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CDN Article

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/isabellaotero">Bastian Sirvend</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/dan-drapeau"> </a>is a CMS/DXP expert and analyst, founder of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sutsche.com/">SUTSCHE</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.enhancely.ai/">enhancely.ai</a>, and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> We’ve installed <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://blog.cloudflare.com/emdash-wordpress/">EmDash, Cloudflare’s new open-source CMS,</a> which was released on April 1st. No joke, even if the timing looked like one. Naturally, we were curious, as LinkedIn and the like were bursting at the seams with posts about EmDash’s tech and functionality, and how it’s supposedly the “WordPress killer.”Since we’d already got it up and running, we went straight to building a plugin for <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.enhancely.ai/">enhancely.ai</a>, our automation platform that addresses a critical gap in web content: broken or missing structured data. It instantly generates schema markup, enabling AI tools like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.perplexity.ai/">Perplexity</a> to better understand website content without requiring manual rewrites.Automated schema markup without an editor having to lift a finger. I'm happy to report that it all worked: A fully functional CMS in what felt like an hour, with a plugin created and packaged. We even found a bug in EmDash along the way, fixed it, and submitted a pull request. What a day.And ever since then, one question has been on my mind: how will this change the way we select a CMS? There's a lot to unpack here, but let's start with how we've been doing it up until now — and why I believe EmDash is changing things. <h3 id="how-to-select-a-cms:-the-sutsche-approach">How to select a CMS: The SUTSCHE approach</h3>When our team at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sutsche.com/">SUTSCHE</a> supports clients in selecting a system, we consider the decision from five different angles: <ol><li>How well does the system meet the functional requirements? </li><li>How does it fit into the overall picture, both technically and architecturally? </li><li>How does it perform within the ecosystem, in integrations, and in interfaces? </li><li>What are the financial and strategic implications — both now and in three years? </li><li>And how will it actually be adopted and operated by the people within the organisation?</li></ol><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:93.64%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/04/bildschirmfoto-2026-04-03-um-22.png" /></figure>Five comprehensive dimensions. Not just a checklist.That's always been our approach. Because choosing a CMS isn’t just about features. It’s a decision about the foundation on which a company builds its content. It’s about the paths that lead to the website or shop, not just a piece of software where you tick boxes. Ultimately, it’s a project you’re buying, and that is far more complex than mere functionality.Then <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro">MCP servers</a> were introduced. A new kind of functionality that's operating on a different level from standard functions that are carried out manually. In short, more than just APIs. Suddenly, tasks that had previously been carried out by hand – content migration, schema adjustments, repetitive administrative tasks — could be handled by agents. The CMS could now be controlled remotely. Manual processes that had been time-consuming for years could suddenly be automated. We've taken this into account in our assessment. A new dimension, a proven framework. Good. That makes sense.<h3 id="but-with-the-release-of-emdash,-something-different-happened-for-me…">But with the release of EmDash, something different happened for me…</h3>Not because it’s MCP-compatible. Not because it’s built on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://astro.build/">Astro</a> or MIT-licensed or can run on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cloudflare.com/">Cloudflare</a>. Because it was built in two months. By an experienced developer, to be sure. And using AI agents. But still, two months for a complete CMS with an admin panel, plugin system, authentication, migration tool, and MCP server?The step from “agents controlling a CMS” to “agents building a CMS” sounds big. It isn’t anymore.Because it means that features that are still missing today will be there tomorrow, and just a few prompts away. The gap between systems — the gap that has structured the selection process for years — isn’t collapsing dramatically. It’s simply shrinking quietly. And other things that should concern customers within the five dimensions are becoming increasingly important.<h3 id="and-this-is-precisely-where-i-ask-myself,-‘how-does-this-change-the-way-we-make-decisions?’">And this is precisely where I ask myself, ‘How does this change the way we make decisions?’</h3>The functional dimension — does the system have feature X, to what standard, to what extent — has long been the loudest voice in the selection process. It isn’t going to disappear. But it is becoming less prominent. Because the argument that “our competitor doesn’t have that yet” is losing its impact more quickly. Anyone who thinks this is just theory is mistaken. From my own experience, I can say that the author of this document has created a fully functional website based on a CMS using <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview">Claude Code,</a> the documentation for some fairly significant CMS platforms, a template/style guide, and a healthy dose of curiosity. Including a few functional enhancements.Let’s shift perspective and move up a level here, too. While I was moderating a product presentation, the question popped up in a chat: “Please don’t stone me, but what exactly is the difference between <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/typo3">TYPO3</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a>?” An absolutely valid question at first, but one participant’s answer astonished me. “It's the technology stack," they said.Yes, that's true. TYPO3 is PHP, while Umbraco is .NET. But are these still real differentiators? The arguments had already been watered down when it came to clients using agencies to do the programming work. With SaaS, this has been further diluted. And now? In times when IBM shares are plummeting because Claude Code can also speak <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL">COBOL</a>, migrating from one technology stack to the next is really just a matter of a prompt and a couple of sharp glances (my old math teacher always used to say when simplifying complex equations, “you just need to take a sharp look once, and then you’ve got it”). Of course, that’s an exaggeration. There’s still quite a bit involved — but the hurdle is eroding more and more.<h3 id="what-remains-are-the-other-four-dimensions-of-decision-making.-and-i-believe-they-are-becoming-more-important-–-not-less-so.">What remains are the other four dimensions of decision-making. And I believe they are becoming more important – not less so.</h3>Who do I entrust my content foundation to in the long term? Who will still be supporting the system in three years? What ecosystem is growing around it? Which partners, which community, which integrations? How does it fit into the organization, into the teams, into the actual work processes? These aren’t new questions. But they’re coming to the forefront. And as I think about it further while writing this, I come to the conclusion that, in the end, it’s still the people, agencies, and project stakeholders who have to bring it to life. No matter what “it” turns out to be. Even with incredibly impressive AI support in feature development, the piece of software must fit into the organization, the IT landscape, and the client’s processes — or find a place there.And as I think about this further, my talk with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/janus-boye">Janus Boye</a> at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aarhus25.boye-co.com/">Boye Aarhus 25 Conference</a> might become even more important. The point was that, due to the development of AI and the lack of adaptation on the part of customers, something needs to change along the entire value chain.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:89.26%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/04/boye_adoptiongap.png" /></figure> In my view, the role of agencies needs to change dramatically, away from pure development and away from being a “workshop” and towards becoming consultants. The new agency helps clients with organizational development and process optimization. It helps clients to measure and evaluate what has been built and produced, and then to adapt, refine, and optimize it — so that it works even better for them.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:89.44%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/04/boye_adoptiongap2.png" /></figure> In my presentation, I outlined the role of vendors as enablers. They empower agencies to use the software to ask the right questions of the client and to initiate change, so that the software can truly make a difference. In my view, we may need to rethink or re-evaluate the role of vendors. Beyond a controlled development process, it is perhaps the establishment and empowerment, knowledge transfer, and network design that ultimately bring an ecosystem to life and make the difference. The entire interplay of technology, processes, and collaboration. A genuine network.EmDash currently has no satisfactory answer (at least not yet) to most of the points we consider when selecting systems and what we’ve discussed. Version 0.1.0 is just version 0.1.0. It’s been “on the market” since 2026. No ecosystem. No community. No track record. And I don’t see it as a WordPress killer, either. And as I said, this isn’t based on functionality, tech stack, or anything like that. However, it is a demonstration of what is technically possible. And for some use cases, it’s already a valid choice (quickly creating a landing page, setting up satellite sites, putting up a blackout page, testing a prototype).For us at SUTSCHE, this means we’ve been asking the right questions all along. Not because we foresaw it, but because a structured decision has always been about more than just a list of features. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:34.15%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/logo_jday_hor.png" /><h4 id="joomladay-usa-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/">JoomlaDay USA 2026</a></h4>April 29 - May 2, 2026 – Delray Beach, FloridaBe part of the Joomla community in one of the most iconic cities in the world! JoomlaDay USA 2026 is coming to Delray Beach, and you can join us for a dynamic event packed with insights, workshops, and networking opportunities. Learn from top Joomla experts and developers offering valuable insights and real-world solutions. Participate in interactive workshops and sessions and enhance your skills in Joomla management, development, design, and more. And connect with fellow Joomla enthusiasts, developers, and professionals from across the world.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> Book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.06%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/cms-summit-26-logo.jpg" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26">CMS Summit 26</a></h4>May 12-13, 2026 – Frankfurt, GermanyThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Summit brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Frankfurt, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26/tickets">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a>

After EmDash — what am I actually buying when I choose a CMS?

bastiansirvend

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film)">Independence Day</a> destroyed the box office in the summer of 1996. It was a bona fide Hollywood blockbuster, ushering in a decades-long fascination with large-scale disaster and sci-fi films.I was there when it opened. I remember sitting in a chilled theater, a sticky layer of Coke-infused popcorn crunching beneath my feet, holding my breath as mile-long flying saucers cast long shadows across entire cities. What happened next was the stuff of VFX legend: Manhattan melted under a massive laser. F-14 Tomcats picked dogfights with alien spaceships. There were heroes and sacrifices. It was all visually glorious. If you haven’t seen this masterpiece, there’s a big spoiler ahead. The film reaches its climax on the morning of July Fourth, just as Earth’s ransacked military is launching a final assault against these technologically advanced invaders. As he’s rallying the troops for a final speech, President Whitmore (played by the ever-gruff <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Pullman">Bill Pullman</a>) says:“We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight…”Man. I still get goosebumps. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V16tMmTezFQ"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V16tMmTezFQ" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> Appropriating this iconic holiday was a clever plot mechanism, but it also illustrated how a crisis can unify people around a common cause. In the movie, mankind is on the line, and “Independence Day” transcends its American roots, symbolizing a victory for the entire planet. It feels like our world could use a dose of that unifying spirit right now, but I digress. Digital publishers have also been experiencing an “invasion” by advanced technology. For the last few years, AI crawlers have been infesting the web, harvesting content and repurposing it for answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.perplexity.ai/">Perplexity</a>. According to one study, more than <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91361611/ai-chatbots-are-breaking-the-web-and-forcing-a-404-makeover">half of Americans use one of these chatbots</a> to search and navigate the web. As people continue to shift their preferences to these tools, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/conductor-ai-revs-up-brand-discoverability-in-generative-ai-answer-engines">zero-click searches</a> are destroying traffic and, consequently, punishing content creators. To understand why this is happening, we have to go back to the dawn of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google</a>, when it established not only its dominance in search, but also the business model for the web. By allowing the “Big G” to crawl and index your site, you effectively traded content for eyeballs. Search generated traffic, which publishers could value against the sale of digital ads, subscriptions, and other merchandise. You get the rest.The entire model is changing, and Google is partly to blame. Setting aside its nefarious ad practices that resulted in an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-prevails-landmark-antitrust-case-against-google">antitrust lawsuit</a>, Google’s infamous <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/">AI Overview</a> has cannibalized organic search traffic from websites by answering queries directly. At the same time, the total number of Google searches is declining, and last year, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://searchengineland.com/google-search-zero-click-study-2024-443869">60% of them ended without a click</a>. In 2025, we could be looking at some dystopian-level declines.  Where does this leave content creators? If there’s no traffic, how can they translate the value of their website and the experiences they produce? And If AI crawlers continue to invade, pillage, and assimilate their content, where’s the incentive to keep producing the quality work that powers the web?<h3 id="cloudflare-declares-‘content-independence-day’-">Cloudflare declares ‘Content Independence Day’ </h3>When deconstructing this AI conundrum, fighting an advanced alien technology might not be the perfect analogy, but it rings some truth. To be fair, AI is astonishing, and it’s having a profound and often positive impact on the way we work. It’s also helping to solve some of the biggest problems we face, from fully unlocking our genomes to accelerating a cure for cancer.But for the creator and knowledge economies – where generative AI and co-pilots have evolved beyond automating tasks to outright deprecating jobs – it’s been a double-edged sword.Now, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/cloudflare">Cloudflare</a> is attempting to fight back with what it calls “Content Independence Day.” The cloud infrastructure provider just announced that it’s changing its default setting to block AI crawlers unless they agree to pay creators for their content. This, of course, requires the employment of Cloudflare as a CDN, but it's a “full stop” moment.As co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://blog.cloudflare.com/content-independence-day-no-ai-crawl-without-compensation/">wrote in his announcement</a> on July 1, content is the “fuel” that powers AI engines. In his mind, it's only fair that content creators are compensated directly for it.This move has a lot of weight behind it. As one of the largest networks on the planet, Cloudflare serves roughly 20% of the web with its cloud infrastructure services, which include content delivery, DDoS protection, load balancing, bot management, and more. In the announcement, the company suggested that it was being joined by a “majority of leading publishers and AI companies." This likely includes media outlets like The New York Times, which has been publicly embroiled in lawsuits with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/business/media/new-york-times-open-ai-microsoft-lawsuit.html">OpenAI and Microsoft</a> over content copyright infringement. It’s also worth noting that many large publishers like The Atlantic and Vox have <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.axios.com/2024/05/29/atlantic-vox-media-openai-licensing-deal">already struck deals with AI companies</a> to license their content for AI model training.This news isn’t exactly shocking. Cloudflare has been laying the groundwork over the last year, giving publishers <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/03/cloudflare-launches-a-tool-to-combat-ai-bots/">an array of tools</a> for battling the onslaught of AI crawlers. But the path is leading to what Prince describes as a “marketplace” where publishers can choose to provide access to AI bots and be compensated for it.This week, Cloudflare took the first step in launching its new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/01/cloudflare-launches-a-marketplace-that-lets-websites-charge-ai-bots-for-scraping/">“Pay per Crawl”</a> vision, which is in the experimental phases. It works just like it sounds: A website owner can choose to allow individual AI crawlers to index their content for an agreed-upon rate. Alternatively, websites can allow free access or block bots altogether. According to Cloudflare, its customers will have enhanced visibility into how a specific bot is using their content for things like model training.There’s no word yet on what that pricing model will look like, but Cloudflare is endeavoring to put choice fully in the hands of content creators and publishers. It’s asserting what Seth Godin might call a “permission-based methodology,” where the actions are transparent, the intentions are in the sunlight, and the user has the power. Overall, that sounds healthy. In his blog post, Prince also discussed the shift to a new paradigm for scoring and valuing content. Since the beginning of Google, we’ve been hyper-focused on traffic as the end-all, be-all of analytics. As he proposes, this could be a tipping point – a new “golden age” of high-value content creation that bridges the knowledge gap for AI engines and improves results. Is he right? I’m honestly not sure. Cloudflare is working with experts and economists to map this new marketplace and provide some guidance. There’s already been a swell of positive support for this move, so I’m betting we’ll see traction and adoption over the coming months.The real question is: How will the AI providers adapt? Will they all board the mothership?<h3 id="what-this-could-mean-for-the-cms-industry">What this could mean for the CMS industry</h3>Independence Day painted a terrifying picture of how advanced alien technology could wreak havoc on our planet. But it also demonstrated how human ingenuity – and a mastery of our own tools and technologies – could help us turn the tide. As the engines for content publishing, content management systems are at the foundation of this fight. Nearly every commercial and open source CMS vendor is deploying with a CDN or offers native content delivery controls. That’s even true on the managed open source side (think about how easy it is to flip on a CDN in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wp-engine">WP Engine</a>). If Pay per Crawl catches on, there could be a shift of preference towards Cloudflare. Likewise, other CDNs that offer bot management (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/akamai">Akamai</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/fastly">Fastly</a> come to mind) might also introduce default AI blocking. To that end, we can expect increased scrutiny on CDN partnerships and edge technologies.It’s too early to know how this will all play out, but CMS vendors, customers, and practitioners should keep a weather eye on this storm. In the same manner that regulation has galvanized the rights of website users regarding data privacy, this could result in a free-market solution that insulates content creators from the yoke of AI crawlers and provides fair compensation. As the New York Times said, it’s like a toll road, and bots finally have to pay the piper. As a publisher, they've been vocal and audacious about fortifying their content domain, because the leap to digital hasn't exactly been an easy or profitable transition. AI is just the latest threat to their content-driven model. At the same time, brands don't want to be left out of the answer engines. This is a critical point that can't be overstated. Policing bot activity is coming a little too late in the program; they're not going anywhere, and companies want to ensure their presence on ChatGPT and Perplexity. As Cloudflare suggested, this could ultimately coalesce in a new marketplace, one where the crawler economy collides with the agentic. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/01/cloudflare-launches-a-marketplace-that-lets-websites-charge-ai-bots-for-scraping/">As the they outlined,</a> agents could be given “budgets” to hunt down the best and most relevant content – and even leverage an industry-specific stablecoin or token system to transact with. CMSes could become key instruments in this, providing control planes and vectors for how bots can engage with content. If website owners have visibility into the kinds of bots hitting their pages, they can be strategically selective and use permission-based methodologies to allow access. The CDN layer might be the core control point, but the CMS could help simplify that. Via analytics, content creators could also identify which pages are higher-value targets, and thus worth more to a bot.Headless CMSes and composable DXPs might be better positioned to adapt to this new marketplace by leveraging APIs for fine-tuning crawl exposure. We could see the injection of native crawl budgeting or cost-governance tools, as well as dashboards that monitor a variety of dimensions and dynamic indexing based on analytics. This is all pie-in-the-sky, but the potential is ripe for innovation.At the center of this is content strategy, which will likely continue a shift towards “value per crawl.” It’s still all about optimization, but we should expect even smarter tools to help improve site structure and schema – and in this sense, the fundamentals are still sound.There’s a lot more I could speculate on, but it doesn’t change the simple fact that AI needs content, and websites need traffic. Maybe it’s time that there’s a fair transaction between the two. This move is attempting to marry performance with transparency and financial accountability, and CMSes that offer more control could have an advantage.We don’t need to blow up the world to solve this problem, but declaring an “Independence Day” might be a good start. And Cloudflare might be in the best position to help content creators "not go quietly into the AI night.'" <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-cloudflare?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Cloudflare? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

We will not go quietly into the AI night: What Cloudflare’s ‘AI Independence Day’ could mean for CMS

matt-garrepy

<hr /> Content comes in all shapes and sizes. And while video is just one form, it’s arguably the most immersive (we’ll save AR/VR and the infamous “metaverse” for future analogies).Video delivers a lot – not just in terms of its storytelling value, but also around its brand impact. <a target="_blank" href="https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics">According to Animoto</a>, 91% of businesses now leverage video as a key marketing tool, and 96% of marketers (the highest proportion in the past nine years) see it as a critical component of their overall digital strategy.Why is video marketing taking a front seat? Because that’s where the eyeballs are. In Q1 of 2024, <a href="In%20Q1%202024,%20it%20was%20reported%20that%20online%20videos%20had%20an">it was reported</a> that online videos had an audience reach of 92% worldwide – a staggering figure to say the least. Within that, almost 15% were Millennials, spending 10 to 20 hours a week devouring videos on YouTube and social platforms via their mobile devices.There’s no question about the scale and potential of video. But unlike other forms of content, it’s big and expensive – and performance is always an issue, particularly with streaming. Between buffering and quality degradation, consumers are often frustrated with their video experience, which can negatively impact brand sentiment. But wait… there’s a CDN for that.<a target="_blank" href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=4347959-1&amp;h=976259762&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fuploadcare.com%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpr%26utm_medium%3Dpress_release%26utm_campaign%3Dvideo_cdn&amp;a=Uploadcare">Uploadcare</a>, a file management and content delivery platform, just unveiled a new product called <a target="_blank" href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=4347959-1&amp;h=4191122585&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fuploadcare.com%2Fcdn%2Fvideo-cdn%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpr%26utm_medium%3Dpress_release%26utm_campaign%3Dvideo_cdn&amp;a=Uploadcare+Video+CDN">Uploadcare Video CDN</a>. Armed with this powerful layer, users and businesses can accelerate their time to market for on-demand video uploads and streaming – all without the complexity of managing multiple solutions. It's also available as a native CMS or DXP capability, helping users deliver high-quality video content with greater ease.Uploadcare’s Video CDN allows you to easily enable native video streaming for your website or app, empowering users with fast uploads and instant video playback. You can swiftly integrate its on-demand video-handling infrastructure in minutes and enable immediate playback for your users. With Video CDN, you can also eliminate “stuck” uploads and long processing times and do it all at an incredibly affordable price. "We're proud to launch the Uploadcare Video CDN at a time when businesses are seeking more efficient, cost-effective ways to manage video content at scale," said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/debatur/">Igor Debatur</a>, CEO of Uploadcare. “In turn, audiences get a seamless viewing experience on any device right after upload. It's never been easier to integrate video streaming into your website or application.”Let's take a closer look at Uploadcare – and why you should care about its Video CDN.<h3 id="playing-the-cdn-“long-game”">Playing the CDN “long game”</h3>If you’re not familiar with Uploadcare, the company has blazing trails in the content delivery space since 2011, providing a complete file management platform and a CDN for user-generated content. At its core, Uploadcare offers a robust file API and SaaS experience for uploading, managing, processing, rendering, optimizing, and delivering content.Uploadcare was conjured out of necessity. As the story goes, a pod of web developers with image processing creds ran into problems with uploading and file management – and decided to create an all-in-one solution that worked at scale. Since then, Uploadcare has grown rapidly, garnering clients like PandaDoc, Buffer, UserTesting, Zapier, and more. In terms of market growth and trajectory, the company received its last seed round in 2019, and was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiugotech.com/blog/tiugo-technologies-acquires-uploadcare/">acquired by Tiugo Technologies</a> in early 2024. We’ve covered some previous purchases by the tech goliath, which also picked up <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/tinymce-brings-advanced-ai-to-cms-text-editing-interview-with-fredrik-danielsson-elise-bentley">TinyMCE</a> – a rich-text WYSIWYG editor with built-in AI capabilities – and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/buttercms">ButterCMS</a>, an API-first headless <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system</a>.It’s worth a nod to the importance of CDNs in a composable, API-first era. They significantly improve performance by distributing online content across a multitude of servers positioned across global geographies, allowing users to access data from the closest server. This translates into faster load times, reduced latency, and better overall UX. While CDNs can also be used to manage high traffic spikes, they also provide additional security features against nasty DDoS attacks by distributing traffic loads across its independent network. Uploadcare’s focus as a content delivery platform goes beyond the typical definition of a CDN. It also provides AI-powered smart storage, which includes object recognition and malicious content detection. The company’s product portfolio also features a plug-and-play <a target="_blank" href="https://uploadcare.com/products/file-uploader/">file uploader</a> as well as a URL API for <a target="_blank" href="https://uploadcare.com/cdn/image-cdn/">image optimization</a> and document and video conversion.CDNs have long been tethered to content management systems, and as such, Uploadcare has worked closely with CMS and DXP platforms to leverage SDKs and develop extensions for the likes of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentful">Contentful</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/decap-cms">Decap CMS</a>. Uploadcare even calls <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/webflow">Webflow</a> a customer.<h3 id="a-full-featured-video-cdn">A full-featured video CDN</h3>Uploadcare’s new Video CDN takes uploads and playback to the next level. With a plug-and-play widget or API, you can quickly integrate uploads for videos of any size – from devices, Google Drive, Dropbox, or other sources – and enable instant delivery through a multi-vendor global CDN without any additional processing.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:88.12%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1738795422660.png" alt="A screenshot of a video

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Video CDN enables seamless uploads and instant delivery with no additional processing. Source: Uploadcare website. Uploaded videos are immediately available on Uploadcare's CDN, accelerating your time to market for video content. You can also save precious developer time and effort with Uploadcare’s streamlined approach to file upload and delivery integration.<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="reduce-costs-and-optimize-resources">Reduce costs and optimize resources</h4>Video CDN can also dramatically impact your data transfer costs by eliminating manual formatting via adaptive bitrate streaming and intelligent, bandwidth-optimized delivery. This means you can automatically serve optimal video resolution based on bandwidth conditions and device – and drive down your costs.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:89.2%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1738795422584.png" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Uploadcare can reduce the costs for high-volume video streams. Source: Uploadcare website. Not only can you minimize the financial impact of high-volume streaming for large, unoptimized files, but you can stop wasting resources on manual video encoding with on-the-fly formatting and size conversion. These changes are also cached in their CDN instead of creating a new file for each conversion, reducing storage fees. And speaking of storage: along with Uploadcare’s default capacity, you can also connect your <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">Amazon S3 bucket</a> for additional backup resources. <h4 id="improve-security-and-workflows">Improve security and workflows</h4>With Video CDN, Uploadcare has paid specific attention to the security implications of video content with a host of features. You can protect proprietary or sensitive content with signature tokens, giving you control over which users can upload files and how long that access is available. Uploadcare also automatically filters infected files with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.clamav.net/">ClamAV</a>, an open source antivirus engine, and provides granular controls for file validation.There are some key capabilities for streamlining workflows, leveraging Uploadcare’s all-in-one solution – allowing you to minimize the costs and overhead of efficiently managing multiple solutions for handling your videos, images, or documents. As a result, you can release content faster. A lot faster. <h4 id="enhance-ux">Enhance UX</h4>From a UX perspective, Uploadcare gives end users instant video playback through an elegant, integrated video player – all available right after upload with no buffering or quality degradation. With an enhanced experience, you can expand customer reach with videos that are accessible on any device and at any internet speed. You can also increase your viewership and reduce bounce rates by delivering consistently high-quality video content with a delightful experience. <h3 id="the-verdict">The Verdict</h3>As a CMS practitioner with product development experience, I can’t emphasize enough the value of CDNs in content delivery. They check multiple boxes and continue to prove their essential role in composable architectures. With the explosive rise of video marketing and consumption, Uploadcare’s new Video CDN is a performance booster that is sure to benefit website and app developers – and the brands they represent. Uploadcare <a target="_blank" href="https://uploadcare.com/cdn/video-cdn/">offers a free trial</a> for Video CDN, making it a little easier to test drive. They also offer a range of subscription plans, from basic to custom for enterprises.That said, if you’re new to adding CDNs, there are a few things to wrestle down with the setup (I inspected some of the npm packaging details for the plug-and-play player, the video processing operations, etc. and there’s some homework) – but it’s all well-documented and underscores the platform’s market maturity. You should also look at how the adaptive bitrate streaming is calculated and how resolution options are generated from the original source. I was able to connect with Uploadcare’s CEO, Igor Debatur, about the announcement and asked him to expand on its implications for content management systems and digital experience platforms. “Uploadcare Video CDN enables CMS and DXP platforms to offer seamless video uploading and streaming as a native capability without infrastructure or development overhead,” he explained. “This unlocks a powerful new use case for customers, helping them deliver high-quality video experiences effortlessly. By integrating video, CMS and DXP providers gain a competitive edge, attracting more users and expanding their value beyond traditional content management.”What I really like about Uploadcare is how they stand behind their products. With over a decade of operational excellence under their belts, they can confidently boast a battle-proven commitment to efficacy and 99.99% uptime performance. They also provide dedicated support and free migration services (a nice “bennie” you can inquire about), as well as SOC2 and HIPAA compliance. For Uploadcare, it all reinforces the delivery of great content – and a superior customer experience.It's also what puts the “care” in their name. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Uploadcare Video CDN Adds Seamless Uploading and Streaming as a Native CMS Capability 

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Uploadcare Video CDN Adds Seamless Uploading and Streaming as a Native CMS Capability