Sitecore DXP: What Lies Ahead for Sitecore Customers?

On the 7th of April 2022, Sitecore announced the successful integration of its latest API-first acquisitions: Moosend, Four51, Boxever, and Reflektion. This clearly demonstrates its transition towards a SaaS-based composable DXP.

As a result, enterprises can leverage best-of-breed API-first solutions across their services, including analytics, content management system (CMS), ecommerce, marketing automation, and more.

But what does this mean for Sitecore customers? How can they take advantage of these unique new solutions? This article will help you answer these critical questions.

The Rise of SaaS-Based Composable Sitecore DXP

With Sitecore embracing the SaaS-based strategy that modern enterprises crave, they are channeling a path towards the future of web and app development. Building a modern digital experience architecture requires seamless integrations of independent SaaS-based best-of-breed services.

This is a shift from the traditional monolithic architectures that favored all-in-one, one-size-fits-all solutions. Unlike these monolithic DXPs, you can simply plug and unplug any services at will, enable faster time to market, and deliver exhilarating customer experiences. After adding its new integrations, Sitecore can now offer enterprises standalone solutions that can be integrated into their existing tech stack.

Sitecore’s Recent Composable API-Driven Offerings

Let’s take a look at some of the recent SaaS-based Sitecore additions and their packaged services:

• Sitecore Send: Acquired as Moosend. This new Sitecore capability enables you to deliver AI-driven marketing automation and email management. It is a cloud-native, composable offering for delivering effective campaign management and designs.
• Sitecore OrderCloud: Acquired as Four51. This is a composable commerce platform that brands can integrate into their existing architecture or site. It provides increased flexibility and scalability for businesses to deliver impressive commerce experiences.
• Sitecore Discover: Integrated as Reflektion. Through this service offering, Sitecore delivers an AI-powered search engine platform that you can integrate into your commerce sites via APIs. It enables you to deliver customized search results based on previous search history and intent to guide customers through your sales funnel and boost conversions.
• Sitecore Personalize: This capability was acquired as Boxever—an API-driven customer data platform (CDP) that enables you to deliver personalized offerings and experiences. It can integrate with any tech stack, channel, or platform of choice and ensure real-time personalized experiences, helping you engage and retain your customers.
• Sitecore Content Hub: Previously Stylelabs. Acquired by Sitecore a few years ago, the Sitecore Content Hub acts as a DAM that also provides a single platform for content planning, production, collaboration and management. Essentially, giving content authors complete control over the content lifecycle, from storage to publication.

The Rise of SaaS-based API-First Platforms

For enterprises still uncertain about the benefits that a composable SaaS-based DXP can offer, here are some reasons why you should consider composable API-driven offerings:

Immense Scalability In Your Architecture

In recent years, there has been a dramatic shift in customer behavior, especially with more customers spending more time online to consume content or make purchases across different channels and platforms. Embracing composable solutions enables you to build a platform that’s highly scalable to meet these growing business or customer demands.

Consistent Omnichannel Experiences

Consumers today consume content via a range of different touchpoints. Having a product that aligns with the principles of MACH — microservice-based, API-driven, cloud-native, and headless — ensures that you’re always equipped to deliver consistent experiences at all touchpoints.

Seamless Integration With Best of Breed Solutions

One of the biggest advantages of adopting composable solutions is the ease at which you can integrate with other solutions via API. Sitecore’s latest offerings are independent services that can seamlessly integrate with other solutions to deliver the optimum experiences. This offers you the flexibility to plug in or remove any solutions that are not performing up to par.

Simplicity Through Modularization

While traditional DXPs are undoubtedly complex, a composable DXP leverages modular services that make it easier to track and fix issues in your system or prevent them from affecting other solutions in your tech stack. Besides, the modular nature makes it easy to scale your architecture to deliver consistent, real-time, and personalized experiences to your customers.

Sitecore DXP: What Does The Future Hold for Existing Sitecore Customers?

Sitecore’s gradual transition towards a fully composable DXP is imminent and may happen within the next two years. Having a plan in place can go a long way towards preparing for a composable future. As a starting point, you want to future-proof your website and applications by leveraging best-of-breed Sitecore solutions to ensure you don’t get left behind.

But you can’t achieve this without having a stable base to launch from; you need an experienced partner agency to audit your existing architecture and provide you with solutions in order to move towards a composable future. Oshyn is a certified Sitecore partner/agency that has worked on projects for various industries and brands across the globe.

Since Sitecore is not yet fully composable, Oshyn can help you navigate this interim period. Even if a MACH future isn’t 100% solidified, we can ensure you maximize your current and short term investments so you can realize the value of MACH when you are ready to. Here’s how:

• We can audit your existing implementations and understand your preferences, identifying API-first solutions that will significantly improve your digital experience.
• We can help you identify which pieces you should adopt and when you should adopt them to reduce destabilization of your marketing stack and maintain or accelerate the growth of your site’s capabilities.

Want to know more about composable DXPs? Check out this piece on composable DXP.