The analogy project #2: The cabin in the woods

Every weekend, I pack up the car and head to my cabin in the woods. It’s a quiet place, nestled between tall trees and a babbling creek. Sounds idyllic, right? Well, it would be, if I didn’t spend half my time there wrestling with a room full of mismatched, outdated tools. You see, this cabin isn’t just for unwinding. It’s a place where I work with my hands—cutting firewood, fixing the roof, maintaining the garden. And this means I’ve accumulated a lot of tools over the years, each one purchased for some specific job.?

At first, I thought this room full of tools was the key to getting things done. But now, I can barely find what I need when I need it. There’s an old rusty hammer that’s been with me since the start, a lawnmower that only works on a good day, and enough duplicate screwdrivers to stock a small hardware store. If I’m honest, the place is a mess.?

That tool room? It’s exactly what many businesses’ martech stacks look like today. They’ve got a tool for everything—one for email campaigns, another for content management, a different one for social media—and while each tool does the job, managing them all is exhausting.??

One job, one tool: The cabin begins to creak?

Last Saturday, I had a big day planned at the cabin. The roof had sprung a small leak, the garden gate was hanging off its hinges, and I wanted to build a birdhouse for the front yard. Easy enough, right? Wrong.?

I couldn’t find the right hammer, so I grabbed the first one I saw—an old, heavy one that’s really more suited for driving stakes into the ground. When it came time to fix the gate, I realized I had three different wrenches, but none that fit the bolts I’d used. Then there was the birdhouse—I had a saw, but no nails, because I’d left those behind at home.?

By the time the sun was setting, I’d managed to finish maybe half of what I’d hoped. As I sat on the porch with my warm beer (I’d unplugged the fridge to plug in the drill), it struck me: this was never going to get better unless I did something drastic. My tool room needed an overhaul. It wasn’t about how many tools I had, but about how efficiently I could get the job done. I needed consolidation.?

The digital cabin, a Martech nightmare?

Marketing teams? face the same problem I faced at the cabin. They’ve got too many tools—tools that aren’t always the best fit, that don’t work together, and that require way too much effort to manage: email platforms, social media tools, CRMs, CMSs, and analytics software. Each tool was brought in for a specific reason, but now their ecosystem is overflowing with redundancy and complexity. Sure, they might have best-in-class solutions for each job, but if those tools don’t integrate seamlessly, it’s like trying to fix a leaky roof with a garden rake. It’s not efficient, and it’s certainly not sustainable.?

According to Kentico’s research, 54% of marketers manage three or more websites and 31% use three or more content management systems. Imagine the sheer frustration of switching between all those systems (similar to trying to fix a garden gate with three wrenches that don’t fit). And each time you need to make a decision, you’re hunting through data that’s scattered across platforms (just like I was hunting for nails for my birdhouse).?

Consolidation: The Swiss Army solution for the cabin and the business?

By the following weekend, I had made a decision. I was done with the clutter in my tool room. I started researching multi-functional tools—ones that could saw, screw, and hammer without me needing to swap out three different tools for each project. And wouldn’t you know, I found the perfect one. A sleek, Swiss Army-style multi-tool that promised to handle all my DIY tasks with ease.?

By the end of the day, the roof was patched, the gate was hanging perfectly, and the birdhouse was up. The beauty of the multi-tool wasn’t just that it could do a bunch of things—it was that it had them all in one place. No more juggling mismatched tools or searching for parts. Everything I needed was right there in my pocket.?

For businesses, that’s where Xperience by Kentico comes in. Like I said in a previous episode, it’s the Swiss Army knife of digital experience platforms (DXPs), consolidating content management, marketing automation, personalization, and analytics into one powerful platform. Instead of managing five or six different tools, businesses can consolidate everything into one sleek platform that handles all their digital marketing needs.?

This means less time spent managing platforms, and more time focused on what matters: the customer experience. When all the data, content, and automation live in one place, teams can move faster and smarter. There’s no hunting for the right tool or dealing with outdated systems. Just like my multi-tool makes weekend projects at the cabin a breeze, a consolidated platform like Xperience by Kentico makes marketing simple, streamlined, and efficient.??

It's all about future-proofing??

Of course, one of the best parts about consolidating my tool room wasn’t just the immediate ease of use—it was how it prepared me for the future. Next weekend, if a tree falls and I need to clear the path or fix another part of the cabin, I don’t need to worry about buying another tool. I’ve already got the one I need.?

In the business world, the same principle applies. Consolidation isn’t just about solving today’s problems, it’s about future-proofing. As new marketing channels emerge, or new customer behaviors develop, a consolidated platform like Xperience by Kentico adapts, scaling alongside your needs. You don’t have to keep adding more tools to the clutter; instead, you’ve already got what you need in one adaptable, integrated system.?

The clean-up: Final thoughts?

As I sit on the cabin porch now, listening to the wind rustle through the trees, I’m reminded of how much easier life becomes when everything is organized and efficient. The chaos of that tool room is a distant memory, replaced by the simplicity of consolidation.?

For businesses, the path is just as clear. Consolidation is the future. By adopting a solution like Kentico, they can clean up their digital tool rooms, streamline their operations, and focus on what really matters—building unforgettable customer experiences.?

Because, in the end, whether it’s a cabin in the woods or a global business, having the right tools makes all the difference.?

?

?