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<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Battle_After_Another">One Battle After Another</a> is already garnering buzz as an Oscar contender. But there’s another battle brewing for the top spots in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards">14th Annual CMS Critic Awards</a> – and you get to nominate the contenders!As usual, we’re not the Academy. During this contest, we put you in the judge’s seat, so you can tell us what CMS and related tools really blew your mind in 2025.Keep scrolling for more background and the house rules, but here's how it works in a nutshell: Make your nominations at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/nominate">www.cmscritic.com/nominate.</a> We take the top five contenders across a range of categories, open that up to general voting, and announce the victors in late February.DiCaprio might steal the show on screen, but he doesn’t hold a candle to agentic workflows. Content is the real star of this action flick, and the CMS Critic Awards are an opportunity for you to sing the praises of the platforms that power your digital experiences.<h3 id="celebrating-the-content-community">Celebrating the content community</h3>If you’re not familiar, the CMS Critic Awards are an institution in the content management and digital experience industries. It unites rabid fans across the globe to rally around the tools they love – no small feat in today’s fleeting technology landscape. With well-established enterprise vendors and a plethora of open source platforms, CMS enjoys some of the most loyal user communities in the tech pantheon. That’s why we’ve had such incredible participation over the past 13 years, making ours one of the longest-running awards programs in our industry (you can check out<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards"> all the previous winners here</a>).While CMS is our North Star, we also make space for the expanded ecosystem of products. Over the last decade, we've seen the rapid rise of digital experience technologies, from pure-play to fully integrated. To that end, we include categories for e-commerce, digital asset management, and even product information management. If it's a system that manages content, we want to celebrate it.In a world where using technology can feel like fighting one battle after another, the CMS Critic Awards is proof that loyalty still lives – and people make all the difference.<h3 id="2025:-the-agents-cometh…">2025: The agents cometh…</h3>…and they’re still coming. Without a doubt, this was the year when AI shifted to an agentic gear, with nearly every CMS, DXP, and adjacent platform touting its advancements with agents (and in some cases, “super agents”). It was a rapid-fire news cycle infused with innovative announcements – and we covered some of the biggest shifts throughout the year.We traversed the world in 2025, from San Francisco to Hamburg, connecting with communities and following the rattle and hum of the content world. With hundreds of articles published over the last 12 months, there’s too much to cover – but here are a few highlights:<ul><li>Platforms made big moves this year, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/">Contentstack’s acquisition of Lytics</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/seasons-of-love-sitecore-symposium-2025-sings-putting-ai-and-marketers-in-the-spotlight">Sitecore’s launch of its new Sitecore AI.</a> We attended both conferences, reporting from the ground with exclusive interviews. </li><li>At every event – from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/joy-to-the-content-world-storyblok-brings-ai-innovation-and-human-connection-to-joyconf-2025">Storyblok’s inaugural JoyConf</a> to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">MACH Alliance’s “The Composable Conference” </a>– agentic AI was a constant undercurrent, manifesting in a wide range of applications, use cases, features, and partnerships. </li><li>Analyst grids were rife with change as enterprise vendors like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-opal-fuels-marketers-with-powerful-ai-agents-via-googles-gemini-enterprise">Optimizely made headlines</a> with AI advancements and GEO-ready CMS capabilities. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/rush-to-geo-adobe-to-acquire-semrush-for-19b-to-enhance-ai-search">Adobe’s acquisition of SEO darling Semrush</a> was big news, Progress shook things up with its new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/progress-powers-its-vision-for-generative-cms-with-agentic-rag-and-a-legacy-of-innovation">Progress Agentic RAG offering</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/fight-the-cognitive-overload-brightspot-lights-the-way-to-productivity-with-its-evolutionary-cms-release">Brightspot launched</a> a game-changing release of its CMS.</li><li>Meanwhile, headless CMS players continued to drive innovation, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-headless-holodeck-joel-varty-of-agility-cms-on-warp-speed-demos-ai-and-the-next-generation-of-cms">Agility</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-cms-why-kontentais-vision-for-the-future-of-content-management-is-inspiring">Kontent.ai</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/hygraph-studio-sets-sail-with-increased-content-velocity-and-new-asset-management-capabilities">Hygraph</a>, leveraging their native composability to accelerate new AI and agentic capabilities and a host of dynamite enhancements.</li><li>Open source was also a big part of the conversation. In the wake of last year’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/wp-engine-wins-an-injunction-against-automattic-is-the-wordpress-scorched-earth-campaign-over">“WordPress Debacle,”</a> we broke the news about the new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/alls-fair-in-love-and-war-new-fair-package-manager-aims-to-bring-peace-to-the-wordpress-ecosystem">FAIR Package introduced at Alt Ctrl Org,</a> helping to shape a healing path forward. During our coverage of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/sowing-the-seeds-of-love-umbracos-codegarden-2025-celebrates-20-years-of-community-and-innovation">Umbraco’s Codegarden event,</a> we saw notable traction in areas like orchestration, MCP, and more. And we were honored to help judge <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/awards">the TYPO3 Awards,</a> which featured some inspiring and ambitious entries.    </li><li>Along with our coverage of pure play DAM platforms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/cloudinary">Cloudinary</a>, customer data was on our radar. From <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/hightouch-launches-high-performance-agents-to-help-marketers-move-10x-faster">Hightouch</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/treasure-data-brings-ai-marketing-cloud-and-super-agent-capabilities-to-aws-marketplace">Treasure Data</a>, we saw incredible use cases for AI and evolving roadmaps for agents at scale. More to come on that in 2026. </li><li>We featured lots of great research on a range of topics, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-panic-new-study-finds-ai-agents-in-production-face-infrastructure-and-reliability-challenges">agent system performance</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/put-on-a-happy-cms-face-storybloks-facial-coding-experiment-reveals-how-ai-is-sparking-joy">facial coding experiments.</a> We also tracked some innovative new tools in areas like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/one-ux-to-rule-them-all-auxia-powers-customer-journeys-with-ai-agents-in-new-unified-experience">customer journey orchestration</a> while continuing to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-complete-wordpress-accessibility-checklist-for-2026">shine a light on accessibility</a> and more exotic topics like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-i-mean-to-say-a-practitioner-perspective-on-ai-semantics-and-content-evolution">semantics and content evolution.</a>  </li></ul>Much like last year, traditional category lines are blurring, and new monikers are entering the lexicon. Platforms now offer a wide range of tools and capabilities, particularly in the case of DXPs. But we're focusing on clear, well-established lanes – and as always, if you feel a single vendor can live in more than one category, it’s your choice to nominate it. <h3 id="be-kind-–-your-mother-might-be-watching">Be kind – your mother might be watching</h3>The CMS Critic Awards are intended to be fun and friendly. But they do, at times, get a little intense. Every year, we receive thousands of ballots. Users come together like wolfpacks, championing the platforms they love. We also intercept a number of, shall we say, “passionate” pleas, demanding to know why certain platforms were in a specific category, or why their tool wasn’t in the running. As always, we try to operate in a space of respect and integrity. Obviously, if a platform isn’t truly open source, it won’t be considered for “Best Open Source CMS.” But now more than ever, we're blurring the proverbial lines – and let’s face it, the analysts are also compounding the problem. So, our editorial team endeavors to stay out of the nominating process. As a reminder, we only take the top five in each category by nomination count, so anything below that won’t be featured in the final voting in February.To the victors go the spoils! Winners receive official badging, shout-outs on social media, and one month of upgraded status in our highly-trafficked <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products">Product Directory.</a> <h3 id="how-to-make-your-nominations-">How to make your nominations </h3>The good news is that it’s easy – and fun. Here’s how you can participate:<ul><li>Visit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.cmscritic.com/nominate">www.cmscritic.com/nominate</a></li><li>Fill out the required fields and enter the names of your nominees in each category. You don't have to include a nomination for every category – only complete the fields that you care about, and your ballot will be counted. Remember that you can nominate the same vendor in multiple categories.</li><li>Once completed, click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the form. </li><li>You can only nominate once, and companies or brands that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.</li><li>Spread the word! Remember to share and encourage others to participate, especially across your social channels.</li><li>Nominations close on January 25, 2026, so get out there and rally your communities! Once we tabulate the results, we’ll announce the top five for general voting in early February via email and social. </li></ul>We might call this a battle, but it’s really a lovefest for CMS – and you call the shots. So make your nominations today! <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS 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, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets 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>

The ‘Battle Royale’ Begins: Nominations are OPEN for the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!

cms-critic-staff

<hr /> There’s just no way to soften the blow: we’re drowning in digital stuff. It’s a colossal problem of our own creation – and AI is making it worse by the day.But hang on. It’s not all bad, right? With the advent of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/generative-ai/">generative AI,</a> brands can arm their marketing channels faster than ever with more assets and variants. It’s enabling greater scale and hyper-personalized experiences across more touchpoints.The problem? Maintaining governance is still a bit like “The Wild West.” With so much stuff in so many places, it's brewing a stampede of digital asset chaos – and that’s creating a huge problem for enterprises as they try to wrangle control and consistency while meeting breathtaking expectations. And this is, without question, an important consideration for large brands and enterprises as they wrestle with the realities of exploding content. According to research in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/blog/state-of-digital-content/">The State of Digital Content in 2025</a>, only 19% of teams increased their content ROI in the past year. Meanwhile, content professionals currently waste over three hours a week searching for digital assets while managing four or more disconnected tools.Like many of its DAM peers, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/canto">Canto</a> has been helping teams throw a lasso around the spreading herd. The pure-play <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-digital-asset-management-dam-system">digital asset management</a> provider – which was founded in 1990, making it a true pioneer in the field – has shaped the landscape of DAMs and PIMs, which have provided control and confidence around digital assets and product information at enterprise scale.  But no one expected just how dramatically AI would impact the game. Now, brands are adding assets exponentially in multiple media dimensions. That control and confidence is being tested like never before, and we need new ways – new thinking – to meet the demands of managing it all. Canto is doing just that. With its latest release, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/product/">Canto XI</a>, the company is launching the boldest reinvention of its platform yet, transforming its DAM into a true intelligent content hub that’s purpose-built for the AI era.Canto XI consolidates content-lifecycle workflows while adding unique and powerful new products, all designed to address the evolving challenges brands face with managing assets across disconnected tools. It provides an intuitive, single source of truth for all creative and product content, enabling brands to launch campaigns faster with tighter coordination between creative assets and product data.“The content landscape has fundamentally changed,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellum/">Wain Kellum,</a> Canto's CEO. “Brands are creating exponentially more digital assets while facing pressure to move faster and maintain consistency across every touchpoint. Our customers told us they need more than traditional DAM; they need agile systems that keep pace with today’s and tomorrow’s content demands. Canto XI now delivers exactly that. We’re excited to release a transformational platform where AI doesn’t just organize content, it accelerates every decision teams make.”The robust, AI-powered features of Canto XI reflect the company’s fierce pace of innovation, buoyed by smart acquisitions. Last year, Canto <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/canto-pim-unites-dam-and-product-information-management-streamlining-asset-and-data-workflows">united its DAM and PIM capabilities</a> to streamline asset and data workflows, following the strategic purchase of industry rival <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.imagerelay.com/">Image Relay</a> in mid-September of 2024.Those moves were amplified along the AI vector with Canto’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/press-releases/canto-merlinone/">acquisition of another competitor, MerlinOne,</a> making way for some fairly impressive AI capabilities that provided an early foundation for its path into enhanced automation. <h3 id="automating-key-workflows-and-eliminating-‘tool-sprawl’">Automating key workflows and eliminating ‘tool sprawl’</h3>Canto XI helps make assets instantly discoverable and ensures brand consistency across all touchpoints. Alongside a modernized UI and embedded AI capabilities, the new release introduces four purpose-built products. Together, these work to unify brand and product content into one platform where AI powers every stage of the content lifecycle. First, the new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/product/brand-studio/">Brand Studio</a> empowers field teams and partners with on-brand templates while keeping design in control. Users also have access to an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/product/approval-hub/">Approval Hub</a>, which centralizes review and approval processes with annotations, version history, and audit trails so that teams ship faster and more confidently.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:80.86%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1760035965821.png" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Canto XI’s AI Library Assistant. Source: Canto Canto XI’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/product/ai-library-assistant/">AI Library Assistant</a> keeps content libraries instantly searchable with AI-powered organization, tagging, and enrichment. Easy to use and navigate, it makes the entire search process easier and more streamlined for users. <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:67.17%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1760035964699.png" alt="A screenshot of a computer

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Canto XI’s AI Media Publisher. Source: Canto Finally, Canto XI’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.canto.com/product/media-publisher/">Media Publisher</a> delivers optimized assets – including video – directly to websites, apps, and channels, eliminating the need for separate publishing tools. A huge timesaver that lightens the load.<h3 id="canto-ai:-powering-every-stage-of-the-content-lifecycle">Canto AI: Powering every stage of the content lifecycle</h3>Many CMS and DXP platforms have introduced intelligent AI assistants and co-pilots across their composable products and ecosystems, which have been well-received by users.Canto is doing the same with its Canto AI Engine, which is woven throughout its platform to power workflows from creation to analysis. Canto’s AI Visual Search, for example, now includes visual similarity detection, while AI Library Assistant introduces smart organization and categorization capabilities. AI also enhances Brand Studio’s template-based creation tools. As a whole, these AI-powered features automate tagging, suggest metadata, and provide content recommendations to keep libraries structured and instantly searchable. Combined with advanced integration capabilities that connect with existing martech stacks, its AI engine learns from usage patterns to help improve recommendations over time, giving users and teams the ability to move faster with greater control and confidence.“Marketing teams are drowning in disparate tools from too many vendors that create more work instead of reducing it,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/abeiagi/">Alan Beiagi,</a> Chief Product and Technology Officer at Canto. “Canto XI gives them one platform where AI handles the heavy lifting and connects content to business outcomes. While many platforms layer AI on top of existing systems, we’ve built intelligence directly into the foundation of the Canto platform, so every action benefits from AI without teams having to think about it.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Canto’s latest release is an evolutionary one, promising to help brands escape the yoke of content chaos with intelligent solutions. The pace of asset creation isn’t slowing down, and Canto XI is endeavoring to transform how organizations address the content management dilemma. By approaching all brand and product content as interconnected assets – rather than isolated files – Canto is rethinking the foundation of digital asset management. When evaluating DAM options for your use case, Canto continues to demonstrate that its wisdom is matched by its innovation, and its strong roadmap for its AI makes it worthy of consideration. Ending the digital asset chaos starts with a “can do” attitude. But it also requires some bold rethinking of our technology and practices. If you're ready for it, Canto could be your “can do” partner. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.61%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/storyblok-joyconf-2025-logo.jpg" /><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Storyblok JoyConf 2025</a></h4>October 14-15, 2025 – Amsterdam, Netherlands November 4, 2025 – New York, NY November 6, 2025 – Los Angeles, CAJoin us at JoyConf 2025, where the future of content meets the people shaping it. Built for developers, marketers, and digital innovators, this free conference goes way beyond product updates or yet another strategy playbook. It’s where you’ll get inspired, get real, and get connected – to ideas, to the community, and to what’s possible when you build joyfully. Whether you're building lightning-fast frontends or launching cross-channel campaigns, this is where content becomes connection and collaboration becomes second nature. Come for the talks. Stay for the community. Leave with joy. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Save your spot.</a> <img style="width:28.9%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/sitecore-symposium-2025.jpg" /><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2025</a></h4>November 3-5, 2025 – Orlando, FLAt Sitecore Symposium, you’ll learn how to meet your customers where they are – across channels, moments, and touchpoints that didn’t exist a year ago. You’ll hear how the boldest brands in the world are transforming content into outcomes and creating experiences that are fast, relevant, and human. Join 1,500 marketers, digital leaders, and technologists in Orlando to see what’s possible when personalization scales, AI accelerates creativity, and trust becomes your competitive edge. This is the Third Wave of the Internet. And this is your moment to lead in it. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Get your tickets today.</a> <figure class="image image-style-block-align-left image_resized" style="width:28.08%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1759840698475.png" /></figure><h4 id="raise:-lifting-content-into-the-future-with-agentic-cms"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS</a></h4>November 11, 2025 – London, UKJoin Kontent.ai at RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS, a premier free event for forward-thinking marketing and technology leaders shaping the way today’s most ambitious brands create and deliver content. Expect bold ideas, discover innovative strategies, engage with industry leaders, and gain insights that will lift your content strategy to new heights. At RAISE, you'll learn how to deliver faster, more engaging content experiences while AI does the busywork of audits, compliance, and localization with Agentic CMS, built to give you and your teams more time on creativity that matters. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">Reserve your seat today.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS 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, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Can we end the digital asset chaos? Canto says ‘can do’ with its latest AI-powered release

matt-garrepy

<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/ibex">Ibexa</a> isn’t just quibbling with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.quable.com/en">Quable</a>. They’re going all in on PIM.The digital experience platform – headquartered in Norway with offices worldwide – recently announced that it has merged with the product information management system. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibexa.co/blog/ibexa-and-quable-the-alliance-of-two-market-leaders-in-digital-experience">According to Ibexa’s blog</a>, the combination will accelerate each company’s individual development plans while offering clients the unique benefits of a unified, composable solution that simplifies the management of digital experiences. This combination reflects a growing trend in the marketplace, as integrated and modular digital solutions evolve to meet complex brand challenges. By breaking down technical and organizational boundaries, Ibexa and Quable aim to define market standards by enhancing the relationship between digital experience management and product information.From a structural standpoint, Ibexa will become a majority shareholder in Quable, which is based in France. The alliance is not limited to technological considerations, as it also endeavors to project a new vision of digital ecosystems that combines the shared values of both organizations.As part of the deal, Quable will remain autonomous, maintaining its operational independence over its PIM while benefiting from Ibexa's international scale, reach, and resources. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran%C3%A7ois-emmanuel-lamelliere-92487560/">François-Emmanuel Lamellière</a>, Quable's CEO, this is a “decisive advantage for winning new international customers, while preserving the company's DNA and know-how.”It's worth noting that Ibexa is a <a target="_blank" href="https://qntmgroup.com/">member of the QNTM group</a>, a European-based cabal of martech platforms. QNTM provides a portfolio of best-in-class, compliant solutions that are designed to work together, simplifying the challenge of enabling business leaders to deliver personalized customer experiences that drive results. QNTM features technology categories like data collection, data management, and data activation (of which Ibexa is part), serving more than 2,500 brands globally. Quable stands to benefit from QNTM's reach and improve Ibexa's performance as part of this ecosystem.<h3 id="evolving-dxp-capabilities-with-">Evolving DXP capabilities with "PIM Power"</h3>“Reveal your true self.” That’s Ibexa’s core messaging right now, reflecting a tacit mission to help brands reach their true potential by transforming complexity into a competitive advantage. They’ve been delivering on this promise with an end-to-end DXP featuring tailored content management, CDP, personalization, e-commerce, and workflow automation capabilities – and now, the addition of PIM capabilities. A well-established brand in Europe, Ibexa has been directing focus on its international expansion while enhancing its technological capabilities. Recognized by Gartner, the company has made great strides in recent years around personalization and integration – essential assets in a rapidly changing market.One of the biggest assets of the Ibexa/Quable alliance is the potential for a more agile and integrated ecosystem – one that could eliminate many of the walls that separate marketing, product, e-commerce, communication, and technical teams. The advantages of unifying a powerful PIM with the flexibility of a well-stacked DXP are abundantly clear. By synchronizing product information with media and assets, brands can accelerate their go-to-market strategies and enhance personalization by distributing relevant, precise, and highly curated content to the right targets and audiences.Additionally, the combined capabilities will give digital teams greater control, helping them maintain consistency and uniformity across all of their channels – from web to mobile, social to e-commerce.<h3 id="driving-stronger-personalization-and-cx">Driving stronger personalization and CX</h3>With this merger's structure, both Ibexa and Quable will augment and accelerate their respective growth strategies while combining forces. For Quable, Ibexa’s knowledge and experience of scaling internationally will help accelerate its roadmap. “Quable has grown very rapidly thanks to the talent of its team and its powerful ecosystem,” said Lamellière. “Now we need to break new ground by joining forces with a world-class software player that shares our values, recognizes our expertise, and helps us to accelerate our international development. We are really excited to be part of this unique journey.”On the Ibexa side, the addition of a world-class PIM will create more differentiated value across its stack, giving it more completeness of vision and a competitive edge in a noisy marketplace of expanding solutions. PIMs are proving to be invaluable to brands as they look for meaningful ways to power personalization to drive conversions in areas like digital commerce.“Ultra-personalization and consistency of messaging have become the key factors for go-to-market and differentiation, which is why we are so delighted to bring new fantastic capabilities to Ibexa DXP,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmaugain/">Bertrand Maugain</a>, CEO of Ibexa. “Capabilities that, I’m sure, will be warmly welcomed by our customers and partners. Thanks to QNTM Group support, we are building the new European Digital Experience champion.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>We’ve been tracking Ibexa since it was eZ Systems, a <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">web content management system</a> with decades of strong adoption across Europe. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibexa.co/blog-archive/ez-systems-announces-company-name-change-to-ibexa">The company rebranded in 2020</a>, following a banner year of growth and a seismic shift in the type and size of customers the company was attracting.Buoyed by the acquisition of a B2B e-commerce software platform, eZ began incorporating site building, personalization, CDP, and workflow automation capabilities alongside its core content management system – positioning its market offering as a true digital experience platform. The company now boasts over 250,000 business customers and over 80 partners worldwide.The addition of a PIM certainly addresses a gap that competitive DXPs currently offer, which typically bolsters native digital asset management capabilities. Ibexa’s built-in DAM already provides robust and flexible control for editors, including a DAM Connector API for associating DAM variations and derivatives to variations from the DXP.Ibexa has been making gains with its international expansion, which bodes well for the company’s prospects. That said, the European-based QNTM affiliation continues to be a growth asset, providing greater visibility and scalable coordination with other data layers of the martech stack. The company's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibexa.co/products/features/integration-and-automation">QNTM Connect</a> offers integrations with over 1,300 business apps and features a no-code workflow builder and other automation capabilities - reinforcing the value of the QNTM iPaaS play.From a composability perspective, Ibexa has adopted the modular playbook for DXPs, introducing its own <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibexa.co/products/ibexa-headless">Ibexa Headless</a> solution into the ecosystem. Along with the addition of Quable’s PIM capabilities, Ibexa is delivering on its completeness of vision.It's worth noting that <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-digital-asset-management-dam-system">digital asset management systems</a> and PIMs have benefited from some stellar advancements over the last two years, particularly with the advent of more high-utility AI innovation. This reflects the continued challenges large brands face around the exponential scaling of data, particularly in the e-Commerce realm. Just last week, we covered<a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/canto-pim-unites-dam-and-product-information-management-streamlining-asset-and-data-workflows"> the launch of Canto's new PIM</a>, which endeavors to fuse both DAM and PIM capabilities into a composable offering. If you’re currently evaluating digital experience platforms, Ibexa offers a solid mix of tools and resources. It may be early to appreciate the full extent of the Quable affiliation, but it certainly seems poised to deliver value. I would recommend a closer look at the company's AI horizon, which was bolstered by its announcement of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibexa.co/products/features/ai-catalyst">Ibexa AI Catalyst</a> in October to provide in-app generative capabilities.Overall, this is a smart move to shore up greater extensibility and competitive agility for Ibexa – and deliver more value for its DXP customers.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-ibexa?--talk-to-us.-">Looking for guidance on Ibexa?  <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to us. </a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – St. Petersburg, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS 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, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a> <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>

Ibexa and Quable Join Forces, Unifying DXP and PIM Capabilities

<hr /> A bit of translation trivia: the word “Canto” means “singing” in Spanish. Perhaps, then, it’s apropos that the company called <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/canto">Canto</a> – a leading <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-digital-asset-management-dam-system">digital asset management</a> software platform – is crooning a sweet tune about its latest innovation. Is it Swift-worthy? Sure sounds that way.The song they’re spinning is the new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canto.com/product/canto-pim">Canto PIM</a>, a comprehensive solution that “harmonizes” its industry-standard DAM with product information management capabilities.According to the company, Canto PIM has been purpose-built to overcome the burdens and blockers many brands face when managing, distributing, iterating, optimizing, and securing their digital assets and product data across an expansive ecosystem of channels, campaigns, and use cases.I’ve been expecting this news given that Canto acquired industry rival <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imagerelay.com/">Image Relay</a> in mid-September. The Vermont-based SaaS company had been blazing trails around its combined modeling of digital asset management and product information management, making it an attractive target in what is becoming a densely competitive race between pure-play DAMs and DXP ecosystem solutions.The revelation of Canto PIM certainly came faster than anticipated, likely a reflection of the pressure to drive differentiation and capture market share before the 2025 product announcement cycle. At the time, I predicted that the combo could be a game changer as Canto executes its vision to revolutionize the way businesses mine value from their digital content. This isn't Canto's first dance with M&amp;A. Just last year, the company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canto.com/press-releases/canto-merlinone/">acquired another competitor, MerlinOne,</a> making way for some fairly impressive AI capabilities that are continuing to juice its feature set. Here’s a revealing stat: 85% of marketers say that their <a target="_blank" href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/consultancy/deloitte-uk-future-of-experience-time-to-market.pdf">content demands have doubled</a> in just the past two years. As you can imagine, siloed approaches to digital asset and product information management can’t keep up with this exponential growth – particularly as brands struggle to compete in a crowded, time-compressed market.“Within every industry, businesses are under unprecedented pressure to create and deliver more content than ever before,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellum/">Wain Kellum</a>, Canto's CEO. “Canto PIM empowers organizations to reimagine their content and product information operations for the digital-first era, breaking down legacy roadblocks to deliver exceptional customer, partner, and employee experiences at scale.”Canto has been in the DAM game for three decades, so it understands this space with a deeper intimacy than most of its modern peers. The expanded ecosystem of choice is certainly providing more competition, but it’s also driving legacy platforms to rethink their strategies and invest in expanding their capabilities – like bridging the gap between digital asset and product information data. <h3 id="putting-pim-in-the-dam-symphony">Putting PIM in the DAM symphony</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhall1979/">Andrew Hall</a>, Canto's VP of Global Demand Generation, recently shared some key DAM trends that the company is focusing on in 2025. In the video below, he talks about the benefits of streamlining workflows, scaling content lifecycles, and integrating a wider bench of tools to provide brands with greater efficiency.  <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr0ZCUDHa1Y"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sr0ZCUDHa1Y" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> Reinforcing those transformative trends, Canto PIM builds on the company’s industry-leading legacy as a DAM innovator. The platform serves as a single source of truth for all product data and digital content, whether it’s product-specific or deployed for broader brand marketing and sales initiatives. By unifying traditionally fragmented capabilities, the solution enables organizations to streamline workflows across the entire content and product information lifecycle – from initial planning and creation to distribution and analysis. The platform enables brands to unify product data and assets by centralizing everything in a single repository and using AI search and intuitive tools to streamline workflows and maximize efficiency.Canto PIM also synchronizes omnichannel experiences by syncing product data and assets across e-commerce, social media, and partner content, ensuring a more cohesive and consistent brand experience for customers. It also streamlines product launches with its native scalability, providing a system that can handle unlimited products, versions, and attributes with zero friction – and without sacrificing performance. <figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/12/canto-screen.jpg" alt="" /></figure>Canto PIM provides fields for rich product metadata, as well as AI-powered search. Source: Canto website When it comes to tracking performance, Canto PIM is equipped with advanced analytics that deliver actionable insights. You can easily measure asset performance and ROI, so you can develop intelligent multichannel and omnichannel strategies.A big benefit of modern DAMs is the ability to protect brand assets. Canto PIM carries forward that same commitment from Canto’s digital asset management system for safeguarding brand assets and product IP. It delivers on this promise by providing SOC-2-certified, enterprise-grade security, as well as granular permissions and compliance measures for managing users and access. You can take a more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canto.com/product/canto-pim/">in-depth product tour</a> on Canto's website.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>DAM, it’s getting loud in here. It’s true. As the digital asset management space packs in more players, it’s going to take a really sharp voice to sing over the crowd. This includes the chorus of digital experience platforms that offer integrated solutions as part of their ecosystem – an advantage on some levels, but less geared towards composable stacks, which are becoming more of a preference among large enterprise brands. As one of the most proven legacy brands in the market, Canto has consistently delivered on its DAM differentiators. Powered by the Image Relay acquisition, it now has an even stronger offering that meaningfully combines the capabilities of DAM and PIM. And that’s the lyrical hook: the marriage of these categories needs to yield real fruit for users, and the harmonies need to be on key. AI is certainly a force multiplier, and DAMs are applications where AI and machine learning enable high-utility outcomes. With the addition of more advanced AI features – specifically around search – Canto is delivering on its vision for truly unifying disjointed content assets and product information and making it actionable. With the increased volume around DAM and PIM solutions, evaluating these products can be more challenging – particularly with enterprise DXPs offering some compelling solutions. Many independent platforms are focusing on their composable posture as part of their value proposition. Based on your goals, it's essential to assess how a DAM's architecture is best suited for your stack and how AI and other features will enable your teams to manage data from a wide range of sources. In many composable use cases, having a layer of orchestration is becoming attractive for marketing teams and business leaders who are executing omnichannel strategies. At the end of the day, the song we’re all dying to hear is how a DAM and PIM “twofer” will enable marketing, creative, and product teams to be faster, leaner, more agile – and ultimately more efficient. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/abeiagi/">Alan Beiagi</a>, Canto’s Chief Product and Technology Officer, reflected that it’s all about giving customers a place that finally brings everything together. And that's music to everyone's ears.“By breaking down the barriers between DAM and PIM technologies and workflows, we’re giving our customers the all-in-one agility and efficiency they need to thrive in their marketplace,” he said. It doesn’t take a Swiftie to see that Canto might have a hit on its hands.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-canto?--talk-to-us.-">Looking for guidance on Canto?  <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to us. </a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – St. Petersburg, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS 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, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a> <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>

Canto PIM Unites DAM and Product Information Management, Streamlining Asset and Data Workflows

<hr /> DAM is hot. Red hot. Like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPDUDPCttfc">Steph Curry</a> from the three-point line.The reason is clear: we’ve got too much stuff dribbling on our digital courts. Handling the “brand ball” across distributed global teams, remote workers, and diverse channels is getting increasingly complex. As such, many organizations are often one foul away from using the wrong asset or publishing outdated product details – and that's a ticket to a losing game. Digital Asset Management (DAM) and its co-captain, Product Information Management (PIM), have been winning solutions to this problem of scaling content. While neither category is new to the roster, they’re continuing to prove their relevance as digital content grows. And grows. DAMs and PIMs are like different players on the same team. Both perform well in their respective positions and are quite closely aligned, stoking collaboration and ensuring consistency (you know, picking and rolling in the paint). If you’re not familiar with the distinctions, DAMs manage things like images, videos, and documents; PIMs are used to maintain stores of product information. As one might guess, they indeed overlap in discrete areas, but they miss a shot or two based on their focus. Typically, an organization combines brand assets from a DAM and product details from its PIM, relying on integrations to compile and print on various frontends like websites or apps. One thing they do have in common is rapid transformation with AI. The last two years have seen the addition of AI-driven tools and features like automated workflows, tagging, and more, all designed to help users and organizations streamline their digital operations.Having both DAM and PIM features more closely aligned – along with AI's force-multiplying effects – would certainly benefit large enterprises with vast digital caches of assets and product data. Now, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canto.com/">Canto</a>, a preeminent DAM software provider, is expanding its footprint to do just that.Yesterday, the company announced that it has acquired industry rival <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imagerelay.com/">Image Relay</a>, a Vermont-based SaaS company that’s been doing novel work to unify digital asset management and product information management. The combination could be a game changer as Canto executes its vision to revolutionize the way businesses mine value from their digital content. Canto has been on its own shooting streak: just last year, the company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canto.com/press-releases/canto-merlinone/">acquired another competitor, MerlinOne,</a> as it looked to inorganically scale its AI capabilities. For a company with three decades of experience in the DAM game, Canto is certainly looking to grow its fan base aggressively. Let's unpack it a little further. <h3 id="betting-big-on-the-digital-content-explosion">Betting big on the digital content explosion</h3>When I say DAM is worthy of a Steph Curry allusion, then the swish should be audible from the stands – and by all accounts, it is. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/digital-asset-management-market">According to Grand View Research</a>, the global Digital Asset Management market size was valued at over $4.2 billion in 2023, with a projected CAGR of 16.2% from 2024 to 2030.As I previously stated, this is primarily attributed to the proliferation of remote work and distributed teams – thanks in part to a little bug called COVID – which has accelerated the adoption of DAM technology. With more employees working from various locations, cloud-based DAM solutions swept in as a secure pipeline for accessing digital assets from anywhere. The benefits are exceedingly clear. With a DAM, disparate users and teams can collaborate seamlessly and respond faster to shifting dynamics, specifically in fields like marketing, media, and e-commerce – industries where immediate access to up-to-date assets can impact campaign effectiveness and customer engagement.Driving most of the attention and focus on DAMs is the rapid expansion of digital platforms and the rise of omnichannel marketing. As consumers move more fluidly across interconnected screens and devices, brands are seeking just-in-time solutions to meet buyers at every doorstep with cohesive messaging. This has resulted in swollen silos of digital content, packed with images, videos, PDFs, rich media, and more – and an onslaught of AI-generated substance to supply personalization and experimentation goals. To meet this surge, enterprises are now straddled with immense digital content creation needs, which require efficient structural, storage, and retrieval solutions. DAMs and PIMs provide a centralized resource for maintaining these assets in a unified system, helping content creators work together more effectively by streamlining workflows and ensuring consistency across their brand’s ecosystem of assets and product information.Many practical factors involved with digital asset management exceed the charter of marketing and broach the realm of a brand’s sustainability, liability, and reputation. For example, images might have specified copyright or licensing associated with their usage or compliance requirements for assets in different global regions. Content may need to be authenticated in a sea of AI-generated knock-offs. There might even be sensitive cultural considerations that require specific temperature controls. In all of these use cases, a DAM can provide a layer of governance that enables businesses to maintain control over their asset usage, reduce redundancy or errors, and achieve a higher TCO via cost savings from lawsuits or brand damage. This translates into greater efficiency that can be realized at multiple levels within an organization.<h3 id="canto’s-cantata-is-dam-good-music">Canto’s cantata is DAM good music</h3>The acquisition of Image Relay is a critical step in Canto's plan to revolutionize the way businesses extract value from their digital content. The company already boasts over 3,400 customers worldwide and is, by all accounts, in a growth mode. That said, certain industries – such as retail, manufacturing, and CPG – have traditionally relied on separate platforms and complex integrations to manage product data associated with specific digital assets. This can result in latency and errors relative to the unique structure of each independent system. I’ve followed Image Relay for several years, and it’s clear why Canto has chosen this technology to harmonize the orbits of DAM and PIM. Image Relay has made notable strides in uniting the hemispheres with its unified <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imagerelay.com/marketing-delivery">Marketing Delivery</a> platform, allowing customers to efficiently store, access, and share brand-approved, up-to-date product information alongside digital assets. Image Relay's Marketing Delivery system is purpose-built to enable things like omnichannel strategies. It's also designed to reduce product-to-market time and thus amplify revenue. Now, with Canto’s added reach, it could result in a comprehensive solution that fully aligns the two dominions.Image Relay’s founder and CEO <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/skye-chalmers-19273043/">Skye Chalmers</a> will join Canto to help lead the integration of the two technologies and their teams. As he noted in the press release, he’s spent 20 years at Image Relay focusing on the creation of seamless unified solutions that combine these systems. By joining forces with Canto, he sees the delivery of even greater value and efficiency for its customers.As more enterprises embrace composable technology stacks, Canto’s unification of DAM and PIM might reduce the surface area for stacks that require greater access to both resources while selecting best-of-breed tools that perform outside of composed DXPs – many of which offer their own DAMs as part of their offerings. Canto clearly brings key benefits to the coupling, namely in the way of AI innovation. After the acquisition of MerlinOne, the company launched its <a target="_blank" href="https://info.canto.com/digital-asset-management/mam">AI Visual Search</a>, a slick solution that enables users to find assets quickly across vast content libraries based solely on a visual description prompt. A novel approach in a growing field of generative AI applications, Visual Search effectively bridged the gap between visual content and metadata-based searches, delivering a more user-friendly experience for managing and utilizing digital assets. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellum/">Wain Kellum</a>, Canto’s CEO, the acquisition of Image Relay will enable the company to offer a leading-edge solution to help businesses streamline their digital operations, enhance data accuracy, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.It all sounds fantastic, but we know there’s no easy layup in the software stadium. Along with the growth of the general DAM market comes a slate of competitive platforms, from <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bynder.com/">Bynder</a>. At the same time, vendors like Widen have been eaten by DXPs like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/acquia">Acquia, </a>which provide integrated offerings out-of-the-box. These are appealing to large enterprises looking for scalable, reliable solutions designed to work with a broader ecosystem of purpose-built technologies.Go across the market, and you see macro platforms like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/optimizely">Optimizely</a> tethering their DAM technologies with broader <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-leads-gartners-2024-mq-for-content-marketing-platforms-as-more-dxps-join-the-game">Content Marketing Platform (CMP)</a> capabilities, reflecting the enterprise's focus on truly integrated solutions that accelerate and scale their marketing initiatives. Go downstream and<a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms"> headless CMS</a> platforms like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/directus">Directus</a> are tacking on their own DAM solution with bring-your-own storage capabilities. All this choice is great, but confusion is a blocker to greatness. In the analysis and evaluation, brands have to be concerned with the ease of use, accuracy, reliability, and ultimately the control that comes with the selection of a DAM or PIM – or both. The need is compelling, but organizations require a clear vision and roadmap to truly unlock the value of such a critical decision.There's also the question of industry scale. Right now, the largest portion of DAM adoption is in media, with the addressable U.S. market leading the revenue share. But factor in the rising potential in vectors like healthcare and manufacturing, and the possibilities for more targeted DAM and PIM solution sets could further balloon. This is where having an ambitious market vision will be a rallying point. As I touched on previously, AI is literally reshaping the definition of a DAM, automating everything from metadata tagging to content recognition. These AI features are evolving every DAM’s searchability, scalability, and usability, making them indispensable tools for enterprises managing vast volumes of digital assets. But the meaningful combination of DAM and PIM – and the focus on AI solutions that can unify, personalize, and ease the digital chaos – could be a key differentiator for Canto.As Steph Curry once observed, “<a target="_blank" href="https://247sports.com/player/65374/quotes/basketball-isnt-just-a-sport-it-is-an-art-one-that-must-be-45275228/">Basketball isn’t just a sport. It is an art, one that must be mastered to succeed.</a>” Similarly, Digital Asset Management isn’t just a technology, but an activator for brands to power creativity and master their game. In that sense, Canto’s vision with Image Relay might just be a slam DAM dunk.  <hr /> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 2025</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, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Slam DAM Dunk: Canto Acquires Image Relay, Plans to Align DAM and PIM Features

<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/ci-hub">CI HUB</a> has been a persistent explorer of in-app connections. The company’s software enables users to access and manage content from various key sources, including DAM (Digital Asset Management), PIM (Product Information Management), cloud storage, stock sources, and even work management systems. Connectors like this have become critical to productivity as brands wrestle with an increasingly complex and disjointed landscape of data sources. This is a big reason why <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/ci-hub-announces-major-investment-plans-to-scale-content-integration-solutions">CI HUB announced</a> a major investment from Scale Capital in March of this year, with plans to further advance its ecosystem of connector capabilities. Currently, it provides two core offerings: CI HUB Connector Professional and Connector Corporate.A big focus for CI HUB has been the burgeoning <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe Creative Cloud</a>, but they’ve also been blazing trails with other large-scale enterprise systems, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365">Microsoft Office 365</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/salesforce">Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google Workspace</a>. CI HUB also offers solutions for content, experience, and prototyping platforms like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-sharepoint">SharePoint</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/figma">Figma</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sketch">Sketch</a>. One of the biggest deterrents to DAM and PIM utilization is complexity. With distributed teams having to leverage multiple platforms with different access credentials – and unwieldy systems stymieing the ability to locate assets – content creators can become frustrated and productivity can be significantly impacted. This can result in users getting “creative" with outside tools and unauthorized assets, which can impact brand consistency and integrity. In some cases, it can even open up Pandora's Box around things like stock image licensing and copyright infringement.CI HUB is once again easing the DAM burden with its new <a target="_blank" href="https://ci-hub.com/download/drive/">CI HUB Drive</a>, which enables users to access assets stored in DAMs, PIMs, and other systems directly from their desktops via MacOS or Windows machines. By bringing these systems into a local environment, CI HUB reduces the friction of finding and utilizing key assets, syncs components fluidly, and accelerates productivity and time to market. This translates into greater value around a DAM or PIM investment. “Most companies don’t get the most from their DAMs because employees find it difficult or inconvenient to log in and access what they need,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasmichalski/">Andreas Michalski</a>, CI HUB Founder and CEO. “But with CI HUB Drive, DAM assets and data are available right on their desktop. By integrating CI HUB Drive into the most commonly used tools, MacOS Finder and Windows Explorer, there is zero training needed. This will significantly improve the adoption rate and company-wide use of DAM assets and data, making them a go-to hub for content, rather than simply an asset repository.” <h3 id="enhancing-the-value-of-dams,-pims,-and-other-sources">Enhancing the value of DAMs, PIMs, and other sources</h3>CI HUB Drive is capable of connecting multiple data sources simultaneously, providing a single desktop connector interface for DAMs, PIMs, MAMs, and stock image providers – as well as common cloud storage services such as SharePoint, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dropbox.com/home">Dropbox</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google Drive</a>, and many more. Here's how it works: CI HUB Drive virtually mounts an asset management system in a MacOS Finder or Microsoft Explorer. This enables users to seamlessly locate, use, and synchronize files without ever having to leave their desktops.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:86.86%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/07/ci-hub-drive-product-image-3.png" alt="" /></figure>CI HUB Drive on MacOS The beautiful thing about CI HUB Drive is its familiarity. From a visual perspective, the file structure is simple, clear, and highly navigable – which reduces the surface area of complexity for users. And with a multitude of connections available (anything from Adobe AEM to Bynder to more exotic systems), users have much more control over their asset domain. In MacOS, for example, being able to preview a stock image in a desktop window makes the entire experience second nature. It's intuitive and requires no training whatsoever. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:85.13%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/07/ci_hub_drive.png" alt="" /></figure>Viewing a stock image file in MacOS via CI HUB Drive The app also enables real-time multi-threaded file synchronization, meaning that edits made to assets locally on the desktop will be updated on demand in the original DAM or drive where they are stored. CI HUB Drive also replicates any permission-based access to folders within the DAM system, ensuring that users can access the correct files based on existing roles and rights within the connected system. “Everyone within a company is a potential content creator, and employees are accessing files from multiple sources every day,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerd-glaser-89b22a9b/">Gerd Glaser</a>, CI HUB CSO. “However, each system has a different log-in, interface and search function. Using CI HUB Drive eliminates the time-consuming processes of accessing and transferring assets between drives, tools and work management platforms. Now, users can access the company assets they need as easily as a personal drive folder linked to their desktop.” The new CI HUB Drive complements the existing CI HUB Connector plugin, which already enables users to seamlessly access their digital asset libraries within the most popular work apps such as Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, SharePoint, Google Workspace, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and dozens more. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>As brands and organizations struggle with the expanding ecosystem of assets – and the apps that house them – CI HUB Drive provides ease, fluidity, and familiarity that maximizes the value of a DAM or asset system. By reducing complexity and streamlining access, users can successfully locate what they need at a local level faster and more efficiently. Having a native UI in MacOS or Windows makes the entire journey of locating assets much easier. The process becomes more intuitive, eliminating much of the friction around the grunt work associated with simply browsing, picking, and finding stuff in the morass. Having a solid DAM makes it even easier, but bringing the assets closer to home makes the entire process feel more natural. One of the key benefits of CI HUB Drive is its first-class respect for permissions. This ensures that any mounted desktop access inherits the same roles for users and groups from the source DAM or PIM, so organizations can maintain governance across their teams – wherever they might be accessing resources. Additionally, the real-time multi-threaded syncing is a slick function, making it even easier to maintain consistency when users make edits at a local level. All in all, CI HUB Drive is a solid addition to the company’s portfolio of products. To sign up for access, you can <a target="_blank" href="https://ci-hub.com/products#drive">visit the company's website</a> for details.  <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.

New CI HUB Drive Enables Desktop Access to DAMs, PIMs, and More

<hr /> As content goes global, the need for reliable and accurate translation is exploding. While a multitude of tools exist to automate the translation function – everything from <a target="_blank" href="https://translate.google.com/">Google Translate</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/weglot">Weglot</a> – they sometimes lack the foundation of an experienced services arm that reinforces the quality and nuance.This is where <a target="_blank" href="https://www.argotrans.com/">Argo Translation</a>, a Chicago-based language services company, is breaking the language barrier. The company recently announced the launch of its new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.argotrans.com/technology/cmsconnect">CMSConnect solution</a> for digital platforms, which marks another milestone in its strategy to build innovative technology solutions that enhance the translation experience.Argo Translation provides tailored professional translation services in more than 80 languages to a range of industries including legal, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial. It also provides guaranteed certified translation quality.CMSConnect is the firm's cross-platform multilingual suite. It seamlessly pipes in source content from numerous PIM, CMS, CRM, and DAM platforms and translates it into nearly any language. This enables companies to accelerate the delivery of digital content with less friction, providing a more streamlined approach to reaching international markets or a diverse workforce that speaks multiple languages. “We are very excited about the release of CMSConnect,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/argondizzo/">Peter Argondizzo</a>, Co-Founder of Argo Translation. "It allows us to deliver peace of mind through a care-free implementation that becomes part of our customer's process – not an additional process that takes time to train and requires additional resources for implementation."<h3 id="making-translation-easier-across-multiple-dx-platforms">Making translation easier across multiple DX platforms</h3>As its name indicates, CMSConnect delivers its translation capabilities to content management systems. But it's more than a CMS solution – and powers several PIM, DAM, and CRM systems.This currently includes a bench of industry-leading platforms, including <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/akeneo">Akeneo</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/inriver">InRiver</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-sharepoint">SharePoint</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sitecore">Sitecore</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/kentico">Kentico</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe Experience Manager</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/hubspot">HubSpot</a>, SFDC, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a>. In each case, CMSConnect makes the process easy by translating content into nearly any language using a platform's native features. One of the key benefits is reduced overhead. With CMSConnect's plug-and-play implementation, there's no reliance on developer resources to get up to speed quickly. The submission process is simple, requiring only a few clicks. CMSConnect also reduces the cost of translation by lowering the setup and maintenance costs.<h3 id="ideal-for-e-commerce,-product-management,-and-more">Ideal for e-Commerce, product management, and more</h3>Argo Translation's solution has a strong focus on e-commerce and product management professionals who have domain over an extensive product catalog. It's also a good fit for HR professionals who need to publish timely communications to non-native English-speaking employees via their employee website, or marketing professionals who need to connect with international audiences at the speed of their market.The CMSConnect option for Akeneo – a product information management (PIM) system – crystallizes the value of the platform, helping users manage accurate and complete information for their product catalogs and dealing with the complexities this can create when translating content into different languages.The Akeneo connector makes the whole process easier by translating numerous catalogs into different languages with ease. It eliminates the need for manual file transfer, management, and tracking of changes, in addition to removing any cutting and pasting of translations. CMSConnect also provides built-in security, integration, and features that fit within your existing processes.Learn more about CMSConnect at <a href="argotrans.com/technology/cmsconnect">argotrans.com/technology/cmsconnect </a>

Argo Translation's New CMSConnect Streamlines Digital Platform Translations

Acquia has every DAM reason to be running a victory lap right now – and its DAM has something to do with it.
Recently, the Drupal-powered DXP announced that its <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/marketing-cloud/dam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Widen Digital Asset Management (DAM)</a> solution was named a "Leader" in <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/reports/forrester-wave-digital-asset-management" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Forrester Wave™: Digital Asset Management For Customer Experience, Q1 2022 Report</a>. The analyst firm's research evaluated the 14 most significant DAM vendors against 27 criteria grouped into three categories: current offering, strategy, and market presence.
While this news comes fresh off the Forrester presses, it's augmented by the recent publishing of the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/gartner-dxp-magic-quadrant?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=ppc_google_bof_mc_2022&amp;utm_content=7013a000002hl4dAAA&amp;utm_term=ppc_google_bof_mc_2022&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA95aRBhCsARIsAC2xvfwt8tHfpiJWirnXF0U4tNCgxIL4EoPamKncFewhJltgH7JITnH0kTUaAtQ7EALw_wcB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms (DXP)</a>, where Acquia continues to tighten the race for leadership with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-acquires-video-collaboration-platform-frame-io/">Adobe</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-partners-with-google-cloud-to-take-experimentation-to-the-next-level/">Optimizely</a>. 
<h2>Broadening DXP with DAM</h2>
Last year, Acquia <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-widens-its-dxp-stack-with-widen-acquires-dam-and-pim-capabilities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired Widen</a> in an effort to bring its best-of-breed DAM and PIM capabilities to its expanding ecosystem. As a platform, Widen has been focused on large organizations where marketing teams required a more comprehensive <a href="https://www.widen.com/blog/digital-asset-management" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital asset</a> strategy for managing rich media, product information, and marketing content into a single workflow – and all accessible via an intuitive user interface. 
With content being at the heart of digital experiences, acquiring Widen was a well-calculated move for Acquia. According to the Forrester report, Widen continues to lead the way with clear strengths around search and marketing features, rounding out Acquia's digital experience platform model and filling the critical gaps of workflow and asset management capabilities.
<h2>Scoring high marks across all Forrester criteria</h2>
Widen earned the highest possible scores across Forrester's nine DAM criteria, including AI metadata extraction, search, digital rights management, version control, content performance analytics, usability and user interface, creative toolset integration, planned enhancements, and commercial model.
The report also stated that Widen offers a "clear commercial model and transparent pricing," as well as "superior capabilities with its creative toolset integration" and "solid digital rights management capabilities including integrations into third-party DRM applications." It also concluded that Widen's roadmap of planned enhancements, which are influenced by customer feedback multiple times a year, is a key advantage. 
"We believe that Forrester's findings prove the strength of Widen's DAM technology when combined with the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP)," said Jake Athey, VP of Marketing at Widen. "The addition of Widen to Acquia DXP brings our customers enhanced capabilities around rich media and product information content, providing even more opportunities to build world-class digital experiences."
You can access a complimentary copy of the report here: <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/reports/forrester-wave-digital-asset-management" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Forrester Wave™: Digital Asset Management for Customer Experience, Q1, 2022</a>.
<h2>About Acquia</h2>
Acquia empowers the world's most ambitious brands to create digital customer experiences that matter. With open source Drupal at its core, the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers and IT operations teams at thousands of global organizations to rapidly compose and deploy digital products and services that engage customers, enhance conversions and help businesses stand out. Learn more at <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://acquia.com</a>.

Acquia's Widen Named a "Leader" in Forrester Wave Report for Digital Asset Management for Customer Experience

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

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

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