Articles

Uniform Article

Uniform’s Enterprise Visual Workspace Unifies Content, Data, AI and Technology in a Single Cloud for Marketers

matt-garrepy

Conquer ‘Cold Starts’ with Hot Launches: Uniform AI Helps Teams Ship Digital Experiences Faster

<hr /> If there's one thing the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">MACH Alliance's</a> annual conference can boast, it's a plethora of tales. Composable is a wiry web of complexity, and this community gathering is an opportunity to share stories about the good, the bad, and yes… even the not-so-attractive challenges of taking the MACH road. I talked to a lot of amazing people at “The Composable Conference” in Chicago last week, and you can catch more of the granular tidbits and tasty toppings <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 “deep dish” of the conference. </a>One of the smartest things the event coordinators designed for this year's content was the use of tracks, where sessions were mapped to an attendee's MACH maturity. This provided clarity for early-stage “MACH Curious” to full-fledged professional practitioners – and the feedback around this format was largely positive.I wanted to get a diverse range of perspectives, and some of that was reflected in my overview. But I was also able to sit down with a few attendees to capture some video, and our team has assembled these into "MACHtales" – stories from the voices across the MACH community.In this segment, we riff with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/andrew">Andrew Kumar,</a> the Global VP of Agencies, ISVs, Ecosystem, and Customer Solutions at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/uniform">Uniform</a> – a composable DXP. Full transparency: Andrew is also an occasional CMS Critic contributor with a deep heritage in CMS. As Uniform has evolved its position in the thick fabric of the digital ecosystem, the company has found success as a vital translation layer for experiences, notching a Visionary spot on the recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.uniform.dev/resources/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXPs.</a>In five minutes, Andrew gives us the hot take on Uniform's evolution as an interoperability bridge and how <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/its-an-ai-agent-world-is-agent-experience-the-secret-weapon-for-controlling-the-chaos">agentic AI</a> is changing the game from an experience perspective. He touches on the need for incremental steps, and how aligning tech, build, and ops – and how AI weaves across each of these stories – is key. This is where humans need to be in the loop. Along the way, he gets into Uniform's strategy of adding their own CMS, and how it acts as an acceleration springboard while avoiding any vendor lock-in, opening up the headless frontier based on a customer's needs. He also shares what stood out at "The Composable Conference" and how the community's value will benefit ISV members like Uniform in 2025 and beyond.I love how he touches on the emergence of new roles in the ecosystem, from web producers to visual architects. It codifies how change is constant – and why standards are critical for creating architectural guardrails. Roll the footage:<figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/C3pSrxD87Fw"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C3pSrxD87Fw" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" 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" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" 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 Andrew Kumar of Uniform

Opinion: Universal CMS? From a pragmatist, it’s not yet so "Universal"

andrew

Publish and pray? No way. Uniform's Visual CMS + Experience Manager is heaven-sent for marketers

<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

<hr />Andrew Kumar is the GVP, Customer Solutions &amp; Tech Ecosystem at <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/uniform">Uniform</a>, and a CMS Critic Contributor. Effective content management is crucial for businesses to stay competitive and engage with their audience in today's digital landscape. As technology evolves, so do the processes and methods for managing and creating content. The shift to composable architectures has disrupted the more traditional model for content management, providing opportunities to accelerate time to market and tap omnichannel capabilities. One emerging trend is the concept of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.uniform.dev/visual-workspace">visual workspace</a>, which is revolutionizing how teams collaborate to build websites and apps.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:79.94%"><img src="https://images.storychief.com/account_4678/image_ac69077b90c17d4e6f80a06e9ced0a93_2000.png" /></figure> In this article, we'll explore the future of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management</a> through the lens of 8 key predictions, focusing on how visual workspaces are shaping this landscape. <h3 id="prediction-1:-“all-hands-on-deck”-when-building-websites-and-apps">Prediction 1: “All hands on deck” when building websites and apps</h3>Traditionally, website development and content creation have been siloed tasks performed by developers or marketers. This is nothing new; collaboration has seldom been a main staple of the developer/marketer workflow, which has been <a target="_blank" href="https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/enterprise-marketers-challenges-opportunities-research">described as “broken”</a> for the last two decades.However, in the future of content management, there will be a conscious shift towards a more collaborative approach. A broad spectrum of digitally-savvy team members will be involved in the process, democratizing who can build, deploy, and launch with confidence. This “new way” is more inclusive, allowing diverse perspectives and expertise to come together, resulting in more innovative and user-centric experiences.<h3 id="prediction-2:-platforms-must-coexist">Prediction 2: Platforms must coexist</h3>With the increasing complexity of digital experiences, it's unrealistic to expect a single platform to fulfill all of your requirements. In fact, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/enterprise-marketers-challenges-opportunities-research">Content Marketing Institute</a>, less than 25% of marketers believe they have the right tools to succeed. In the future, platforms will need to adapt and learn to coexist. To that end, we can expect to see a combination of consolidation and modularization. Different platforms will be used for specific tasks based on their strengths, allowing organizations to leverage the right tool for each job. This approach promotes flexibility and adaptability as businesses can easily integrate new technologies or features without being tied down by a monolithic system. <h3 id="prediction-3:-experience-modeling-will-rise-in-importance">Prediction 3: Experience modeling will rise in importance</h3>While content modeling has long been a cornerstone of effective content management, experience modeling will gain prominence. Unlike content modeling, experience modeling creates clear divisions and boundaries within digital experiences while enabling seamless reusability across multiple channels. Dedicated tools for experience modeling will emerge, providing organizations with better control over their customer journeys and enabling them to deliver consistent experiences across multiple touchpoints.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:81.33%"><img src="https://images.storychief.com/account_4678/image_b5a7c1f942cb402be3dd60d09d468929_2000.png" /></figure><h3 id="prediction-4:-brands-will-start-with-the-customer-and-deprioritize-orchestration">Prediction 4: Brands will start with the customer and deprioritize orchestration</h3>Orchestration has certainly become an oft-used buzzword in the composable realm. But in the future, brands will shift to prioritizing customer-centricity over orchestration.Content graphs, which provide visibility and observability of existing content, will enable organizations to solve specific business problems. Orchestration, however, will take a backseat – as it does not directly improve customer experience or tackle customer problems. This shift in focus will allow businesses to allocate resources more effectively and achieve a higher return on investment.<h3 id="prediction-5:-no-more-“lift-and-shift,”-only-incremental-migration">Prediction 5: No more “lift and shift,” only incremental migration</h3>Ask any practitioner who has redesigned or migrated a website to a new CMS, and they will likely say the same thing: it's hard.Content migration has traditionally been a daunting task. However, in the future of content management, we can expect a more granular and piecemeal approach to content migration. Instead of “lifting and shifting” entire websites or applications, organizations will adopt an incremental migration strategy. This approach allows for faster and more efficient migration while minimizing disruption to ongoing operations.<h3 id="prediction-6:-more-accelerator-">Prediction 6: More accelerator "products" for integration and white-labelling</h3>Accelerators are pre-built technology solutions that provide a faster time to market. To mitigate the risks associated with current accelerators, the future of content management will see an increase in accelerator "products." These products offer pre-built integrations and white-label solutions that can be easily customized to meet specific business needs. By leveraging these accelerators, organizations can streamline their development process, reduce time-to-market, and ensure greater consistency across their digital experiences.<h3 id="prediction-7:-no-code-capabilities-for-integration-frameworks-will-continue-to-emerge">Prediction 7: No-code capabilities for integration frameworks will continue to emerge</h3>As headless and composable stacks gain traction in the industry, integration frameworks will play a crucial role in connecting various components seamlessly. In the future of content management, we can expect to see the rise of no-code integration frameworks. These frameworks allow non-technical users to build integrations between different systems without writing code. This democratization of integration capabilities will empower teams to quickly adapt and connect their preferred tools without relying on developers.<h3 id="prediction-8:-ai-quality-will-improve">Prediction 8: AI quality will improve</h3>Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already made significant advancements in various industries, and content management is no exception. In the future, we can expect AI to play a more prominent role in CMS platforms. Improved AI capabilities will enable personalized user experiences, enhanced search functionality, chatbots and virtual assistants, automation of repetitive tasks, dynamic pricing and offers, real-time language translation, accessibility enhancements, and much more. These advancements will revolutionize how businesses engage with their audience and deliver tailored experiences at scale.<h3 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h3>The future of content management is bright – and filled with exciting possibilities. At the center of it all are visual workspaces, which are reshaping how teams build digital experiences by fostering inclusivity and collaboration. With the predicted trends discussed in this article, organizations can prepare themselves for the evolving landscape of content management and stay ahead of the curve. By embracing these changes and leveraging emerging technologies like AI and integration frameworks, businesses can create compelling experiences that resonate with their audience while streamlining their workflows.Continue the conversation with Andrew Kumar in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts">Boye &amp; Co CMS Experts Community</a> <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.

Visual Workspace and the Future of Content Management

The Hero’s Journey to Composable: A Conversation with Uniform’s Mark Demeny

Hotjar - Spot what confuses

Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

#ffffff

<h5>TL;DR – Recently, there was an epic but friendly debate in the Boye &amp; Company CMS Experts Slack channel about the confusion surrounding DXC as a category. We asked the three main voices in the conversation – Rasmus Skjoldan, Andrew Kumar, and Sana Remekie – to discuss their thoughts on Zoom. Matt McQueeny helped moderate the conversation.</h5>
<hr />
Of the great mysteries that scientists, philosophers, and theologians grapple with, one question is often overlooked:
What, exactly, is professional wrestling?
I’m not referring to school leagues or Olympic competitions – I’m talking about the <a href="https://www.wwe.com/" target="_blank">WWE</a> and its brand of sportstainment. And I don’t mean to be glib or insulting with any comparisons; heck, I’ve been to a live wrestling event many moons ago, and it was kinda fun (particularly the people watching). 
But really, what is it? Is this a legitimate sport replete with feats of athleticism? Or is it truly just performance art following a well-oiled script? If you ask <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_Hogan" target="_blank">Hulk Hogan</a>, the iconic figurehead of the modern experience, he might say, "Well, let me tell you something, brother…" and launch into a dissertation about sport versus stage. 
As humans, we’re classically conditioned to put things in boxes so they’re easier to understand. Sometimes, that’s not so simple. This has long been the case in the software industry, where confusion often precedes clarity when new ideas takes the mat – like <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/1/whats-the-real-story-about-digital-experience-composition" target="_blank">Digital Experience Composition (DXC)</a>. 
A short while ago, members of <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts" target="_blank">Boye &amp; Company’s CMS Experts</a>, a peer group focused on content management, were treated to a sort of WWE-styled “Smackdown” in the community’s Slack channel. In truth, it was a friendly exchange of ideas, with no bodyslams or half-nelsons to report (those are wrestling moves, BTW).
Still, it was spirited. And for several days, this epic “Slackdown” generated significant interest from across the DXP and DXC spectrum. It all started with a simple, poignant question from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmusskjoldan/" target="_blank">Rasmus Skjoldan</a>, Chief Evangelist at <a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/?mgcid=19746730468&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_campaign=brand-protect-jf_us_2023&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_content=19746730468&amp;utm_term=magnolia%20cms&amp;gad=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw0ZiiBhBKEiwA4PT9z53dpcpsB0M2J-tIRhHdpnwYRHUwbjghkhAGI6_Azq8wWtHBU4ic8xoC4N0QAvD_BwE" target="_blank">Magnolia</a>, a leading DXP:
“I feel like some of the Digital Experience Composition positioning going on isn’t super helpful to customers, to be very blunt about it. What’s genuinely in it for them?”
This drew several DXC defenders to the ring, but the most vocal participants were <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkumarxyz/" target="_blank">Andrew Kumar</a>, VP of Customer Solutions at <a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank">Uniform</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sana-remekie/" target="_blank">Sana Remekie</a>, CEO of <a href="https://conscia.ai/" target="_blank">Conscia.ai</a>. It was entertaining to watch these adroit leaders wrestle with a red-hot topic, but it was incredibly informative for the fans in the stands – so much so that I partnered with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/critics/matthew-mcqueeny/">Matt McQueeny</a> at <a href="https://konabos.com/" target="_blank">Konabos</a> to take the show on the road.
A few days later, we invited Rasmus, Sana, and Andrew to join us for an informal follow-up on Zoom to wrestle down some answers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/04/dxc_boye_debate_debrief_720.png" alt="Zoom photo of Matt Garrepy, Matt McQueeny, Rasmus Skoldjan, Andrew Kumar, and Sana Remekie" />
<h2>In this corner… DXP</h2>
<a href="https://www.forrester.com/analyst-bio/joe-cicman/BIO14164" target="_blank">Joe Cicman</a>, an analyst at Forrester, has been on a quest to decipher the Digital Experience Platform. As he noted <a href="https://www.forrester.com/blogs/dxp-you-keep-using-that-term-i-dont-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means/" target="_blank">in a recent blog</a>, DXP is still misunderstood from a compositional perspective. The definition can be nebulous based on whether it’s delivered by a single vendor or assembled by an enterprise – or, in some cases, both.  
I like Joe's observation in the same post: “Every day I asked myself, ‘How is it possible for one vendor to create one product that works across multiple industries and grows in scope as a company’s digital remit grows?’ After talking to the vendors, turns out … it’s not possible.”
That might be the vein Rasmus tapped: confusion is everywhere. While DXC is emerging, DXPs continue to evolve in their own space. As he pondered in Slack, would it not be better to reenergize, modernize, or even reinvent the more established DXP label and category than trying to teach customers about another new acronym?
Add this to the confusion: Magnolia was included in an early DXC report by <a href="https://www.gartner.com/analyst/56850" target="_blank">Mike Lowndes of Gartner</a> as a vendor in this emerging field. So how does this color Magnolia’s positioning?
“When I speak to our composable die-hard customers, they are much more passionate about getting projects done, getting rid of the worst legacy apps, and reaching business goals than they are in the vendor/analyst-centric views on what’s in or out of categories,” Rasmus said. “Magnolia is seen as a DXC by some – which is fine, of course. We definitely cover that space with our own twist. To me, it just feels more like a use case than a real software category.”
That might be true. But vendors and buyers still refer to those MQ reports with biblical reverence.
Gathered in our cozy Zoom room, Matt McQueeny asked Rasmus why he felt compelled to engage with the community around these opinions.
“I'm very focused on looking at all this from the customer's perspective,” he said. “Every time I see a proposal for a category change, I'm just always asking myself, 'okay, who's actually behind this and who's to benefit from it?' Even for DXP, I sometimes have question marks around whether that really helps customers. So I felt that introducing new variations would be a significant sort of – not a disruption – but more confusion. And that's what I’m quite passionately against because I want to keep the focus on what has real value for customers.”
<h2>DXC enters the ring</h2>
TLAs (three-lettered acronyms) might be the bane of our technology existence. When I was consulting at IBM GTS, we were unpacking a catchy new triptych every week from across the cybersecurity theater. Heck, even “IBM” is an acronym... it's a bit like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception" target="_blank">Inception</a> with TLAs. 
I asked Sana Remekie about her take on this acronym acrimony – and how she perceived Rasmus’ call to quell the challenges by refocusing on the established DXP category.
“There's lots of three-letter acronyms popping up all over the place,” she said. “I think the movement towards composability and having that best-of-breed architecture is real. Customers are asking for a choice in terms of all the packaged and business capabilities that they need to build their overall architecture, and there's agreement across Gartner and Forrester on that. They may call it different things, but everybody’s starting to agree that we should give customers the ability to create and assemble their own solutions.”
So how does this momentum towards composability and DXC impact the more traditional definition of DXP – particularly as an established category? 
“Some folks are saying very clearly that a single DXP – what they call a monolithic DXP – should no longer be a thing at all,” she added. “Customers should be able to create their own DXPs by picking best-of-breed applications from across the ecosystem. With this phenomenon, we're now giving choices to the customer and power to the SIs to make those choices for the customer. Sometimes it's an IT team within the organization making those choices with, hopefully, the business in mind. And sometimes they say, ‘alright, Deloitte, Accenture, Valtech, go make that choice for me – go directly to those vendors and put together a solution that is composable.’ That happens a lot as well.”
<h2>Finding the right place to “poke the DXP bear”</h2>
As the wrestling match commenced, we turned to Andrew Kumar for more insight on what ignited the debate on Slack. He took us on a brief trip in the wayback machine to his days at <a href="https://www.telus.com/en" target="_blank">Telus</a>, where the company assembled what we now call a composable or <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH</a> architecture. 
“There weren’t these sexy marketing terms that exist today,” he said. “But in 2016, we [already] had this concept, and we created our own internal site builder on top of Contentful – and that's now part of DXC.”
Andrew also talked about the importance of the different roles and responsibilities that DXC needs to support and the tendency to lump the audience of potential users under a generic “business user” mantle. This might be a limiting descriptor, as the pool could include a wide range of team members from marketing, content ops, merchandisers, UX designers, product managers, or even data analysts.
Clearly, there’s room to improve the positioning and messaging around the DXC terminology – to find the right TLA, so to speak. And this confusion makes sense when we’re still in the early growth phases.
“Adoption and demand are still very, very nascent, but it's starting to get viral,” he said. “Despite being so nascent, it is disrupting and really ‘poking the bear’ on the big players in DXP. It's really shaping and adding maturity to headless and MACH – and these kinds of technical terms are now growing in maturity.”
Poking the bear sounds dangerous, but that’s what market challengers do. TLAs aside, Andrew went on to say that he would not recommend a “rip and replace” from DXP to DXC, but to take incremental steps towards composable.
“There are some bridges in place,” he said. “Uniform has one that can help Sitecore and AEM customers start to make those leaps. But there’s still a place for a DXP.”
<h2>What’s old is new</h2>
By this point in the match, we had wrestled multiple messages from our participants. Without question, DXC is the shiny new object blazing trails. At the same time, DXPs are evolving their posture to remain marketable. Andrew noted, “They’re decoupling and decomposing themselves, playing ball with others and having that multi-manufacturer style where you can build with OEM parts from all over the place.”
Pivoting back to Rasmus in the DXP corner, we inquired about his response to Andrew regarding the long history of APIs connecting different platforms – and how there are even use cases of Contentful feeding into Magnolia.
“I can totally back up that it's not really anything new,” he remarked to Andrew. “Magnolia has been producing a solution that is fundamentally a composable DXP for a very long time, since 2013 or 2014. We've had clients compose platforms out of multiple best-of-breed applications they put together in a joined platform for a long time.”
While Rasmus reinforced his criticism of a new TLA being injected into the ecosystem, he did express his support for how the narrative was being projected.
“If I look at some of the stuff I felt Uniform did super well, it was just a very clean story they came out with,” he said. “I totally love that. And it felt like a really novel spin that they would be the glue between all these different applications and allow the marketer the freedom to assemble, curate, and aggregate all their content and put together experiences based on many different services. I do see really good stuff about DXC. It's just not a category – and I don't think it will become a category.”
OK, so if it’s not destined to be officially blessed, where do we go from here? As Andrew pointed out, the roadmap might rest with user behavior.
“In some enterprises, there could be 60 times more technical folks that don't write code, but they're still making meaningful contributions to digital experiences. That is a huge user base. And that's where the DXC is really going to make its mark, and really going to – and this is probably an unpopular opinion – start to take over the DXP. It's serving so many more users in a more democratic low code, no code interesting way. It's empowering to that user base.”
<h2>A DXC by any other name is a… DXCP? DXO? EDP?</h2>
While pondering the future of a DXC category, Andrew quickly pointed out one basic flaw with the acronym: <a href="https://dxc.com/us/en" target="_blank">DXC Technology</a> is the name of a well-established global agency (which happens to sponsor <a href="https://dxc.com/us/en/manutd" target="_blank">Manchester United</a>). To that end, he feels “DXCP” might be a more suitable mantle – which Uniform has already been using across its communications.
He also talked about the long shadow cast by large competitors and the importance of establishing authority as a new category. “It’s really a challenge for new players to enter [the DXP market]. There's just so much <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-cloud-adds-new-headless-cms-capabilities-updates-to-commerce-integration/">Adobe</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-partners-with-google-cloud-to-take-experimentation-to-the-next-level/">Optimizely</a>, or <a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/" target="_blank">Magnolia</a> dominance. They've been around for so long. There’s no space for new entrants without a large insurmountable challenge.”
Sana also shared her perspective on the DXC category conundrum, which echoed my recent conversations with other vendors under the DXC umbrella. While <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/occtoo-dives-deep-to-unify-data-and-kill-integrations-a-conversation-with-ceo-niclas-mollin/">Niclas Mollin at Occtoo</a> is positioning around the Experience Data Platform, Sana is building a beachhead for Conscia as Digital Experience Orchestration.
“Conscia's not a DXC, even though we're playing in the space,” she explained. “There's a lot of confusion, so we said, you know what? We don't want to call ourselves a DXC because that would mean that we're tied too closely to a specific front end. So we’re going to act as the central piece of the composable ecosystem, which connects all the dots from the back end to the front end and is agnostic of both – and we’re able to orchestrate API's and experiences.”
<h2>And the winner is…</h2>
Er… not clear. We’re still wrestling with the answers, and the analysts have yet to canonize anything. But if we can smell what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwayne_Johnson" target="_blank">The Rock</a> is cookin', we might be in for more confusion as DXC continues to find its footing. 
What’s abundantly clear to us, however, is that DXC is building real momentum, and DXP continues to drive demand. With the advent of AI and other innovations, the DXP market is still predicted to grow to over <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/digital-experience-platform-market" target="_blank">$30 billion by 2030</a>. While our guests shared strong opinions about DXC's future as a category and the underlying challenges, each seemed committed to demonstrable value over category woes.
At the end of our session, Matt McQueeny noted that we ended up where we always end up: with a clear mandate to focus on the business and the customer. 
The best part of this conversation was each participant's undeniable respect and reverence for one another, despite their competitive position or conflicting ideologies. Collectively, this industry powers millions of websites, apps, and experiences. Yet, the top minds shaping its trajectory represent a tightly-knit community of shared innovation – and we had three of the best participating in this forum.
We'll give Andrew Kumar the final word: “It’s definitely a fun time to be in this space. It can be confusing, but there's a lot of innovation and disruption happening – and it's ultimately for the business and end customer's benefit.”
I can hear Hulk Hogan saying, “Amen, brother…”
<hr />
Big thanks to: 
<ul>
<li>Rasmus Skjoldan. Andrew Kumar, and Sana Remekie for participating</li>
<li>Matt McQueeny for helping to moderate, facilitate, and transcribe this session</li>
<li>Janus Boye for creating a community to host these kinds of debates</li>
</ul>

Wrestling with Category Confusion in the DXC "Slackdown"

Introducing the Winners of the 2021 CMS Critic's Choice Awards

cms-critic-staff

Featured image of the 2021 CMS Critic Critic's Choice Awards badge with text that reads "2021 WInners"

<div>
It's hard to follow an act like the <a href="https://www.oscars.org/" target="_blank">Academy Awards</a>, especially after Sunday's "<a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/03/27/will-smith-chris-rock-to-work-out-slap-incident-after-oscars-2022/" target="_blank">slap heard 'round the world.</a>"
But hey, we'll give it a shot – and do it with decidedly less controversy and no long-winded speeches:
Today, we're proud to announce the winners of the 2021 CMS Critic People's Choice Awards!
From our entire editorial staff, we'd like to start with a big THANK YOU to our amazing community of CMS vendors and their incredibly passionate users. We had some, shall we say, "colorful" conversations across social media during the nomination period, and we enjoyed every opportunity to engage with our readers.
It was incredible to see the outpouring of love from people around the globe for their products of choice. That kind of brand loyalty seems increasingly rare. It says a lot about the people using these technologies, and the investment that CMS and DXP platforms are making to really listen to users – and bring them together. 
Before we announce the winners, let's do a quick review of the rules so you know how we got here:
<ul>
<li>First, our annual People's Choice Awards celebrate the top platforms that YOU – our readers – select. As they say, we have no dog in this race.</li>
<li>In late December of 2020, we invited everyone to nominate their favorite platforms across a set of categories on our website. </li>
<li>The top three nominees were selected and featured for general voting in each category.</li>
<li>Participants were able to vote only once, and companies that offered incentives of any kind were disqualified (there were no such shenanigans, BTW). </li>
<li>While we don't offer any golden statues, we do feature the winners on our website for posterity. And of course, you always have bragging rights. </li>
</ul>
We had a fantastic response to the People's Choice Awards this year, and participation has been off the charts since we released the final nominee list. It's always great to see this level of community engagement, and because this is a democratized experience, you never know what to expect from voting – so be prepared for some surprises.
Enough rambling, right? Let's draw back the curtain and proudly present the winners of the 2021 CMS Critic People's Choice Awards!
 
</div>
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:600px;max-height:156px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/contentstack-logo-white-bg.webp" alt="Contentstack logo" /> 
 
<h2>Best Enterprise CMS: Contentstack</h2>
This year's "Best Enterprise CMS" award goes to <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/" target="_blank">Contentstack</a>, a leader in headless and agile content management. Contentstack has huge momentum, and it's great to see emphatic support from its community of users. 
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:600px;max-height:156px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/adobe-experience-manager-logo-1.webp" alt="Adobe Experience Manager logo" /> 
 
<h2>Best DXP: Adobe Experience Manager</h2>
Given that <a href="https://www.adobe.com/cy_en/marketing/experience-manager.html" target="_blank">Adobe</a> has been the undisputed leader in <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-takeaways-from-gartners-2021-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms/">Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a> for the fifth year in a row, winning our "Best DXP" honors wasn't a shocker. The Adobe brand is ubiquitous and recognized as a top contender across multiple technology categories. It also has a deep ecosystem of tools and partners. 
 
<hr />
  
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:90px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/joomla-logo-white-bg.webp" alt="Joomla logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best Free CMS: Joomla</h2>
Surprised that <a href="https://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank">Joomla</a> carried this category? Don't be. They've cultivated an enthusiastic fan base with a rising fervor for their favorite platform. Joomla continues to have a strong community of open source users, making it one of the top three most popular content management systems in the world - and winner of our "Best Free CMS" category. 
 
<hr />
  
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/grav-logo-smallsvg.webp" alt="Grav logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best Flat File CMS: Grav</h2>
This was a tight race with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-flat-file-cms-platforms-for-building-simple-websites-fast/" target="_blank">Kirby</a>, but in the end, <a href="https://getgrav.org/" target="_blank">Grav</a> took top honors. A consistent winner of our People's Choice Award for "Best Flat File CMS," Grav is also featured in our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-flat-file-cms-platforms-for-building-simple-websites-fast/">Top Flat File CMS Platforms</a> article.
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:90px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/joomla-logo-white-bg.webp" alt="Joomla logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best Open Source CMS: Joomla</h2>
Despite the far-casting shadow of WordPress, <a href="https://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank">Joomla</a> won big with its community – in no small part to its continued investment in innovation. In fact, 2021 saw a host of new features added to the "Best Open Source CMS" platform, including the <a href="https://www.joomla.org/4/" target="_blank">Joomla! 4.0</a> release with notable improvements. We would like to congratulate the Joomla development team on their win in two categories.
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/alfresco-logo.webp" alt="Alfresco logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management): Alfresco</h2>
<a href="https://www.alfresco.com/" target="_blank">Alfresco</a> took home the gold for the "Best Enterprise Content Management" solution, proving its continued authority in the ECM space. Alfresco has enjoyed a successful run over the last few years, including <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-acquires-alfresco-focuses-on-cloud-and-global-expansion-of-enterprise-cms/">an acquisition by competitor Hyland in 2020</a>. Despite being under the Hyland umbrella, the company still maintains its brand identity. 
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/hikashop-logo-resized.png" alt="HikaShop logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best E-Commerce Solution: Hikashop</h2>
This was an interesting one, but the people have spoken: <a href="https://www.hikashop.com/" target="_blank">HikaShop</a>, the e-commerce solution for Joomla, was triumphant over two worthy competitors – <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-10-open-source-ecommerce-platforms/">WooCommerce</a> and PrestaShop. While the competition was tight, there were surprisingly more fans from the Joomla community throwing their support in the ring. 
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:90px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/shopify-logo-white-bg.webp" alt="Shopify logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best Headless Commerce: Shopify</h2>
<a href="https://www.shopify.com/" target="_blank">Shopify</a> has been giving Amazon a run for its money and earning loyal fans along the way. As the leading platform for building e-Commerce solutions – and doing it headlessly – Shopify has become one of the strongest and most trusted brands on the planet for creating online stores and digital commerce experiences.
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:600px;max-height:156px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/contentstack-logo-white-bg.webp" alt="Contentstack logo" /> 
 
<h2>Best Headless CMS: Contentstack</h2>
We have to hand it to the Contentstack crowd: you really brought the rain! Congratulations on cleaning up in both the "Best Enterprise CMS" and "Best Headless CMS" categories! While most notably a headless platform, Contentstack is also one of the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-releases-study-on-adoption-of-mach-technologies-by-tech-leaders-qa-with-sonja-keerl/">founding members of the MACH Alliance</a>. 
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:200px;max-height:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/yootheme-logo.webp" alt="YOOTheme logo" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best Website Builder: YOOtheme</h2>
Always a perennial fan favorite, the "Best Website Builder" category has evolved to include some amazing tools that are getting progressively easier to use. This year, the crown goes to <a href="https://yootheme.com/" target="_blank">YOOtheme</a> - the popular page builder for WordPress and Joomla. While other popular platforms like Webflow and Gantry were in the running, YOOtheme won out with a sizable margin. Congrats to the community of fans that made YOOtheme a winner!
 
<hr />
 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/hugo-logo-wide.svg" alt="Hugo logo" /> 
 
<h2>Best Static Site Generator: Hugo</h2>
The battle was hard-fought – and Gatsby has certainly been a fixture in our coverage over the last few years – but <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/">Hugo</a> brought the votes... so congratulations! As a leading static site generator, Hugo has touted its incredibly fast framework for building websites. It's clear that its community of users is continuing to grow and thrive, and showing the love for their favorite JAMstack frontend generator.  
 
<hr />
 
<img style="max-width:400px;max-height:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/03/uniform-logo-white-bg.webp" width="auto" height="auto" /> 
 
<h2>Best Composable System: Uniform</h2>
We had a battle royale brewing in the newly minted "Best Composable System" category between <a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank">Uniform</a>, <a href="https://www.sitecore.com/" target="_blank">Sitecore</a>, and <a href="https://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a> – but there can be only one! Congratulations to Uniform for taking the throne and becoming our inaugural winner in this new and exciting segment. With big wind (and big investment dollars) at their back, Uniform is already making bold moves from a hiring and acquisition perspective, and we'll be looking for big things in 2022.  
 
<hr />
 
<h2>And that's a wrap for the 2021 People's Choice Awards! </h2>
<div>See that? Not a single moment of uncomfortable stage antics. That's just another benefit we have over the Oscars. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>While the pandemic threw us all for a loop, it's great to be back to a more normal and predictable cycle with our awards program. We look forward to this event every year because it gives us an opportunity to engage with our readers and learn about what platforms are scoring high in their books. At the end of the day, it's about honoring not just the winners, but our entire CMS community. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>There were some tight races going on in the year's competition, and a few surprises that gave us a moment to pause. But that's what makes the People's Choice Awards so exciting: in any given year, fans can come out of the woodwork and elevate their platform to the top echelon. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Tomorrow, we'll be posting our Editor's Choice Awards. You're bound to see some alignment in certain categories, and you might be in for a few surprises as well. Our editorial staff made their picks based on a wide range of factors, and we're excited to share them with you. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thanks again to everyone for participating in the 2021 People’s Choice Awards. See you later this year!</div>

Oscar Who? We're Celebrating the Winners of the 2021 CMS Critic People’s Choice Awards 

Image of the 2021 CMS Critic People's Choice Awards logo with the Text "2021 Winners" to the right, all against a background image of fireworks.

Is the Birth of DXC the Death of DXP? A Conversation with Darren Guarnaccia, President at Uniform

Let's be honest: there's nothing quite like Awards Season. Just ask Moira Rose.
<div style="height:auto;width:500px">
<div class="tenor-gif-embed"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/moira-rose-schitts-creek-awards-favorite-season-gif-16223893">Moira Rose Schitts Creek GIF</a>from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/moira+rose-gifs">Moira Rose GIFs</a></div>
</div>

And it's not because of the glitz, the glamour, or even the drama (although last year's Oscars did deliver the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/entertainment/oscars-crisis-will-smith/index.html" target="_blank">slap heard 'round the world</a>).
No, we love Awards Season because it's a celebration. An opportunity to cheer for the things we love. From film to music, actors to performers. Heck, even our favorite technologies.
Each year, CMS Critic is proud to feature our People's Choice Awards: a unique, one-of-a-kind platform for celebrating our industry. Since 2012, the People's Choice Awards have provided an opportunity for you – our community of digital professionals and stack fanatics – to tell us which platforms you love the most.
The People's Choice Awards are always fun and engaging, and the results never fail to surprise us. We put the power in your hands to nominate and vote, so it reflects your community participation. No matter how you feel about the outcomes, this is a win for every platform involved and your passionate users and fans.
This year, we had record participation from around the globe for both the nominations and final voting, and we're thrilled to share the winners you selected!
<h2>And the Oscar goes to...</h2>
But first, a quick reminder about the contest and how it worked:
<ul>
<li>In <a href="/nominate-your-favorite-platforms-for-the-2022-cms-critic-peoples-choice-awards/">December 2022</a>, we invited readers to nominate platforms across a set of categories on our website.</li>
<li>Nominations closed at the end of January.</li>
<li>The top five nominees (in the case of a few ties, the top six) were selected for voting in each category.</li>
<li>General voting began in early February and closed on February 20.</li>
<li>Participants could vote only once, and companies that offered incentives of any kind were disqualified.</li>
</ul>
And that's it! Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2022 People’s Choice Award winners:
<h4>Best Enterprise CMS: Contensis</h4>
<a href="https://www.contensis.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/contensis-logo.jpg" alt="Contensis Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best DXP: Adobe Experience Cloud</h4>
<a href="https://business.adobe.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/adobe-edited.jpg" alt="Adobe Experience Cloud Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Free CMS: Joomla!</h4>
<a href="https://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/joomla-edited.png" alt="Joomla! Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Flat File CMS: Statamic</h4>
<a href="https://statamic.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/statamic-edited.jpg" alt="Statamic Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Open Source CMS: Umbraco</h4>
<a href="https://umbraco.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrRdPATQsqJ5M2tqVIMIHVlkjBnO2Cl29dGTXI9dhb9_BNa9pqdulIhoCK40QAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><img style="width:120px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/umbraco-edited.png" alt="Umbraco Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management): Microsoft SharePoint</h4>
<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/sharepoint-edited.png" alt="Microsoft SharePoint Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best E-Commerce Solution: Shopify</h4>
<a href="https://www.shopify.com/free-trial?term=shopify&amp;adid=565872334073&amp;campaignid=15436644439&amp;branded_enterprise=1&amp;BOID=brand&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrQTcMx9LwHQNvRFM6fN3NdS4GIn0wcvVgK3LdPDmBWiVFRhMOA64HxoCZEQQAvD_BwE&amp;cmadid=516586854;cmadvertiserid=10730501;cmcampaignid=26990768;cmplacementid=324494812;cmcreativeid=163722649;cmsiteid=5500011" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/shopify-edited.png" alt="Shopify Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Headless Commerce Solution: commercetools</h4>
<a href="https://commercetools.com/resources/booklet/microservices?utm_source=Paid%20Search&amp;utm_medium=Google%20Search&amp;utm_content=microservices-bookle-CA&amp;utm_campaign=MACH&amp;utm_term=commercetools&amp;utm_campaign=MACH%20retargeting%20AMER&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_acc=9131799125&amp;hsa_cam=19415290532&amp;hsa_grp=145609670540&amp;hsa_ad=643141341485&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=aud-1945381266863:kwd-366236213007&amp;hsa_kw=commercetools&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrbE7RUL47caWM3RyFkC6b649F5PR5Z6DHNnToZTeBOWkTjGjxOL6IBoCGAMQAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/commercetools-edited.png" alt="Commercetools Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Headless CMS: Contentful </h4>
<a href="https://www.contentful.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:260px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/contentful-edited.jpg" alt="Contentful Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Website Builder: YOOtheme</h4>
<a href="https://yootheme.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/yootheme-edited.png" alt="YOOtheme Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Static Site Generator: Next.js</h4>
<a href="https://nextjs.org/" target="_blank"><img style="width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/next-js-edited.png" alt="Next.js Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Composable System: Uniform</h4>
<a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/uniform-edited.jpg" alt="Uniform Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Digital Experience Composition (DXC): Occtoo</h4>
<a href="https://www.occtoo.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/occtoo-edited.png" alt="Occtoo Logo" /></a>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Congratulations to our People's Choice Winners!</h2>
There you have it, folks! Thank you again for participating in our Awards this year, and always, we welcome your feedback and your votes for next season!

Let's Celebrate the Winners of the 2022 CMS Critic People’s Choice Awards

Semrush - Be an SEO hero

Be an SEO hero with Semrush

Explore a wide range of informative articles on Uniform, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry

News

Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

Be an SEO hero with Semrush