment in Frontity</a> opened the door for this opportunity, helping both organizations to realize the alignment around their vision. The unification will shift things towards decoupled architectures in the coming years, and React will play a key role in WordPress to build modern digital experiences.

WordPress Keeps Classical Editor Alive, Acquires Frontity to Expand Headless Capabilities

WordPress, Frontity, and React logo icons

In the ever-expanding realm of CMS and DXP platforms, the category of “website builder” has long been an enigma. It’s not uncommon to have our readers ask us: how do I actually "create" a website using this tool?
And that’s the rub: content management systems have traditionally been designed to "manage content," while DXPs have evolved the stack by expanding the layers of data and optimization. But building an actual website? That’s another story. Or stories, to be more accurate.
Let’s provide a quick backdrop: with traditional CMS platforms, creating a website has often been a labor of technical love. In most cases, it requires the implementation of responsive HTML templates into a system by a trained developer or system integrator. While this model has given designers and coders greater control over the experience layer – and enabled content creators to preview rendered pages – it also comes with a much steeper learning curve and cost.
The rise of headless CMS has also changed the calculus. In this new omnichannel world, websites have become another endpoint in the experience landscape. This has shifted the thinking for marketers as they embrace new ways of distributing content and engaging with audiences via <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAMstack</a> libraries, custom apps, and other form factors.
Still, for many SMBs, a website is the center of their digital strategy. And with more demand at a do-it-yourself level, website building platforms have grown in popularity, giving way to more effective low-code/no-code tools with a myriad of drag-and-drop features. This includes purpose-built platforms like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/squarespace-a-diy-website-builder-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Squarespace</a> but has now grown to include hosting ecosystems like <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/websites/website-builder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoDaddy</a> and marketing automation services like <a href="https://mailchimp.com/features/website-builder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MailChimp</a>.
But if you’re a designer or an agency that’s focused on delivering a high-caliber customer experience – particularly in the bursting e-commerce sector – many do-it-yourself builder tools conjure a single word: compromise.
That’s where <a href="https://www.duda.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Duda</a> has been expanding their niche as a best-of-breed professional web building platform. Their unique solution continues to gain ground with digital agencies and SaaS companies as the demand for digital commerce solutions grows exponentially.
Recently, the company announced that it has acquired <a href="https://snipcart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snipcart</a>, an e-commerce solution that lets businesses add a shopping cart to any website. The acquisition news comes hot on the heels of a successful round of $50M in Series D Funding, bringing Duda’s total funding to $100M thus far.
<h2>What is Duda? </h2>
Let's start with the basics: Duda is a platform that allows designers and agencies to rapidly create websites at scale with tools that automate the entire site-building process.
One of Duda’s key attributes is that it enables web professionals to achieve pixel-perfect designs without touching code. This has long been a challenge for nearly every website builder, but Duda seems to have to married simplicity with flexibility – allowing designers granular control to customize around their unique brand requirements. This reduces the headaches that many open source platforms like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WordPress</a> or enterprise CMSes create for web designers that want to focus on the experience and not the code.
Duda also provides a robust set of pre-built themes and templates that are free of charge, as well as a drag-and-drop builder that accelerates the design process. They also feature a library of widgets, as well as a nifty <a href="https://www.duda.co/developers/widget-builder?_ga=2.61014890.730348107.1631540715-a422507c-3bf0-4b7b-ad7f-09f0a73ade15" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widget builder</a> for coding your own functionality.
Duda claims to outperform other industry-leading tools by ensuring every site built on its platform ranks high on critical SEO factors. They also suggest that their platform can reduce the average website build time by 50% to 75% – which can be a huge advantage to businesses that need to pivot quickly.
<h2>Leveraging Snipcart’s e-Commerce capabilities for digital transformation</h2>
It’s impossible to ignore the<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-covid-19-has-pushed-companies-over-the-technology-tipping-point-and-transformed-business-forever" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> impact of the Covid-19 pandemic</a> on consumer habits. As people turned to digital and contactless solutions over the last 18 months, e-commerce has exploded – and the market is <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forecast</a> to grow by 50% to an estimated $6.3 trillion by 2024.
According to Duda, the company has already seen a whopping 265% year-over-year increase in e-commerce sites built on its platform. This was the impetus for the Snipcart acquisition, which will enable the company to further accelerate its growth by providing customers with a flexible e-commerce solution that can make any data or inventory they have shoppable.
Snipcart’s dynamic team of experienced developers, marketers, and managers has built a state-of-the-art e-commerce platform used by thousands of customers worldwide. Their focus on flexibility and modern e-commerce store design is very much aligned with Duda’s product vision of providing its customers with beautiful and modular e-commerce solutions.
<h2>Q&amp;A with Itai Sadan, Duda CEO and Co-Founder</h2>
CMS Critic had a chance to connect with Duda’s CEO and co-founder, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/itaisadan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Itai Sadan</a>. We discussed the Snipcart acquisition, how e-Commerce is changing the landscape, and what Duda is planning next.
<hr />
CMS Critic (CC): It’s clear that digital agencies are a key focus for Duda. What other partner channels or vertical industries are emerging as opportunities? Is the enterprise becoming more of a target?
Itai Sadan (IS): Aside from digital agencies that have always been our focus, Duda has also been focused in the last two years on vertical SaaS platforms. These are typically SaaS solutions that serve a very specific industry (e.g. healthcare, professional services, real-estate) and want to expand into offering websites to their customers.
Duda has a very unique offering for this category as our website builder can be seamlessly embedded into their platform allowing them to automatically generate websites with their customers’ pre-populated data, giving their customers an amazing head start on their site builds and ensuring data is always in sync.
CC: What do Duda’s ideal SaaS customers look like? What in particular attracts them to Duda?
IS: Duda’s typical SaaS customer is a back-office platform that SMBs use to manage their business. Many times it could be a CRM, ERP, or a marketing platform for a certain industry vertical.
The moment these SaaS platforms want to help their customers acquire more clients, they need to provide some form of web presence to capture leads. Often these SaaS platforms have widgets that live on a website – such as a bookings engine or a form. Through integration with Duda they can have these widgets pre-installed on the websites, providing their customers with a hassle-free experience.
The great thing about Duda is that it is simple enough to be used by a business person via our simple drag and drop interface, and it is also a very powerful tool for developers who can make use of our API and add CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to our sites.
Our customers also know that Duda has their back in terms of ensuring our websites are highly converting and have great SEO. Duda handles all of the ongoing Google Core Web Vitals, AMP, and PageSpeed optimizations so that their clients will have a revenue-generating website that will perform well.
Lastly, I think what our partners really like is that Duda makes it very clear that we’re not in competition with them. Our go-to-market is always through channels; we are completely white-label and will never reach out directly to their customers. There is a certain trust and confidence that comes with that where these SaaS platforms know that they are our customers and we are 100% dedicated to seeing them succeed. Our Support and Account Management teams have received <a href="https://blog.duda.co/duda-honored-as-gold-stevie-winner-in-the-15th-annual-stevie-awards-for-sales-customer-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multiple awards</a> and have been heralded as one of the key reasons customers choose us.
CC: There’s no question that eCommerce is exploding, particularly with the pandemic driving more digital adoption and transformation. What has been the most important feature or capability in Duda’s current e-commerce toolbox that has given it an edge? 
IS: One of Duda’s current e-commerce solution strengths is that users can set up their store once to easily sync and sell across their website, social media (Instagram, Facebook) and  marketplaces (eBay, Amazon).
The existing e-commerce solution has a strong and loyal following, used by many of Duda’s customers to add website buying experiences and will stay in place for customers that prefer to keep using it. In addition, Duda will continue to support it and expand on its capabilities.”
CC: How quickly will Snipcart’s capabilities be woven into Duda’s offerings? 
IS: The Snipcart and Duda team are deeply focused on the integration. We believe the first phase of the integration will be released in early 2022. Initially, it will be offered to customers building new e-commerce sites.
CC: Compliance and governance are becoming pinnacle concerns for digital businesses – particularly those transacting with e-commerce. How is Duda approaching issues like data privacy, ransomware, etc.?
IS: As a SaaS provider with hundreds of thousands of customers and users from around the world, Duda cares deeply about the privacy and security of the data owned by its customers and users, and takes it very seriously. Regarding privacy - Duda has appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and developed and maintains a set of internal policies, guidelines, and procedures to make sure personal data is being stored and processed in accordance with data privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA.
We also have an Information Security Program which was developed by the Head of Cybersecurity security at Duda. The program aims to manage and reduce the risks to Duda’s data assets via an interactive process of business assessment, asset mapping, identification of vulnerabilities, potential threats, and the implantation of mitigating measures (i.e controls).
The controls we implement include information security awareness, developing required policies and processes, and the usage of technical measures. In an external audit that was handled in May 2021, we received very high scores both in Information Security and Business Continuity. Duda believes that Information Security is a fundamental requirement for business growth, and makes significant investments to improve the overall security posture each year.
Ransomware has become quite a popular threat recently, this is only one of the cyber threats Duda is dealing with on a daily basis. We use a large set of security controls to mitigate such risks, which include but are not limited to, security awareness among employees, email filtering and protection, identity management and access control, network segmentation, WAF and Firewalls, backups, as well as many others.”
CC: Some competitive platforms in your space are offering native app builders or API integrations to expand their omnichannel capabilities. How is Duda positioning against these offerings – and what’s on the horizon that we can share with our readers?
IS: We don’t have any plans to develop a native app offering. We think that most SMBs will do well with a website as the main way consumers are finding them is through a Google search or social media platforms that drive visitors to a website. We think the barrier to get an app installed is prohibitive for most SMBs and they will not see the ROI of building an app (for more detail see my <a href="https://blog.duda.co/how-the-web-was-won-apps-websites-the-birth-of-pwas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blog post</a> about this topic).
[On the horizon] we are investing in other areas that can help agencies. First, we always invest in our core platform. Web design is constantly evolving and we want to make sure our website builder always stays at the forefront of technology. We recently released <a href="https://flex.duda.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DudaFlex</a>, a way to build pixel-perfect sites in a very flexible way without needing to code. We are releasing a new membership feature that is in high demand and coming out in Q4 with a client billing solution that would allow agencies to seamlessly invoice and collect payments from their clients.
<h2>What’s next for Duda and Snipcart</h2>
Duda and Snipcart have already started working on their integration, which, as noted, is expected to be released in early 2022.
Along with Snipcart, Duda will continue to offer its existing e-commerce solution, which has a strong and loyal following amongst current users. They plan to support and expand these existing capabilities as well.
Duda also plans to invest heavily in growing the Snipcart team and adding more features to the core Snipcart platform. Additionally, Snipcart will continue to offer its product independently to customers, allowing Duda to grow their investment on multiple fronts.

Duda Snaps Up Snipcart to Boost e-Commerce Capabilities: Q&A with CEO Itai Sadan

Duda and Snipcart logos with image of CEO Isai Sadan

In the battle for digital domination, search reigns supreme – and brands are stepping up their search game.According to a survey by SearchNode, 68% of eCommerce industry leaders are improving their search functionality in 2021 and expanding the lens of their magnifying glasses. That plays directly into today's news that digital experience platform provider <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore</a> is acquiring San Mateo-based <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/">Reflektion,</a> an AI-powered digital search solution that understands and predicts patterns, context, and needs – so brands can convert more shoppers into buyers.The addition of Reflektion's technology will enable Sitecore to better engage, educate, and empower shoppers to make purchase decisions faster – increasing buyer confidence, long-term revenue, and overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.The acquisition – a continuation of Sitecore’s epic <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/">$1.2 billion growth plan</a> – will help marketers solve the information overload that is characteristic of traditional search solutions, which can impede a customer's ability to find and select the products they're looking for.When <a target="_blank" href="https://www.webfx.com/seo/statistics/#:~:text=When%20people%20go%20online%20to,search%20engine%20to%20guide%20them.">93% of all online experiences start with search</a>, it's fair to say that it's essential to the customer buying journey. Reflektion elevates the value of search by transforming it into a conversational, guided experience that provides more personal, accessible, and tailored answers for the customer. “Search is about more than just entering words into a box and hoping for the right results – it is the cornerstone of a digital experience," said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tzikakis/">Steve Tzikakis</a>, CEO, Sitecore. "With Reflektion, a brand can add various types of search including personalized search, preview search, conversational search, and voice search. This reduces customers’ effort and anxiety to find exactly what they need – with more convenience and speed – and leads to increased customer satisfaction with more conversions and revenue. Acquiring Reflektion reinforces Sitecore’s position as the leader in digital experience technologies that meets customers at the moment with more relevant, intuitive, and human experiences.”<h2>Elevating the E-commerce Experience with AI</h2>Reflektion brings an array of complementary commerce, AI, and personalization capabilities to Sitecore, which will further augment the DXP's acquisition of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/">Four51,</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-boxever-and-four51/">Boxever</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-acquires-moosend-adds-ai-powered-email-marketing-automation/">Moosend</a>. Together, this nexus of data and deep learning technologies will allow Sitecore to seamlessly deliver intelligent, personalized, real-time information across channels.Four51’s API-first, headless e-commerce solution enables organizations to quickly and easily deliver engaging shopping experiences, helping them improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Four51’s feature set complements their existing B2C commerce capabilities while the Customer Data Platform (CDP) Boxever enhances customer intelligence with AI-driven personalization tools – making it easy to capture, unify and activate customer data and deliver personalized experiences at scale.With a robust stack powering their growth across data and digital commerce, search presents an ideal channel for connecting and expanding Sitecore's breadth of capabilities – and Reflektion delivers on that vision.“Since its inception eight years ago, Reflektion has become recognized for its unique approach to search-product discovery technology," said Amar Chokhawala, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Reflektion. "Our technology uses AI to adjust each consumer’s digital experience, in the moment, based on diverse data from multiple channels. I am proud of the passionate team at Reflektion who has been successful in bringing our AI-first approach to many site-search deployments for large e-commerce and retailers’ websites. With Sitecore, the Reflektion team and customers will be able to continue to leverage the enhancement of digital experiences, leading to continued growth and results for all.”The acquisition is expected to close in September 2021.<h2>Ramping Up the Competition</h2>Sitecore fired a "shot heard 'round the DXP world" last January when it announced its ambitious $1.2 billion growth strategy – which brewed speculation amongst competitors and analysts alike.While the mature market player celebrated its fourth year in a row as a Leader on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for DXPs</a>, it fell slightly behind both Acquia and Episerver (now Optimizely). <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/01/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms-2021.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms-2021" /><a target="_blank" href="https://www.contentful.com/resources/forrester-wave-agile-cms-2021-report/">Forrester’s Q1 Wave Report for Agile CMSes</a> paints a similar picture. Since 2019, Sitecore has elevated its Strong Performer status, now straddling the fence of the Leaders circle with a wider market presence. But like the Gartner MQ, they are lagging behind Acquia and Optimizely.With the acquisition of Boxever, Four51, Moosend, and now Reflektion, Sitecore seems poised to pounce. As competition heats up at the highest level of the enterprise, CMS and DXP players are accelerating their investment in innovation – and buying up the missing pieces to their platform puzzle. With consumers relying more on AI-driven voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, the channel opportunities for search are expanding in dynamic ways. Sitecore's bid to stay top-of-mind and top-of-market will require more than acquisitions. But their stack is looking more like a vision – and that's what every platform is searching for.<h2>About Sitecore</h2>Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world’s smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers. A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce, and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies including American Express, ASOS, Kimberly-Clark, L’Oréal and Volvo Cars rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers. Learn more at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sitecore.com/">Sitecore.com</a>.<h2>About Reflektion</h2>Reflektion’s Digital Commerce Experience Platform for eCommerce and Retail listens to the behaviors of each individual shopper, utilizes <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/glossary/artificial-intelligence-ai/">Artificial Intelligence</a> to calculate their preferences and intent, and then responds to every moment-to-moment interaction by displaying the most relevant content and products in real-time and across the digital touchpoints that matter most—including preview and site search, product recommendations, category and <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/glossary/landing-page/">landing pages</a>, and email.Leading retail brands such as Skechers, Ulta, Reeds, Petco, Ascena and RiteAid rely on Reflektion’s platform.Founded by pioneers in Artificial Intelligence and awarded both the Best eCommerce Solution and Best Overall Business Technology Solution by SIIA in 2019, Reflektion combines individual shopper insights, product intelligence, and <a target="_blank" href="https://reflektion.com/glossary/artificial-intelligence-ai/">AI</a> to create more relevant and impactful eCommerce experiences.

Sitecore Acquires AI-Powered Search Platform Reflektion

With <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/805656/number-youtube-viewers-worldwide/" target="_blank">1.86 billion YouTube users</a> and the explosion of <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/en/" target="_blank">Tiktok</a>, it's clear that video is eating the internet. 
According to <a href="https://www.semrush.com/blog/youtube-stats/" target="_blank">statistics</a>, video is one of the most popular ways to consume content, with 85% of U.S. internet users accessing online video through YouTube at least once per week. Further, the demand for pandemic-induced streaming content is at an all-time high, with <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/" target="_blank">Netflix</a> counting 207.64 million paid subscribers worldwide in Q1 of 2021.
Of course, no one knows this better than <a href="https://www.adobe.com/" target="_blank">Adobe</a>, which powers best-of-breed video production via their flagship <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html" target="_blank">Premiere Pro</a> and <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html" target="_blank">After Effects</a> products. Speed continues to be a critical component when it comes to video content creators, and in recent years, other tools have disrupted the market – including basic tools like Wondershare's <a href="https://filmora.wondershare.com/?AFFILIATE=102100&amp;__c=1" target="_blank">Filmora</a> and free platforms like <a href="https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/" target="_blank">DaVinci Resolve</a>. The widening expanse of choices has driven down costs and increased access to a wider range of users. 
To compete, Adobe is turning to the workflow "gap" that exists in the market around video collaboration. To shore up their offering and better position against the competitive field, the digital giant <a href="https://news.adobe.com/news/news-details/2021/Adobe-to-Acquire-Frame.io/default.aspx" target="_blank">has entered into an agreement to acquire Frame.io</a>, an industry-leading video collaboration platform. 
The transaction, valued at $1.275 billion, is expected to close during the fourth quarter of Adobe’s 2021 fiscal year.
<h2>What is Frame.io?</h2>
Frame.io streamlines the video production process by enabling video editors and key project stakeholders to collaborate using cloud-first workflows seamlessly. The cloud-native platform provides an elegant way to gather feedback from everyone involved in the video production – from the director to the script supervisor to all the people who need to approve the final project. 
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9 mb-4"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7LjejmHOiTw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
Recently, Frame.io launched "<a href="https://www.frame.io/c2c/" target="_blank">Camera to Cloud</a>," the fastest, easiest, and most secure way to instantly get footage from cameras to collaborators anywhere in the world. Adobe has already been working with Frame.io to collaborate on videos for their website, social media, and events.
<h2>Collaboration is the name of the game</h2>
In a pandemic-driven world, shooting on location or traveling to obtain footage is becoming a more arduous task – if not altogether impossible. In addition, more teams are expected to work remotely yet still deliver large volumes of video content, all at a time when the demand for video content is increasing exponentially. 
All these changes have forced the video industry to adapt and rethink, and Adobe has been leading the way by investing in tools and products to execute complex workflows across teams. As part of their evolution, they <a href="https://news.adobe.com/news/news-details/2020/Adobe-to-Acquire-Workfront/default.aspx" target="_blank">acquired Workflow</a> – a leading work management platform for marketers – for $1.50 billion last year. This was rivaled by Salesforce's <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-monthly-recap-salesforce-completes-acquisition-of-slack-contentsquare-accelerates-ml-capabilities-and-more/" target="_blank">recent acquisition of Slack</a>, the leading team communications platform. 
What's clear is that digital collaboration is now a key foundation of all creative endeavors. Video teams must produce an ever-increasing continuum of content, and each video project requires various stakeholders, including video editors, producers, agencies, and clients. 
Today’s video workflows are disjointed, with multiple tools and communication channels being used to solicit stakeholder feedback. Frame.io eliminates the inefficiencies of video workflows by enabling real-time footage upload, access, and in-line stakeholder collaboration in a secure and elegant experience across surfaces.
“We’ve entered a new era of connected creativity that is deeply collaborative, and we imagine a world where everyone can participate in the creative process,” said Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President of Adobe's Creative Cloud. “With this acquisition, we’re welcoming an incredible customer-oriented team and adding Frame.io’s cloud-native workflow capabilities to make the creative process more collaborative, productive, and efficient to further unleash creativity for all.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/image-viewer.png" alt="Frame.io image viewer" />
Adobe’s acquisition of Frame.io brings Adobe Creative Cloud’s collaboration services to video. It builds on recent innovations for creative collaboration, including Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries, Cloud Documents, Design Systems in Adobe XD, Adobe Stock, and Adobe Fonts – which together with Frame.io, will make it easy for teams to collaborate across Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and other Adobe Creative Cloud applications.
The combination of Adobe’s industry-leading creative software and Frame.io’s review and approval functionality will deliver a collaboration platform that powers the entire video editing process.
<h2>Video workflows must empower all stakeholders</h2>
With the combination of Frame.io and Adobe, Creative Cloud customers – from video editors to producers to marketers – will benefit from seamless collaboration on video projects. Frame.io's workflow functionality will now be a native part of Adobe Creative Cloud applications like Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Photoshop.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/09/commenting-and-collaboration.jpg" />
“Frame.io and Adobe share a vision for the future of video creation and collaboration that brings together Adobe’s strength in video creation and production and Frame.io’s cloud-native platform,” said Emery Wells, Frame.io's co-founder and CEO. “We’re excited to join Adobe to continue to drive video innovation for the world’s leading media and entertainment companies, agencies, and brands.”
Upon close of the acquisition, Wells and fellow Frame.io co-founder John Traver will join Adobe. Wells will continue to lead the Frame.io team, reporting to Scott Belsky. The transaction, valued at $1.275 billion (subject to customary purchase price adjustments) is expected to close during the fourth quarter of Adobe’s 2021 fiscal year and is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
The role of video in any content strategy is more pronounced than ever. As CMS and DXP platforms continue to expand their functionality and integrations, the ability to leverage video and ease the process of delivery will be instrumental. With Adobe remaining solidly in a leadership role across multiple DX categories, they are uniquely positioned to think ahead of the market and address critical issues – like workflow collaboration.
While their heritage as a creative development ecosystem is strong, Adobe's vision for mapping the future of digital experiences is even stronger. We'll be curious to see how these latest investments chart as more products enter the hot video market and lower the barrier to entry. As Gen Z influencers generate instant videos with off-the-shelf tools and resources on their iPhones, it's clear that the game will continue to change at multiple levels. Even so, there's a compelling need to work with other people in a production environment – and that's where Adobe is leading the way.
<h2>About Frame.io</h2>
<a href="https://www.frame.io/" target="_blank">Frame.io</a> is one of the world’s leading video review and approval platforms with over 1 million users. Integrated with most major professional video tools, Frame.io streamlines the creative process by centralizing assets and feedback in the cloud. This allows remote creative teams to collaborate securely and in real-time from anywhere in the world.
Conceived and designed in 2015 by video creators Emery Wells and John Traver, Frame.io is intuitive and simple, yet powerful enough for creative professionals, technical administrators, and clients to use with little (or no) training. Frame.io accelerates workflows and eliminates obstacles to creativity. From script or storyboard to dailies through delivery, Frame.io has reinvented the modern video workflow.
<h2>About Adobe</h2>
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adobe.com&amp;esheet=52479752&amp;newsitemid=20210819005739&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=www.adobe.com&amp;index=3&amp;md5=16bfbb09ccdd811085bcdfd56783339b" target="_blank">www.adobe.com</a>.

Adobe Acquires Video Collaboration Platform Frame.io

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