Gartner just published its first Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms1, naming Sitecore a Leader among 21 vendors that provide an integrated software foundation for engaging users across a myriad of digital channels and devices. It’s extremely gratifying for all of us at Sitecore, especially since our technology is both integrated and so interoperable with other software tools, to receive such recognition. But maybe you’re asking yourself: What is a digital experience platform (DXP) and why should I care that Sitecore is a Leader?
To answer the first question, let’s consider a typical marketing technology stack. You’re probably conjuring an image that includes a variety of software applications, hopefully oriented toward promoting a consistent, personalized experience to individual users wherever and whenever they engage with your business. But are those applications well integrated or underpinned by a common, consistent view of your customers (or employees, partners, or other users, as the case may be)? If you’re like most marketers at most organizations, the answer is “no” and the result is an experience that can feel more clunky and disjointed than seamless.
A DXP is architected to resolve the fragmented experience that can stem from loosely affiliated applications. More than a group of solutions compiled into an integrated suite, a DXP is a bigger step toward a comprehensive, integrated platform that encompasses content management, analytics, search, testing and optimization, and campaign orchestration, among other functionality—all in service of maintaining a user’s context along every step of their journey. To do so requires tight integration of foundational components as well as flexible interoperability with add-on functionality.
Put another way: rather than a collection of applications that support the delivery of a user experience, a DXP is a cohesive technology architecture that supports a great user experience.
I use the term “cohesive” very intentionally because it’s precisely why we believe Sitecore holds a Leader position in the Gartner DXP MQ. Building on our leading web content management platform—which is an anchor tenant for a DXP—the Sitecore Experience Cloud™ has natively integrated digital marketing tools including analytics, personalization, machine learning, search, omnichannel delivery, and more alongside a central repository of real-time, multichannel customer experience data. The “native connectedness” of customer profile information in Sitecore gives organizations the ability to understand and respond in real time to the context behind every customer interaction, regardless of where it happens.
As important, Sitecore provides the versatility to be used as a full digital marketing platform or interoperate with other complementary best-of-breed solutions. Sitecore’s flexible integration strategy, underpinned by Sitecore xConnect™, allows the connection and collection of data from nearly any third-party solution. In pursuit of the ultimate goal of providing better customer experiences, Sitecore doesn’t force you to make a choice between a unified stack and leveraging your previous investments in best-of-breed technologies.
Of course, the DXP market is a category that will continue to evolve, particularly as more organizations pursue their own digital business transformation strategies to meet customer demands. Learn more about how Gartner has evaluated the market and why Sitecore is named a Leader with a complimentary copy of the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms available in our resource library.
Scott Anderson is Sitecore’s Chief Marketing Officer. Follow him on Twitter @ScottsVoice.
1Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms, Jim Murphy, Gene Phifer, Gavin Tay, Mike Lowndes, Jan. 17, 2018.
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