Sitecore's Choice

I first wrote about the "Sitecore Paradox" in 2018. After having evolved one of the most sophisticated Web CMS platforms in the market, the company found itself with a super high-end but tightly coupled offering at at time when most large enterprises were diversifying their MarTech stacks via an ever-wider set of vendors. While seemingly at the top of their game, I thought Sitecore was on "the wrong side of history."

It seems they now concur, and from paradox has come a clear choice. For the vendor's new perspective, check out this video -- really just the first ten minutes will suffice.

Right off the bat a Sitecore marketer pretty much throws in the towel: "The industry is moving away from a Platform DXP towards 'Composable DXP'..." At RSG we've argued that there was never any such thing a Platform DXP, and that the larger enterprise challenge today is creating a composable MarTech stack.

The video then continues what is essentially a full-on critique of Sitecore's core Experience Platform ("XP") offering.

• "You need our full stack for any individual piece," making it too big, complicated, and monolithic.
• "Typically we see customers choosing multiple products from multiple vendors."
• A modern experience layer frequently runs on "lightweight JavaScript frameworks."
• Mammoth, single-tenant platforms "create hosting and flexibility issues."
• Hybrid-headless architectures are the future.

I couldn't agree more!

By the way, it's rare to see a vendor provide a conceptual demolition of their own, flagship platform, but let's give Sitecore kudos for being honest. Could you imagine Salesforce or Adobe sharing their own dirty secret: that many of the pieces of their very proprietary stack offerings are poorly architected, tech debt-laden, and ill-fitting?

What Sitecore Has Chosen

So, Sitecore has chosen to bring to market a more composable set of SaaS-based "lego bricks."

As you can imagine from a vendor that's built a huge customer base and channel network on a highly customizable platform, Sitecore's video re-assures current licensees that, "you won't get left behind." Sitecore has acquired some SaaS-based marketing and ecommerce services that the vendor now wants you to swap in. You are to replace XP's personalization service and customer datastore with Boxever. You incorporate email via Moosend. You license Content Hub (former Stylelabs) for Asset Management, Content Operations, and related services.

On the surface this seems like a good story, but note that now you must pay for services that previously may have come bundled with your license. Also, some Sitecore channel partners report significant (read: costly) integration projects await here. Enterprise licensees will underwrite this transition.

Moreover, this story glosses over a key point: the biggest piece of this stack -- a foundational, SaaS-based CMS component -- does not yet exist. Building one to match the complex use cases that Sitecore has targeted will be a journey measured in years, not quarters.

Sitecore Now

Like other vendors, Sitecore today exists in an awkward in-between stage. It has assembled a somewhat motley collection of lower-end MarTech add-ons plus a very promising DAM, but has not yet replaced its core CMS component.

Meanwhile Sitecore still boasts a large install base and sizable implementation channel replete with MVP-level fanatics. So their dilemma endures, and even the video gets a bit contradictory here. After trashing the traditional approach, the Sitecore rep argues that use cases persist for the old way of doing things. I'm not so sure.

My advice: new, prospective customers should remain very wary of this platform right now.

Sitecore in the Future

And what about existing licensees? I'd counsel circumspection.

Yes, the lego-brick strategy make sense. But why assemble them from one vendor? Sitecore will argue better integration, yet we've seen this often then reduces the very composability and interoperability Sitecore espouses. At RSG we'd also argue that fit mis-matches are likely to emerge. For example, Boxever and Moosend may not scale for the vendor's highest-end licensees. Conversely the Content Hub DAM platform (upon which the new SaaS CMS will likely get built) could prove too rich for many licensees.

For sure we'd say the same about Salesforce and Adobe. Notably, both vendors are reducing stack composability in recent choices, especially around data management. Meanwhile, traditional Sitecore competitors like Optimizely/Episerver offer only scantily better architectural choices.

So I won't argue a "rush to the exits" for Sitecore XP licensees. Sitecore itself has stressed its incumbent commitments here, both to licensees and channel partners, and I believe them. But here's the thing: it's prohibitively hard for a vendor to support -- let alone enhance -- two CMS platforms. If you were a creative, ambitious developer / product manager / UX guru at Sitecore, which CMS offering would you want to work on...the outdated one or the cloud-native, shiny new one? In my experience, once the older plane starts tipping downward, the descent can get rapid. There's a choice to be made here, and Sitecore has done so.

And so now you the Sitecore customer confront a choice, too. If you license Sitecore XP a major replacement effort is coming in your future. We just don't know when. Take the time to review all your market choices, and don't default to the random acquisitions that Sitecore has made.