Articles

Composable  Article

<hr /> “If content is king, context is queen.”That’s what <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-raises-57-5-million-in-series-b-round-qa-with-ceo-neha-sampat">Neha Sampat</a>, Contentstack’s founder and CEO, had to say about her company’s latest innovation, speaking to the “royal” relationship between content and data – and how their DXP is poised to help brands adapt to customers in real-time to every interaction and across every channel.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a> has been steadily building this evolutionary vision of an “adaptive DXP,” laying the groundwork from the moment <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-just-acquired-lytics-a-real-time-customer-data-platform-heres-why-it-matters">it purchased Lytics</a> – a customer data platform – last January. After breaking that news, I later visited Sampat at Contentstack’s HQ in Austin during a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts">Boye &amp; Company CMS Experts</a> meeting, where she rolled out more of the red carpet surrounding her data ambitions. At the time, I had no idea just how fast she would move to “adapt” Lytics. “The future of digital is here,” she said, “which is why we moved so quickly to deliver on our promise to arm customers with the combined power of content and data.”Indeed, the future is here. And for brands to compete, they need more context than ever. That’s where today’s announcement at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">ContentCon 25</a> (the company’s fourth annual customer shindig) comes in. Contentstack just revealed that it has natively added real-time audience insights, intelligent content recommendations, and omnichannel journey orchestration into <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/livin-on-the-edge-contentstacks-new-adaptive-dxp-might-just-rock-your-world">Contentstack EDGE</a> – its fully integrated adaptive digital experience platform.According to Contentstack, this is an industry-first game-changer at the CMS level. Armed with these features – where content and data are seamlessly combined – brands can deliver one-to-one personalized experiences across every channel.Making the announcement at ContentCon will no doubt help to fortify visibility and reinforce the relevance. Featuring speakers from a number of Contentstack’s marquee customers – including Crocs, Mattel, PetMeds, and Volvo – will help bring greater stickiness to the message as they trumpet their success leveraging the platform’s capabilities. To further elevate the message of performance, attendees will be treated to a closing keynote by two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and Olympic Gold Medalist <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandi_Chastain">Brandi Chastain</a>, co-founder of Bay Football Club.This is sure to score points as partners, agencies, and practitioners leave with practical wisdom – as well as a deeper sense of Contentstack’s roadmap for adaptive digital experiences. <h3 id="a-speedy-expansion-to-the-‘queendom’">A speedy expansion to the ‘queendom’</h3>I recently <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/livin-on-the-edge-contentstacks-new-adaptive-dxp-might-just-rock-your-world">wrote about Contentstack EDGE</a>, the brand envelope for its adaptive DXP. This new platform identity came just five months after its acquisition of Lytics, which demonstrates the speed and efficacy of Contentstack’s team in the pursuit of value from its CDP purchase.We’ve seen other vendors ride hype around M&amp;A, only to have a slow integration and consolidation period that can last years. Worse, the results are sometimes spotty, resulting in a cumbersome UX that misses the mark. This is fast by every modern measure, and the motivation was clear.It’s still early days for these new capabilities, but Contentstack has always doubled down on the user experience, making its native <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-launch-aims-to-simplify-front-end-hosting-interview-with-dean-haddock-senior-product-manager">products like Launch</a> incredibly easy to use. Speed is absolutely critial, but so too is the delivery of an experience that meets – or at best, exceeds – customer expectations. <h3 id="“the-royal-treatment”-of-ai-powered-personalization">“The royal treatment” of AI-powered personalization</h3>AI is the name of the game, and Contentstack has been at the innovation edge since 2023, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/a-closer-look-at-contentstacks-ai-features-with-christine-masters-senior-product-manager">when I first demoed</a> its early GenAI capabilities. They were certainly novel at the time, and they were one of the first platforms to focus on more concrete, high-utility applications at the workflow level – where automation was solving real problems. Personalization has arguably come a long way. It’s not the elusive “Holy Grail” it once was. But according to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-fires-up-brand-relevant-ai-powered-personalization-at-contentcon-2024">Conor Egan,</a> Contentstack’s SVP of Product, there are still barriers to realizing its potential. “Personalization is a priority, but brands struggle to deliver,” he said. “The reality is too abstract, complicated, disconnected or they’re locked into legacy tech that makes agility impossible.”Last year, Contentstack released a new personalization engine that combined brand-aware generative AI content creation, automation, and visual building technology. It was a foundation step that unleashed the benefits of AI while simplifying key aspects of the experience. But to deliver true hyper-personalization at scale, both content and real-time data were essential to the recipe. Now, Contentstack is fulfilling the last mile of its personalization vision, providing a blazing-fast integration that addresses long-standing personalization challenges with a practical solution. And by unifying content, data, and journey orchestration into a single, combined platform, brands can power true personalization at scale – all with clarity and confidence.“We’re not just committed to our vision of the future,” Egan said. “We’re offering customers the tools that make personalization possible today.”<h3 id="‘knighting’-its-adaptive-dxp-with-key-features">‘Knighting’ its adaptive DXP with key features</h3>The announcement provides some details about the feature additions to Contentstack EDGE at a granular level, further defining the company’s vision as an adaptive digital experience platform.First, the integration of Audience Insights will enable users to understand what content is driving engagement and delivering on business goals. The added context can help marketers support targeted campaigns and ground their personalization efforts in data-driven insights. Along with visual maps, audience building, and opportunity insights, brands can learn what their audiences care most about in real time. Worth noting: This feature is available at no additional cost to Contentstack customers today.Then, there’s Real-Time Data Activation, which aims to deliver personalized experiences instantly via seamless access to over 200 data connectors. There’s also native integration with existing data warehouses, activated in real time as customers interact – a key benefit that has emerged as brands tap data from a variety of siloed sources.Finally, with Flows, it’s all about scaling the promise of omnichannel personalization. Users can design and automate what Contentstack calls “adaptive customer journeys,” which can guide individuals seamlessly across web, mobile, email, ads, SMS, and other channels, maximizing engagement and conversions. <h3 id="is-this-a-new-reign-for-adaptive-dxps?">Is this a new reign for adaptive DXPs?</h3>For a space that’s often more buzzword than breakthrough, Contentstack is walking the walk with a rarefied air. This launch doesn’t just expand their platform – it helps reshape what’s possible for brands that are still struggling with the paralysis of personalization.Marketers are hungry for the context that Contentstack is promising. The speed at which they’ve delivered these new insights and journey orchestration capabilities is impressive, but UX is key – and we’ll have to see how organizations embrace the feature set. One big benefit here is Contentstack’s focus on customer intimacy and fueling its product enhancements around a solid feedback loop.Atop everything is the crowning position of adaptive digital experiences. While there’s a clear marketing angle, we’re all being forced to adapt to new realities in the race to digital dominance – and Contentstack is building a platform solution around the challenges and opportunities. You can come up with a fancy new name. But you have to make it mean something. And that’s precisely what they’re doing. Contentstack’s ascension to a DXP throne has been hard-fought, but its strategy seems to be paying off. As noted by several key analyst reports, the company’s composable roadmap and the acquisition of a data layer have catapulted it into new quadrants of consideration. This should assist in the battle against industry stalwarts and the general barrier to greater awareness.I still think one of Contentstack’s greatest assets is its culture. Over the years, I’ve spoken to CEO Neha Sampat about the company’s growth ambitions, but it’s always peppered with stories about people – and how Contentstack is doubling down on expanding through diversity and other human-focused initiatives.Case in point: The company has been recognized for its unmatched customer care and tradition of giving back globally through its Contentstack Cares program, including its support of Pledge 1% and “Girls Who Code.”It might be one of the shiniest gems in its crown – and another reason to watch this company as it continues to expand. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-contentstack?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Contentstack? <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:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register 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" 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>

Context Is Queen: Contentstack Crowns its Adaptive DXP with Native Real-Time Audience Insights

matt-garrepy

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-smigelski-1b0023163/">Jared Smigelski</a> isn’t a dentist, but he’s doing his part to improve smiles.That’s not easy when you’re modernizing a digital ecosystem that’s been in place for decades. It’s a bit like performing dental work that’s long overdue. Where do you start? How do you ensure a pain-free outcome?When I met Jared at “The Composable Conference” a few weeks ago, I was immediately drawn into his career arc at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/benco-dental/">Benco Dental. </a>He's spent the last 13 years supporting and incrementally improving his company’s digital properties, starting as a software engineer and moving into product and application ownership. Now, he and his team are embarking on a “composable cleaning” that aims to transform his company’s IT posture with a MACH architectural approach – a move that could improve Benco’s competitive agility while future-proofing it for the next wave of tech innovation.“We’re a hundred-year-old company, maybe more, and the site’s been around since there’s been a site,” Jared said. “So it’s heavily monolithic, heavily legacy. All the logic is all over the place, and a lot of it lives on the front end, so we’re looking to pull a lot of that apart. In theory, MACH principles are perfect for what we’re trying to do.”This initiative is exactly why Jared and two of his key practitioners were attending the annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-composable-conference-2025-takes-shape-as-mach-alliance-announces-speakers-and-new-events">MACH Alliance event in Chicago</a>. They had already started down the composable path by assessing a move to the cloud, embracing an API-first approach, and even procuring several tools to begin “drilling” into their strategy. “We’re in a position right now where we’re integrating a lot of these tools that are already within the Alliance,” he explained, mentioning <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en">Bloomreach</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a> by name.But going composable can be like pulling teeth, fraught with challenges and mired by the looming potential of failure. For Jared, the MACH Alliance community provided a bit of Novocain for his concerns, and hearing the successful use cases from other practitioners made him hopeful about their prospects. For me, this is a fantastic story and a compelling use case. First, it’s an opportunity to hear from a digital leader at the very beginning of his MACH journey, starting with an aging monolithic legacy system – and one that’s homegrown. It's brownfield with a bit of green on the edges. It’s also an example of an enterprise application within the B2B healthcare vertical, which gives it a differentiated spin from the typical retail examples we’re accustomed to in MACH. Finally, Jared’s frankness captured some of the real stakes at play when considering a composable path. In our chat, we delved into his selection of Contentstack as a CMS foundation and what influenced his decision. We also discussed how their roadmap for AI is already beginning to take shape as they consider the possibilities of a MACH-powered future.Will it be easy to realize this vision? Not likely – and he knows this is a years-long gamble for both his team and the company. Getting there could, at times, feel like a mouth full of braces. But with the right planning, mindset, and execution, a more structured and (dare I say) beautiful smile awaits. <h3 id="avoiding-digital-“tooth-decay”">Avoiding digital “tooth decay”</h3>Benco is a storied brand in the dental industry. As the largest privately owned, full-service distributor of dental supplies, equipment, consulting, and equipment services in the US, it has a rich heritage built on almost a century of success. Founded by Benjamin Cohen, the company has remained family-owned and laser-focused on its mission of "delivering success smile after smile."​ Based in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Benco is also the nation's fastest-growing dental distributor with more than 50 regional showroom locations and five distribution centers servicing more than 30,000 dental professionals in all 50 states.As you might imagine, this unabated growth is driving more dependency on Benco’s digital properties, which feature e-commerce shopping capabilities. And while legacy and longevity are key attributes for a brand, Benco’s aging website and infrastructure have been a key source of pain as it looks to scale. To avoid this digital “tooth decay” and get to the next step of digital transformation, Jared has embraced a composable strategy – and tapping the MACH Alliance and its community of expertise is one way he’s hoping to achieve success as he begins to execute.   “The principles, they’ve been around since modern development architecture has been around,” he said, referencing the tenets of MACH. “But actually having some place that pulls it all together is really helpful. We’re here to try to learn more about these principles, get some actionable content when we go back, so we can implement a CMS successfully on the first try.”<h3 id="the-mach-community:-a-retainer-for-knowledge">The MACH community: A retainer for knowledge</h3>As Jared mentioned, the goal of attending “The Composable Conference” was to seek insight and walk away ready to take action. The education piece continues to be a shining example of where the Alliance excels, and that came through in spades during the first day’s keynote sessions and focused workshops. That said, I spoke to a number of attendees who felt that the conference's content was on point, but that “actionable” component might not have been fully realized. This is one area where the Alliance can continue to improve its value to members and the market at large. This year’s session tracks did provide a clear and concise framework for attendees, allowing them to select a path that best fits their current status – from early-stage “MACH Curious” to “Active” or “Pro.” I asked Jared what sessions stood out for him and why they made an impact. “Hearing Andrew talk from Zoro on that first day, that keynote was really pertinent because we’re a similar company,” he said. “We’re a B2B selling to offices, and hearing about that transformation was truly impressive.”He was referring to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/goodfellow/">Andrew Goodfellow</a>, CTO at Zoro – an online provider of tools, parts, and supplies. As CTO, Andy took attendees through the digital retailer’s early adoption of MACH, and how it ultimately enabled Zoro to go from 2 million SKUs to 15 million and double revenue. You can read more about it <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">in my conference overview</a>. Jared also mentioned how <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.vfc.com/brands">the use case for VF</a>, the company behind brands like The North Face and Timberland, struck a chord. It was real and relatable, and gave him perspective on where things are at – and the potential for them to go off the rails. “They had a 1.0 version of a MACH approach, which is where I feel we’re at,” he reflected. “We’re kind of new to this, and you hear the candid truth about their story, right? He said it took them three years to release one site the first time, because they jumped in, rushed it, and didn’t do it right. So it’s cool to hear that other companies are having these same challenges.”<h3 id="a-new-cms-crown-with-contentstack">A new CMS crown with Contentstack</h3>Benco doesn't have an actual CMS – and never has. Instead, they have what Jared described as a homegrown “CMS-like” solution. So the prospect of moving to a mature platform is novel… and even a little nerve-racking.“I almost wish we could skip past that first phase where we picked the wrong one and we try to migrate to another,” he said, laughing. “We’re in the very first phase of this. We’ve never integrated a CMS.”Jared mentioned that he had already settled on Contentstack, a composable DXP with a headless CMS as its foundation. While the platform already presented key advantages based on their goals, some soft attributes added confidence to his decision.“We had some really good experiences with their sales team and technical folks,” he said. Relying on experienced voices has been key for Benco as early questions arose like, Where’s your data map? or Where’s your architecture diagram? They simply weren't prepared.The MACH Alliance community has been pivotal to supporting education within the composable category, and platforms like Contentstack have helped bridge the awareness gap from the very beginning. “The Composable Conference” helps to crystallize things over a two-day period, but <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-taps-dylan-valade-of-abbott-to-drive-expanding-ridemach-education-program">programs like rideMACH</a> are shepherding the cause throughout the year with courseware, certifications, and real-world insights from people who have done the work. “This has been really helpful to see and get to connect with people who’ve had those experiences," Jared remarked, "and help talk through what you do the first time.”<h3 id="removing-the-legacy-plaque-to-make-way-for-ai">Removing the legacy plaque to make way for AI</h3>Composable is already proving its value as a key conduit for AI innovation and adoption. Enterprises that have a composable posture are arguably better equipped to shift, experiment, and deploy new AI solutions, and the MACH Alliance is focusing more attention on this – specifically with the advent of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">new MACH AI Exchange.</a>  While Jared and his team are consumed with the elemental steps of their composable strategy, I asked him about AI and where it fits with his organization’s plans. From his perspective, he sees early gains within Benco’s content operations practice and how they leverage the new CMS.“The biggest use case that comes right to mind for AI, especially in something like a CMS, is getting our titles, blog posts, articles, all that stuff SEO optimized,” he said, reflecting how humans aren’t the best at knowing how to game the algorithms for search. This is one way that AI could have a solid impact on performance in the near term.But the future? With a composable architecture, Benco could certainly dive into the realm of more advanced personalization and optimization, akin to what Zoro achieved – something Jared and his team are eager to sink their teeth into.Here’s five minutes of brain floss to sharpen your smile: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/BuUbmrwne-I"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BuUbmrwne-I" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register 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" 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>

MACHtales: Voices from “The Composable Conference” with Jared Smigelski of Benco Dental

<hr /> As a digital analyst – and, at heart, a guy who just likes to write stories about cool people and tech – I try to bring an outside perspective to everything.Sometimes, I’m just beyond the perimeter. Others, I’m inside it. More on that in a minute.Let me start today with one of our favorite words: composable. I’ve long held that it is, indeed, a “thing.” I think most of you will agree with me. Trends come and go, but this one is as much about technology as it is about philosophy – and broader in its reach than the stiff walls of industry categories. Even now, debate continues around how we define the composability of a product or a company, with conflicting POVs emanating from various camps based on a number of factors. Why can't we all just get along? As the feud wages on, the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-expands-certification-scope-to-include-offerings-within-larger-vendors">MACH Alliance</a> has been a leading voice in shaping the answer to this and other questions. Since 2020, it has endeavored to quantify the dimensions in a tangible way, establishing core tenets that reinforce key attributes and educate the market. How does the Alliance define composable? In a nutshell, it's a modular development approach that allows organizations to create custom applications by combining smaller, independent components. These components can then be customized, replaced, and plugged in independently to meet specific needs. In other words, you “compose” your stack.The charter of the MACH Alliance has always been clear: make it easier for buyers to understand the benefits of composable so they can evaluate solutions confidently, and even procure technologies that meet rigid MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud SaaS, Headless) standards. These standards provide the guardrails for certifying a solution as truly composable, which is where some of the debate stems from. By this definition, all MACH solutions are composable, but not all composable solutions are MACH compliant.Like composable, MACH is also a “thing." And that’s made clear by its continued rise in adoption (solid <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-publishes-first-annual-report-showcases-industry-impact-and-plans-for-2024">research validates this</a>). At last year’s <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-two-conference-wrap-six-takeaways-from-the-composable-event-of-the-year">MACH TWO event</a>, we saw how European markets and global brands were turning MACH’s pioneering principles into real projects and successful outcomes. Because of its early adoption across EU markets, some people assume this whole movement started in Europe. Not exactly.Now, at this year’s <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/events/mach-three">MACH THREE event</a> – which wrapped in New York City last Tuesday – we’re seeing the movement's zeitgeist take root in North America. This is a big deal for the MACH Alliance, another signpost reflecting its continued rise and influence. The organization, which advocates for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems, has attracted more than 100 members to its ranks. This includes a signature bench of Enablers like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/aws-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member-reflects-growth-of-cloud-native-solutions">AWS</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google</a>, and industry Supporters that feature <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/newsroom/mach-alliance-announces-paypal-is-the-first-company-to-join-new-supporter-membership-category">PayPal</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/members/j-p-morgan">J.P. Morgan</a>. Heavy hitters, to be sure. At CMS Critic, we’ve been following the organization’s successes and challenges since Day One, and always taken a keen interest in its trajectory. We’ve covered its accomplishments and accolades, but also the challenges and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-openly-invites-companies-claiming-mach-to-apply-for-certification">occasional controversy</a> that the movement has stirred – particularly among competitors. <h3 id="full-transparency">Full transparency</h3>I am a member of the Alliance’s Executive Advisory Board, where I listen and counsel with objective industry insight. I view things first through the CMS lens, but I've cultivated a deeper knowledge of the wider market and how composable and MACH are being leveraged to future-proof enterprise stacks.For the second year, I was asked to judge the prestigious <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/mach-impact-awards">MACH Impact Awards</a>, a staple of the annual conference’s agenda – and a reflection of the actual work being performed in the market. The MACH Impact Awards recognize organizations that have demonstrated tremendous value through digital transformation projects by successfully implementing a MACH approach. What qualifies me for this honor? Over the last two decades, I’ve built digital experiences with numerous tools and platforms – too many to count. There have been incredible highs and wildly successful launches, but I’ve also struggled, maybe even cried a few times (not ashamed to admit that). Along the way, I've also watched the seedlings of composability bubble up effervescently as stacks became more decoupled and dependent on APIs. In my second year judging the Impact Awards, I’ll say this: it’s getting easier and harder. Easier in the sense that more organizations clearly understand the fundamentals and are adopting the mindset in a more intentional way. Harder in that the use cases are more dense, complex, and difficult to choose as winners in a juried contest. I can’t get into the sausage-making behind the scenes. But I’ll simply say this: it was a joy to read, rank, and collaborate with fellow judges on our panel, all of whom are accomplished industry experts. We were all committed to assessing every entry with a fair, critical, unbiased eye – giving each use case a thorough evaluation. With that said, here are the results of that work.<h3 id="mach-matters-more-than-ever">MACH matters more than ever</h3>There were some astoundingly rich, detailed, ambitious, and downright intimidating entries in the third annual Impact Awards. Before I Iist the victors, there are a few key insights derived from 2024's cohort of applications.First, it’s worth noting that this year’s Impact Awards experienced a 20% increase in entries. That’s a clear signal that interest and awareness is growing – but also that organizations, vendors, and SIs are understanding the fierce requirements needed to satisfy a successful MACH program. In terms of scope, the MACH Alliance handed out ten MACH Impact Awards, recognizing projects from focused industries, project teams, and individuals. There was some notable expansion into the categories of travel, tourism and hospitality, and consumer product goods manufacturing. The MACH Alliance also added a Best New Breaking Ground Project award for companies paving the way in a new sector.There were two new “Grand Prix” awards featured in this year’s contest. This included Best Digital Experience and Best Overall Change, where the category award winners vied for a “best-of-the-best” honor as chosen by the judges.  “We are seeing companies implement MACH projects across a growing range of industries and geographic markets like never before, which speaks to the importance of operating a flexible, modern, and composable technology infrastructure,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-hall-4b14a945/">Holly Hall</a>, managing director, MACH Alliance. “Our <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/content-hub/mach-global-research-2024">2024 global research</a> discovered that 9 in 10 IT decision-makers say composable technology will be instrumental to the success of their organization in the next five years.”<h3 id="“we-are-the-champions”-(cue-the-music)">“We are the champions” (cue the music)</h3>No shocker if you read the headline, but Kraft Heinz and Clarks earned the pretigious Grand Prix honors. These were incredible projects, and certainly worthy of the accolades. Official winners of the 2024 MACH Impact Awards include:<ul><li>Best B2B Project: Hynds Group</li><li>Best Retail Project: Clarks</li><li>Best Health &amp; Wellness Project: Vision Healthcare</li><li>Best Travel, Tourism, &amp; Hospitality Project: Wendy’s</li><li>Best Manufacturing (consumer goods) Project: Kraft Heinz</li><li>Breaking New Ground Project: Micheldever</li><li>Team of the Year Award: Varner</li><li>Contributor of the Year Award: Justin Thomas, head of digital experience, Kraft Heinz</li><li>Grand Prix – Best Overall Change: Clarks</li><li>Grand Prix – Best Digital Experience: Kraft Heinz</li></ul>One special exception: during the event, recognition was given to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.danielsmusic.org/">Daniel’s Music Foundation</a>, a New York-based nonprofit that provides accessible music programs to people living with a disability. As the organization proclaims on its website, it’s changing lives through the power of music – a unique and worthy cause with local and global implications. This spotlight is another example of the MACH Alliance’s mission to make positive changes in our world, particularly in the realm of diversity, equality, and inclusion. If you’re interested in perusing the full list of nominees and winners, visit the <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/mach-impact-awards#Finalists">MACH Impact Awards page</a>. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>I think I’ve hit the high points in the opening salvo, but there are two main reasons why these Impact Awards are a milestone.First, it signifies the tangible growth of MACH and composable – and it’s not just hype or hyperbole. By featuring real use cases and successful outcomes, the Alliance is pinpointing just how successful its investments in community and education have been. With significantly more entries in this year’s contest, it’s clear that interest continues to rise.Second, MACH is making strides in the U.S. market, where it has been slowly taking root. The addressable market is large and relatively untapped, and its efforts over the last year to build a beachhead and drive awareness has been successful. This was part of the calculus in selecting New York City as the host location for the MACH THREE event – a hub for tech, finance, and just about every other industry under Gotham’s sun. Also, having U.S.-based brands like Kraft Heinz achieve standout recognition is further evidence that opportunities are evolving Westward.The contention around composable is a real phenomenon, and the division has been palpable. As monolithic platforms make inroads towards a more composable posture, headless CMSes and MACH-certified tools have also been evolving their own offerings to better compete in a grueling marketplace of options. I could probably write a book about the chaos that has ensued – both sides feeling a bit marginalized, both racing towards the middle in their own ways. But in the end, what really matters is the customer, and that’s what I love about these Awards. They elevate the voices of brands and builders, allowing their individual and collective success to tell their stories. And for the third year in a row, the MACH Alliance has made those stories a jewel in the crown of its premier event.  Awards programs are a fun and spirited way to celebrate achievement and excellence among our peers. The Impact Awards have delivered that in spades and continue to exemplify the promise and potential of MACH. Congratulations to the winners.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Clarks, Kraft Heinz Take Top Honors in MACH Impact Awards at MACH THREE

<hr /> When I spoke to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/patelnishant/">Nishant Patel</a> last week, he was floating on cloud nine.You might assume it’s because the company he co-founded, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a>, just announced the addition of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google Cloud Platform</a> to its offerings. This puts the headless CMS-turned-composable-DXP in the unique position of providing deployments across all three of the major cloud providers.For those of us who work extensively in the cloud, we know it's a complex morass – and managing service architectures for diverse infrastructures like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">AWS</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-azure">Azure</a>, and GCP can present quite an entanglement. We’ll get into more of the “why,” but suffice to say that choice is driving much of the calculus.No, Nishant’s lighter-than-air status was less banal and more sophistiquée in nature: he took my call whilst strolling the streets of Paris, absorbing the springtime air. I asked if he could spot the Eiffel Tower from his vantage point.“I can't see over the buildings, but it's beautiful here,” he remarked. “It's awesome. Just an amazing day.” C’est la vie.There seems to be a persistent positive vibe going around at Contentstack these days, whether it’s along the Champs-Élysées or elsewhere. The company continues its charge beyond headless as a full-featured ecosystem for powering omnichannel experiences. This includes the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-launch-aims-to-simplify-front-end-hosting-interview-with-dean-haddock-senior-product-manager">addition of Launch</a>, a front-end hosting solution, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.contentstack.com/automation-hub">Automation Hub</a> for composing stacks, and a <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/a-closer-look-at-contentstacks-ai-features-with-christine-masters-senior-product-manager">bevy of AI capabilities</a> that offer more than the usual pre-fixe menu of generative content features. This evolution towards a more complete vision beyond CMS also garnered the attention of analysts, catapulting the company onto <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/forrester-dxp-wave-2023-vendor-commentary">Forrester’s 2023 Wave Report</a> for DXPs as a Strong Performer – outpacing a number of traditional players and chief rival <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentful">Contentful</a>. As CTO, Nishant is focused on more than just Contentstack’s capabilities. He’s also concerned with how enterprises can deploy it, particularly on their cloud of choice. When we connected in March of 2022, the company had <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-offers-microsoft-azure-becomes-only-multi-cloud-saas-cms-qa-with-cto-nishant-patel">just added Azure</a> to the mix, making it the only multi-cloud SaaS play in the CMS category. The new partnership with Google Cloud presents a strategic opportunity to expand the addressable market for composable digital experiences, providing enterprises with even more options for how they create, manage, and deliver their products. This includes making its composable DXP accessible via the <a target="_blank" href="https://cloud.google.com/marketplace">Google Cloud Marketplace</a>, which offers production-ready apps, services, and solutions for quickly deploying on GCP."We're excited about how this new partnership will elevate digital experiences for both Contentstack and Google Cloud customers," Nishant said. “Brands will get even more flexibility, scalability, and security in their content and digital strategies. They can also take direct advantage of Google Cloud's AI models.”That last part about the AI models is key. In our discussion, Nishant got real about the challenges that Google has faced in deploying its ill-fated <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/google-artificial-intelligence-bard-gmail-youtube-maps-1229638b82d19afb5226c913821fa1ad">Bard</a>. But as you’ll read, he juxtaposes that with some real-world perspective on picking up the fumble. He captured that sentiment in a recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184189745797681154/">LinkedIn post</a>, and in my opinion, it tells you everything you need to know about why he’s successful:“Failure is not the enemy of progress – it’s complacency.”<h3 id="expanding-the-value-of-the-cloud-">Expanding the value of the cloud </h3>While there are numerous pros to the cloud, Contentstack’s new partnership with Google offers three unique benefits for users. The first is support for <a target="_blank" href="https://cloud.google.com/gcp">Google Cloud Hosting</a>, which enables Contentstack customers to tap into a comprehensive cloud solution platform that is both secure and scalable for hosting their Contentstack data and applications. Another is access to the <a target="_blank" href="https://cloud.google.com/partners">Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program</a>, where Contentstack has achieved Google Cloud Partner status for the “Build” engagement model. They joined this program to support and enrich customers with the latest innovative digital transformation capabilities – and to speed time to value through seamless integrations with Google.Finally, as I’ve already mentioned, there’s the all-important listing on the <a target="_blank" href="https://cloud.google.com/marketplace">Google Cloud Marketplace</a>, which simplifies the experience for Google Cloud customers to discover and procure Contentstack as part of their existing Google Cloud account and billing invoice.According to Nishant, a big part of the move to add GCP was about listening to the voice of the customer and following their lead. That meant going to where they find and purchase cloud services and SaaS software and joining those marketplaces across all major cloud providers.“A big percentage of SaaS buying will happen in the [cloud] marketplaces in the next two to three years,” he said. “Azure, AWS, and GCP all have this quota relief for sales folks if their customers buy through their marketplace. So, for the SaaS provider, this optionality makes the buying process a lot simpler. And for the customer, whatever cloud they've chosen, it just makes it a lot easier in terms of managing vendors.”There are compelling reasons for investing in a multi-cloud strategy. Sure, hosting might seem like a commodity, but of the Big Three cloud providers, some are just better at specific functions than others. Companies that are all-in with certain cloud providers are often driven by efficiency, and perhaps a modicum of loyalty. If they already have workloads running on Azure, it’s much easier to consolidate everything in one place and even optimize overall performance with greater control. Another consideration: they might only have DevOps teams that are skilled or have experience with a specific infrastructure. And then there’s “brand optics.” While AWS was the first big cloud for Contentstack, the albatross of Amazon.com still creates tacit friction for retailers who aren’t fans of Bezos Effect. When that resistance is a challenge, having alternative options means not having to compromise. “We just wanted to be the CMS of choice,” Nishant clarified. “And if you're committed to GCP, no worries, you can buy us from the [Google Cloud] Marketplace and deploy completely on GCP. And same thing for Azure and AWS."<h3 id="challenging-the-‘brand-relevancy-crisis’">Challenging the ‘Brand Relevancy Crisis’</h3>In my recent connection with Contentstack’s new CMO, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurdeepd/">Gurdeep Dhillon</a>, we touched on the rising phenomenon of what he calls a “Brand Relevancy Crisis.” You can <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-just-hired-an-ex-adobe-exec-as-cmo-heres-why-it-matters">read more about it here</a>, but the crux is that we’re battling a swell of saturation across channels, which is being compounded by increased noise and fragmentation, the deprecation of third-party data, and the exponential growth of AI-generated content. While not a marketer himself, Nishant conjured the same “Brand Relevancy Crisis” moniker when reinforcing the need for choice in a complex cloud landscape. In doing so, he doubled down on the advantages that GCP presents despite <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/is-google-adding-the-letters-crm-to-its-alphabet-soup-ask-hubspot">trailing AWS and Azure</a> with a mere 10% of the overall cloud marketplace – and how that could be an advantage for Contentstack to stand out.“You know, I think the Google Cloud folks have done really well with up-and-coming brands and even tech companies,” he shared. “They're very much focused on Silicon Valley. So we're hopeful we can tap into the latest and greatest brands as well as legacy brands that have committed to GCP.”As he noted, it’s weird thinking of Google as the “underdog,” but in the cloud world, that’s their current lot – and in some ways, it’s creating more of a culture that’s conducive to working with tech brands that are mid-market and building momentum. “Their technology is great, and it feels like they want to work with vendors like us,” Nishant surmised. “So we're excited to have them as a good partner. And then, of course, some of the e-commerce partners we work with, they've been on GCP for a long time. And you know, we can do some joint selling and stuff like that together. So that's also pretty exciting.”<h3 id="more-possibilities-for-ai">More possibilities for AI</h3>Like its competitive cloud brethren, GCP has its own discrete AI initiatives. In fact, Google proper was early to the game with its bumbling Bard chatbot (adroitly <a target="_blank" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-can-google-ai-chatbot-bard-now-gemini-do">rebranded to Gemini</a>), right around the time that Microsoft was touting its partnership with <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a>.AWS waited, launching late in 2023 with its Bedrock LLM and lining up with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.anthropic.com/">Anthropic</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://stability.ai/">Stability.ai </a>to make up ground. We’re already in a sort of “AI Cold War,” with startups struggling to reach revenue and major models fighting to prove their performance in an increasingly skeptical landscape. It’s all had a chilling effect on investors, and they’re scrutinizing which technologies are delivering the AI goods. It's worth consulting <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/what-s-new-in-artificial-intelligence-from-the-2023-gartner-hype-cycle">Gartner's AI Hype Cycle</a> to reaffirm where we might be on the arc (although I can't be sure if their diagram is hallucinating). In its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/composable-dxp-leader-contentstack-announces-new-partnership-with-google-cloud-302111266.html">press release</a> announcing the Google Cloud partnership, Contentstack indicated that customers would be able to take direct advantage of Google’s Cloud AI models. I asked Nishant what that meant for users – and why GCP presented an AI advantage over other clouds.“I think it's a very good question,” he said. “Obviously, with AI, there were a lot of different changes along the way, but we jumped on it. I think our first release was last January with the AI Assistant. I want to say we were first in the market, at least in the CMS world. But the way we architected it, we didn't just pick one service to ‘catch up.’ Our AI assistant and all the stuff we're doing with AI is more about optionality and giving our customers the ability to configure whatever LLM they want to bring to the table.” There are lots of choices out there for models, but hosting and training still present significant challenges for brands looking to tap the potential of AI. Google’s multimodal flexibility is a key benefit, and one of the reasons why Nishant is bullish on GCP. It’s also aligned with Contentstack’s pursuit of greater scalability and automation. “I think Google is an exciting one,” he continued. “They kind of fumbled in the beginning, but they keep iterating and making it better. We were one of the first ones to work with them to enable our customers with an option. On the content side, we built a full-on integration platform alongside Contentstack where you could automate and create content on the fly, get it approved, and launch it live. So you could create some really powerful workflows. And of course, Google's Gemini will be awesome for that.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Cloud infrastructure is a lot like plumbing. It’s obscured, living mostly behind walls and under cabinets. At times, you get your hands dirty dealing with a clog or a busted joint. One might say it’s ennuyeux – but at the same time, it’s absolutely vital to the modern software delivery experience.As someone who’s worked closely with AWS since 2016 (I’ve even given a few Tech Talks on subjects like serverless), I can say first-hand that the cloud ain't easy. It’s a minefield of madness, with problems always lurking in shadowy corners. Given the complexity involved with managing DevOps, authoring AWS Marketplace AMIs and CloudFormation templates, and defining licensing parameters, managing the considerations of one cloud is hard enough. But all three? Is it worth it?The answer is: yes. If you can dedicate the resources and support all the requirements. And there are many. To that end, it seems like Contentstack is committed to covering its bases and maximizing flexibility across the clouds.To Nishant’s point, more of the future sales motion will be focused on all three of the big cloud marketplaces, where SaaS procurement will continue to grow. By showing up universally, Contentstack is increasing its discoverability and preference. By further aligning with partners in each ecosystem, they can potentially offer more solution selling (which we’re already seeing in places like the AWS Competency programs).The cloud can be a decision-maker for customers. For brands that already have an established footprint with GCP and require a headless CMS or composable DXP, their first stop will likely be the Google Cloud Marketplace. Being available at the moment of need and deployable in an existing account greases the wheels and accelerates the buying journey. But rounding out the trifecta is just part of the competitive crucible for Contentstack. By making itself available across all three of the big cloud players, they’re sending a clear message that choice matters, and they’re committed to delivering on that. Finally, from an AI perspective, Contentstack has already been blazing trails. This just adds more fuel to the fire. Forget Google's initial faux pas – bringing Gemini to the fold could enhance a wide range of capabilities when integrated with tools like Contentstack, improving the search experience for customers as they engage with a brand’s digital experience. For Nishant, the value of investing in new technologies is clearly reinforced by his deep roots in headless and composability. There’s an ethos guiding the company’s innovation roadmap, and it has everything to do with the customer.“It'll be interesting to see where all this stuff goes,” he said. “I think from a Contentstack perspective, we just want to make sure we provide the kind of tooling and the right choice for our customers to go in whatever direction they want. We shouldn't block them from trying out new technologies, using our services, or even using someone else's services. You should be able to compose the experience you need, right? That's how we think about composability, and it's the whole difference with our company.”If I was standing below the Eiffel Tower, I might be inclined to say:C’est bon. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Contentstack ‘Reigns’ on Cloud Choice with Addition of Google Cloud Platform

<hr /> While attending the 2024 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff24">Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff </a>last week, I had a chance to connect with content management leaders and founders from an array of vendors. Some were leading the CMS practice at large enterprise DXPs. Others were mid-market headless players. Some were outside the standard industry categories, focusing on digital experience composition or orchestration (we’re still figuring out those TLAs).  Still, the largest quotient of attendees were content professionals in the CMS orbit, for which the menu of tools has been growing at a feverish pace – particularly on the headless side of the aisle. Over the years as composable caught fire, the visual gap became more pronounced for marketers. This is where <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/uniform">Uniform</a> made waves with its innovative <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uniform.dev/visual-workspace">Visual Workspace</a>. Since 2020, the company has empowered digital teams to see more across the composable frontier. With its cache of dynamic tools, the platform enabled users to blend content and data from almost anywhere, allowing brands to create omnichannel experiences faster and easier, and realize scalable personalization and painless integrations. But in 2024, things are shifting – again. Traditional single-source DXPs are decoupling products and embracing a more composable posture, while headless CMSes are adding capabilities to meet customer needs with greater choice and control. Meeting in the middle, as <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/deane">Deane Barker</a> would say. And that’s the bottom line: what the customer needs. Perhaps it’s not a big surprise that Uniform just announced the addition of next-generation CMS capabilities to its ecosystem. It’s a logical step when considering the market's motion and how users crave simplicity. And the fact is, we’re no longer living in a digital version of Middle Earth, where “One CMS to Rule Them All” is the defacto standard.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uniform.dev/features/content-management">today’s press release</a>, Uniform’s new CMS will support the functionality that brands would expect from a modern content management system, while differing in an important way: it will expand on the foundational concept of a single-source content repository to a unified, multi-source model. This will allow organizations to leverage content from any source without being shackled by integration logic, data syncing processes, or just the brute-force movement of content into yet another repo. Ugh.In other words, life just got a little easier.At the CMS Kickoff, I met with <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/is-the-birth-of-dxc-the-death-of-dxp-a-conversation-with-darren-guarnaccia-president-at-uniform">Darren Guarnaccia</a>, Uniform’s President, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkumarxyz/">Andrew Kumar</a>, the company’s GVP of Customer Solutions and Technology Partnerships. They gave me a bit of insight about the “CMS Cometh” and how they see it evolving the company’s trajectory.<h3 id="livin’-in-a-multi-source-world">Livin’ in a multi-source world</h3>I asked Darren, who has a deep legacy in CMS (and a résumé that includes stints at DXPs like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/crownpeak">Crownpeak</a>) about what spurred this move to introduce CMS features into the Visual Workspace experience. As he noted, it all emerged organically, as the idea of a CMS wasn’t even on their roadmap.“We realized about four or five months ago that two things were happening,” he said. “Customers were already connecting with CMS, bringing in all this content and blending it. But there were times when they needed to enrich that content, when, let's say, content was coming from Contentful or Contentstack. Maybe you have a description and you want to shorten it, or punch it up a little bit. Do you make a round trip all the way back to the CMS? Well, maybe… but what if it's for one channel? What if it's for a certain use case? Do I want to create an extended data model? Or do I store that locally? That's where it all started."<hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“we-thought,-wouldn’t-it-be-great-if-we-could-let-them-start-modeling-here.-so-little-by-little,-we-built-cms-capabilities-into-our-product,-starting-very-small-and-solving-sort-of-corner-cases-for-customers.-but-eventually,-we-built-a-full-fledged-cms.”">“We thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could let them start modeling here. So little by little, we built CMS capabilities into our product, starting very small and solving sort of corner cases for customers. But eventually, we built a full-fledged CMS.”</h4><hr />Darren also said that customers wanting to move into composable were also being straddled with CMS selection in a very complex market of choices. Meanwhile, they couldn't do any of the upfront modeling to help move their projects forward. These were known inhibitors, and while they didn’t have customers necessarily asking for a native CMS, they were certainly intercepting the signals. “We thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could let them start modeling here,” he said, referring to the Visual Workspace. “So little by little, we built CMS capabilities into our product, starting very small and solving sort of corner cases for customers. But eventually, we built a full-fledged CMS.”Uniform Content Management is more than a headless feature. It provides a seamless way to manage and deliver content, giving enterprises the ability to unify it all from existing sources. For brands that use one or more CMSes, Uniform is effectively creating an opportunity to work with a single content model that spans all systems, along with any other content sources that might be in play. This includes legacy, monolithic, composable, or even bespoke solutions. Content sources are added with ease using clicks – not code – to render massive integration projects into line items in a sprint plan. It’s all part of the promise to simplify, simplify, simplify. <h3 id="zen-and-the-philosophy-of-cms">Zen and the philosophy of CMS</h3>I asked Andrew Kumar about some of the underlying motivators behind the company’s new CMS, and how the nature of certain content types is shifting customer behavior – and ultimately influencing the kinds of tools they choose.“I think part of it was philosophy leading to reality,” he suggested. “Is there content that’s global and reusable, and needs to go across channels? And is it stable, where it doesn't change very frequently? The headless CMS has that covered, but then there’s content that lives for a short amount of time. That’s ephemeral content, but we've been using the term volatile content – where I have an offer or a promotion, and I need to go pull in that product information from the CMS, but then I need to decorate it with a bunch of other stuff for a short window. Do I put all of that non-reusable content that's going to be thrown away in three months? Do I put it back in my head, the CMS, which will create a big mess? Or do I have something in between?”What’s clear in the calculus is the distinction between long-term, stable content and the very real need for ephemeral, short-lived applications like ABM campaign pages. As Darren described it, this has traditionally been a binary choice for CMSes because no one does both well. With Uniform having a significant mindshare of CMS expertise under its hood, building out the functionality to bridge these worlds seemed an important – if not logical – endeavor. “It’s about having the right tool for the right job in the right use case,” Andrew explained. “It's like almost everyone at Uniform is a CMS industry veteran in some way, shape, or form – we all come from the Sitecores and the Contentstacks. Content Management is a very flexible way to be able to source and enrich a job to be done, and we’re building these capabilities to empower the digital team.”Sounds a bit like Jedis bringing balance to the Force.<h3 id="enhanced-by-generative-ai-and-experience-management-">Enhanced by generative AI and experience management </h3>Part of the curb appeal with Uniform’s new CMS rests with generative AI in the Visual Workspace. The features accelerate a user’s ability to create content at scale, but there’s more to it – particularly as it relates to personalization and A/B testing. These “Holy Grail” instruments have traditionally been limited by the amount of content a brand can create, and for that reason, fall short of their intended goals. Now, with generative AI woven throughout the Visual Workspace, new content and content variants can be created almost instantly. According to Uniform, they’re providing the “guardrails” that ensure generative AI is creating accurate, on-brand content, using the language models of your choice.Along with the addition of generative AI, Uniform announced enhancements around localization, versioning, and asset management as part of the Visual Workspace. Historically, these features were only available to content managed within the CMS. But now, Visual Workspace provides these capabilities to all content used in digital experiences, regardless of the source.With new CMS features in the Visual Workspace – as well as purpose-built tools for building and maintaining digital experiences – brands now have an alternative to storing all their content in a CMS and having to write integration code (vis-à-vis the “Glue Code Monster”) to get it back out. One other attribute from a dollars and cents perspective: brands can also reduce their CMS spend by reducing its use, along with the amount of integration logic needed to tap content from their CMS into their digital experiences. In essence, it simplifies the overall authoring experience for marketers, making them more productive.<h3 id="navigating-the-competitive-landscape">Navigating the competitive landscape</h3>The one word Andrew Kumar kept conjuring during our meeting was “coexistence.” During the course of the CMS Kickoff event last week, it became a theme – a mantra of sorts – that epitomized his vision for the CMS landscape in 2024. A utopian sentiment? Sure. But a challenging one to realize. It’s true: most large organizations have multiple content management systems. Heck, there are even more disparate places like DAMs and PIMs where data exists that marketers want to draw from. This is where Uniform has been making things easier in a complex, ever-growing morass of sources. In short, they’ve always been chasing coexistence. From a CMS perspective, I was curious how a platform that partners with many headless CMSes might be perceived when introducing its own. It wouldn’t be the first time that purpose-built systems have added whole applications to address a customer need (think Salesforce or HubSpot adding their own CMSes along the way). “There are going to be scenarios where we may be seen as competitive,” he observed. “And it's not really our intent, because we do, really, philosophically, coexist. It’s our game plan. It all depends on the needs of the customer, and what's the best mix of tools. I think we'll have some clear guidelines with our partners of the scenarios where it makes sense. And we are very much targeting enterprise customers that are always going to have one too many CMSes and always going to need us. We work very well with our headless CMS partners, where they will outright tell a customer, ‘don't put that stuff in the CMS, that's what you put in Uniform.’ So generally, we have warm relations with all of the headless CMS vendors.”<h3 id="what-does-this-mean-for-the-cms-market?">What does this mean for the CMS market?</h3>Boy oh boy, there’s a whole lotta choice out there. That’s for sure.Case in point: I just had a headless CMS startup reach out to me this week. Early stage, but touting a few customers – and looking to grow. This happens with more regularity than you might imagine; if you want some perspective, check out our <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products">CMS Critic Product Directory</a>.As long as there’s demand, choice is a good thing. Commoditization is inevitable on some level, but for the most part, each platform is endeavoring to differentiate around specific use cases, industries, and other critical factors. As Dean Barker noted in our Q&amp;A session at the CMS Kickoff, it’s partly the swarm of frontend options and frameworks – and the growth of omnichannel – that's driving the continued emergence of headless CMSes. With Uniform, there’s something natural about the evolution of its CMS features. The company’s culture is deeply embedded in content management (and probably opinionated on the subject from a multitude of angles), and it complements the overall strategy of building digital experiences faster and better. Still, Darren noted that while the CMS is a key development, it’s not the first thing they plan to discuss with customers.“We always lead with the Visual Workspace,” he said. “That's the anchor, always. Everything goes back to this, but now it has CMS capabilities. And that's the headline, you know? It’s also about getting started faster, even before you’re ready, even before you’ve bought a CMS, because this can let you do all the same structuring and all the same modeling. Even prototyping.”In wrapping our conversation, I asked Darren how his experience in CMS might have informed the vector when building a new content management system in 2023 (which was done rather quickly, I might add). You know, correcting mistakes of the past and what not. “At one point, I realized that if we were to build a CMS today, I would do it differently than I did 10 or 15 years ago,” he mused. “And the number one thing we would do is build it for a multichannel, multisource world. We would assume not all content lives just here. The fundamental premise of every CMS is ‘I should own everything. I have to own everything.’ But we realized that if we come the other way, we could be integrating with everybody. There are going to be times when you need to store some stuff here, too. Whether it's enrichments, or embellishments, or I want to get started on this site, and I'll plug in the CMS later. I'll start with this. And I'll model things out here. And then I'll unplug that and plug that in. And so it's built in that composed way where you can turn it off when you don't need to use it. It's just a part of the platform.”For users – and the market – having this level of choice within a platform seems like a win. Customers can leverage Uniform’s built-in CMS features, or connect with another CMS, and do it all based on their unique needs. In the end, it’s all about speed and simplicity.And yeah, maybe a little coexistence.  <hr /><h3 id="continue-the-conversation-at-these-upcoming-conferences:">Continue the conversation at these upcoming conferences:</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Uniform just added a CMS to its Visual Workspace. What it means for users – and the market

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