CMS Critic

Greg Dunlap has been thinking a lot about the #content authoring experience. Over the course of his career, he’s just about seen it all – from consolidating the #contentmanagement chaos at the Seattle Times to building complex, compliance-ridden projects for government customers. Along the way, he’s experienced first-hand how a CMS can miss the mark with content authors, and how the quest for “easy” can sometimes come at the cost of good content. So he wrote a book about it –?and IMHO, you'll want a highlighter for this one. In “Designing Content Authoring Experiences,” Greg gives us a refreshing look at what really matters in the messy world of content authoring in a CMS.?It’s a quick and delightful read, packed with observations and guidance on a bevy of relevant topics – from prototyping to organizational administration to the dreaded annals of form design. While the book provides solid examples of how to approach challenges like governance and #accessibility, Greg isn’t prescribing a solution to all our woes. Instead, he's refocusing the lens on the author’s experience, which sometimes gets lost in translation or overlooked by vendors and organizations. “I thought there was this great opportunity to talk about the authoring experience from the perspective not of the AEMs of the world, but just of the simple stuff that anybody in any system could do to improve things for the groups that they’re working for. And that’s where I thought, ‘There could be a book here.’” Greg was my guest on our new “The Critic’s Corner” Podcast. We talked about his unique journey to the CMS world and how his experiences influenced his book. It’s a fantastic conversation, and you can experience it on Apple Podcasts. ?? Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eSu3dkQv

“The Critic’s Corner” #Podcast is NOW LIVE! ?? ?? Our first guest is Greg Dunlap, author of “Designing Content Authoring Experiences.” We dive into his journey to CMS and how his new book aims to improve #content creation. It's a fascinating conversation, and Greg shares his wisdom across key areas – from forms to prototyping to #accessibility. Listen ?? https://lnkd.in/et8ZPHtX

The MACH Alliance just added a new hit to its member playlist, and it’s a chart-topper. Accenture Song,?the tech-driven #marketing and creative arm of Accenture, has joined the best-of-breed ecosystem as a GSI member. This is an exclusive cohort within the Alliance ranks that features a "who's who" of global #systemsintegrators like Deloitte Digital, EPAM Systems, Publicis Sapient, Valtech, and VML. Born out of its $70 billion parent, Accenture Song is singing a powerful chorus around composable commerce, backed by its heritage of innovation and some key acquisitions. That “mix tape” led to an estimated $19 billion in revenue last year?– and a clear roadmap for powering brands in the age of #digitalcommerce. Like its GSI peers, Accenture Song brings both market presence and global reach to the Alliance, providing even greater credibility to the composable movement. As part of its charter, it will provide expertise and guidance to the Alliance community and champion MACH architectures and strategies. According to?Amjad Liaquat?– global lead, commerce platform design at Accenture Song – MACH aligns tightly with his organization’s vision. “At Accenture Song, composability and the MACH paradigm are fundamental enablers of customer-centric transformation. By embracing modular architectures, API-first design, cloud-native solutions, and headless experiences, we empower brands to move with agility, innovate at scale, and craft truly differentiated experiences.” On CMS Critic, we dig into the news and offer some reflection on what it means for MACH and the market at large. As composable continues to catch fire, the MACH Alliance has assembled a premier bench of agencies, consultancies, and systems integrators to help enterprises build the next wave of #AI-powered applications. Read the news here: https://lnkd.in/eqQTQMmJ

When it comes to composable #commerce, Accenture Song is singing in the key of MACH ?? The global creative arm of Accenture has joined the MACH Alliance, bringing its global power to the open, best-of-breed tech ecosystem. Here's why it matters ?? https://lnkd.in/egY-nBFk

So much is changing in the CMS industry, from the rise of?#agenticAI?to the evolution of?#search. At CMS Critic, we've dedicated our platform to tracking and unpacking the evolution – and having insightful conversations with industry leaders who are shaping the roadmap for #content and #digitalexperiences. Like our previous events, #cmssummit25 will be an opportunity to gather and connect with the brightest minds in our field and gain unmatched perspective on where things are headed. Whether you're a vendor, a digital agency, an enterprise, or even a dedicated professional using #contentmanagementsystems and other critical tools in the stack, you won't want to miss this. Why should you attend? Because this Boye & Company event is like no other. We put people first, creating the right mix of conversations, workshops, and space to learn and collaborate in a vendor-neutral setting. There are plenty of conferences that focus on sales. This is a chance to focus on the future. Let's connect in Frankfurt this May and talk about what's next.

Sitecore has been scoring some impressive growth with its XM Cloud platform and shows no signs of stopping the drive. To that end (zone), the #digitalexperienceplatform recently announced the addition of 250 innovations across its intelligent #DXP and #CMS as part of a seasonal update, giving #marketers even more power to build and create. 250 is a lot, but given the recent publication of Gartner’s 2025 #MagicQuadrant for Digital Experience Platforms, the competition is fierce – and the players are shifting positions. So yeah, the heat is on. That said, Sitecore continues to provide visionary value, differentiating itself with innovative, brand-aware?#AI and agentic automation –?which is most potent within its Sitecore Stream solution. On CMS Critic, we hit the highlights and reflect on some of our previous connections with CEO Dave O'Flanagan and CPO Roger Connolly, who continue to provide a solvent roadmap for the future of XM Cloud and Sitecore’s legacy solutions. We also touch on the advantages of bringing #governance and #compliance to the forefront, positioning Sitecore's DXP as a reliable go-to solution for enterprises wrestling with the regulatory landscape. To win in this field, you need gridiron grit. Read how these innovations can help Sitecore’s game. https://lnkd.in/ej7gJfit

250 new innovations? Talk about scoring big ?? That’s what Sitecore just delivered across its intelligent #DXP and #CMS to power #marketers. Read about these new enhancements to brand-aware #AI, Sitecore Stream, and more – and why it matters. Kickoff here ?? https://lnkd.in/e8rshww6

It’s no secret: We’re living in an #AIagent world. You don’t need a copilot to tell you that. Agents are taking over vast swaths of our daily functions, endowed with the agency to perform tasks and make decisions without any human intervention. There are already some astounding use cases where AI agents are making an impact,?and the roadmap for automation is only limited by our imagination. But as #agenticAI blossoms – engaging with websites engineered for human experiences – is it being deployed in the most optimal way? Mathias Biilmann Christensen thinks we can do better. The Netlify founder and CEO has been pioneering a new concept called “Agent Experience,” or #AX. He believes it's essential for harnessing the potential of this next wave of #AI, so we can seamlessly collaborate with agents. I recently spent time with Matt, wading deep into the reasoning and rationale. As he sees it, AX will provide the mindset and principles for developing agent-driven experiences, and Netlify is already shaping this with thought leadership and resources – including a new website dedicated to AX. We also discussed the benefits of embracing an open versus closed mentality within the agent ecosystem, and how composability and open innovation will advance everyone’s goals. As for humans? Despite a palpable fear of agents taking over, people will play the most important role. “My view on agent experience is very optimistic,” Matt said. And he sees that momentum translating into more career opportunities for developers. With Nvidia’s latest revenue jump, it’s clear that #AI is powering everything. At the same time, there’s a lot of chaos developing as agents expand in every direction. Is Agent Experience the answer? It was a fascinating discussion, and you can read it on CMS Critic: https://lnkd.in/eeWsKVEr

It’s an #AIagent world ?? ?? Is #agentexperience the secret weapon for controlling the chaos? We go deep with Netlify founder and CEO Matt Biilmann about the value of #AX for collaborating seamlessly with #AI agents – now and in the future. Read it here ?? https://lnkd.in/erJ5Jh_N

Contentstack is always innovating at the edge –?and the hits keep coming. After acquiring Lytics #CDP in early January, the #composableDXP scored a "Visionary" spot on Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for DXPs. This latest grid reflected the change we’ve been seeing in the marketscape, and Contentstack’s continued investment in #AI, #personalization, and now #customerdata has put them in a solid position. Now, the company is taking things even further with Contentstack EDGE – a new solution that combines intelligent #content and real-time, first-party customer data. Billed as the world’s first?“adaptive digital experience platform built for the AI era,” EDGE unifies Contentstack’s best-of-breed #headlessCMS, its newly acquired CDP, #AI, #personalization, and frontend hosting capabilities to drive real-time intelligence. According to Contentstack’s founder and CEO,?Neha Sampat, EDGE addresses the relevance challenges brands face in today's competitive markets. Customers need to opt into the experiences they create. But as she says, it's a two-way street – and EDGE is the next-generation #DXP for the challenges ahead. “Brands must create experiences worth ‘opting in’ to, which means they must adapt to a data-first, AI-driven, hyper-personalized world. Retrofitting old technology won’t get them there. Contentstack EDGE will.” If you’re livin' on the EDGE in this fast-paced digital world, check out what Contentstack envisions on CMS Critic. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eUgTy-6c