Sitecore’s recent product roadmap announcements at Sitecore Symposium in Chicago have provided customers with options and clarity. Sitecore has also removed the “upgrade or pivot” pressure and set their partners and customers at ease; at least for now.

The Confusing Shift to Composability

Since 2019 there has been a lot of talk about the shift from the monolith to composable DXP platforms which has seen many customers either confused or in a “let’s wait and see how this all pans out”, state of mind. In some cases, they were right to wait. The announcements at Sitecore Symposium 2022 have now given customers more choices.

Even with the release of Sitecore XP 10.0.0, back in August of 2020, and all its improvements in EXM, APIs, and marketing automation, along with the launch of XM Cloud earlier this year in 2022, some customers had been reluctant, as if in a state of fear and paralysis, to upgrade or make any changes to their MarTech stack. These fears were not unfounded, as Sitecore has sunset its Sitecore Experience Commerce platform and is no longer actively developing or selling it. Instead, they are recommending customers move to Sitecore OrderCloud which is a robust SaaS-based commerce platform.

So where does this bring us to?

Sitecore’s Two-pronged Approach

Although Sitecore is committed to a composable future, as seen in its $1 billion investment and acquisitions over the past few years, it also understands the complex nature of its customer base. To that end, Sitecore has assured its customers by announcing a two-pronged approach to its product roadmap where no one will be left behind.

(#1) For customers already using Sitecore XP and a variety of third-party tools to create exceptional customer experiences, in a quasi-composable way, Sitecore continues to develop a suite of SaaS applications that are truly composable, such as Content Hub One. Using MACH principles, Sitecore’s composable products/applications promise to integrate seamlessly with each other and any vendor application that uses these principles. This means that customers can pick and assemble applications into configurations that meet each individual business’ unique needs.

(#2) For customers that, for one reason or another, are prevented from moving to the public cloud or SaaS-based solutions, Sitecore “sees you” and will continue to support you in the foreseeable future. November’s release of Sitecore 10.3 and the announcement of a 2023 release of Sitecore 10.4 are strong signals which take the “upgrade or pivot” pressure off all Sitecore XP customers. So, if corporate governance, geographical or data residency constraints are a concern, you can now rest better at night and be at ease knowing that Sitecore has a path forward for you.

Start Your DXP Roadmap

The announcements of Sitecore XP 10.3 and Sitecore 10.4 buy customers time, but it is still wise to have a DXP roadmap in place. Sitecore’s two-pronged approach has opened many options for its customers, so explore them.

Discuss with your Sitecore partner and begin planning your DXP future state and how it will help you achieve your customer experience goals and lower your total cost of ownership.

This is especially important if you are using Sitecore Experience Commerce which, as mentioned above, has been officially sunset.

Additionally, if you are still on older versions of Sitecore (9.x or earlier) you should begin planning your platform roadmap. There are many advantages to staying up to date with Sitecore releases. Here are a few:

• Security and support
• Bug fixes and performance improvements
• Better and easier-to-use features which lead to marketing efficiency
• Keeping pace with the move to composability
• TCO savings (iterate vs big lift & shift projects)

Still, have questions?

If you’ve yet to realize the total value of your existing Sitecore software or have not used its robust features to their full extent, Sitecore has a business optimization unit that you can tap into. You may also reach out to Konabos directly with questions or connect with our team of Sitecore MVPs.

All in all, this year’s Sitecore symposium was full of great news for Sitecore customers and those of us in the Sitecore space.

It’s been a while [cough…three years], but I am excited once again about Sitecore, its direction, and its offerings. They’ve listened to the customer and the future looks great!

Additional Resources:

• Composable Roadmap Checklist
• Sitecore’s Move to Composable / SaaS
• Sitecore 9.x vs Sitecore 10.x