Sitecore Digital Experience Platform (DXP) Overview

In the evolution of website content management platforms (CMSs) to digital experience platforms (DXPs), Sitecore has been well-established as a digital solutions leader. Today, Sitecore DXP products offer a blend of enterprise capability, security, and performance at the core of digital solutions for some of the world’s most recognized brands.

Sitecore’s digital experience platform is currently offered in two software models. One is Sitecore Platform DXP, a full suite of composable technology that is hosted within a chosen hosting environment. The other is Sitecore’s cloud-based software as a service, known as Sitecore SaaS DXP.

The composable DXP products offered by both of Sitecore’s implementation selections are the preferred choice of many of today’s leading enterprise businesses. Sitecore DXP provides a high-performance blend of content, experience, and commerce. Skillfully deployed and maintained, Sitecore DXP delivers user experiences that grow reach, engagement, personalization, and conversion that accelerates modern business success.

The unparalleled Sitecore development and implementations team at Americaneagle.com provides clients the flexibility to choose either DXP model from Sitecore.

The Difference Between CMS and DXP

Content management systems started arriving on the scene of a fast-growing World Wide Web in the middle-to-late 1990s. These platform applications were developed to enable individuals to create, manage, and deliver website content within an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. Many adopted a what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editing environment. WYSIWYG allowed users to manipulate digital pages of text, graphics, pics, and data within a spatial relationship that closely resembled the intended appearance of those assets within leading web browsers.

Ever since their introduction, popular CMS platforms have consistently evolved to offer much more. Permissions administration became a basic workflow feature that allowed multiple roles of contributors to edit, approve and publish content to a website. Digital asset management also became more agile within CMSs, providing teams with the ability to store robust libraries of assets, tag those assets with supporting descriptive information, and utilize those assets throughout a digital presence. Themed templates and plugin functionalities rapidly multiplied within leading CMS platforms to enhance usability and offer added features, such as ecommerce, site search, SEO, security, form tools, and much more.

Today’s advanced DXP options offer everything businesses grew to expect and appreciate within CMSs and more. DXPs, like Sitecore, provide sophisticated integration capabilities, personalization, and omnichannel coordination to deliver next-generation brand experiences. DXPs can extend far beyond personal computers, smart phones and tablets, engaging users wearable tech, kiosks, connected devices (IoT), and emerging digital experiences.

Sitecore DXP has recently elevated WYSIWYG editing within its platform. Sitecore Pages editor combines user-friendly editing and design capabilities for building web pages. Internal teams of varying roles and tech experience are celebrating the enhanced tool. Within it, capabilities and confidence in composing pages is better than ever.

Enterprise DXP solutions, like Sitecore DXP, offer an array of best-in-breed digital product technologies. In what is known as a composable DXP approach, businesses select the specific options that maximize performance and scalability for their brand. Composable DXP solutions enable enterprise businesses to hand pick, customize, and optimize each digital facet. Other contributing components of a business’s tech stack are also integrated into a modern DXP implementation. In addition to the DXP product options, other essential business technologies can include enterprise resource planners (ERPs), product information managers (PIMs), digital asset managers (DAMs), customer relationship managers (CRMs), marketing automation platforms (MAPs), and ecommerce packages.

Modern DXPs are proving to be the solution of choice for forward-thinking enterprise businesses. With new offerings, features, and updates improving the digital customer experience at an alarmingly fast pace, today’s DXP leaders, like Sitecore, are empowering quick pivots and unparalleled speed-to-market, keeping businesses at the forefront of their industries.

Why Choose Sitecore DXP for Your Business?

When stacked up against other DXP platforms, Sitecore is consistently chosen by many of the world’s most successful brands. Why? While there are certainly considerations that would be specific to each business selecting their preferred DXP, the following list includes some of the most common reasons our clients have chosen Sitecore.

• Robust Content Management: Sitecore enables interdisciplinary business teams to efficiently create, manage, and personalize their brand’s content across multiple digital channels. This helps enterprises effectively maintain consistency in their brand and messaging, improving user experiences.
• Advanced Personalization: Sitecore offers sophisticated personalization capabilities, allowing businesses to tailor digital experiences for individual users based on their shared interests, preferences, and past interactions. Smart personalization has consistently led to higher engagement rates, improved customer satisfaction, and increased conversions.
• Omnichannel Delivery: With Sitecore, enterprises can seamlessly deliver content and experiences across various channels, including web, mobile, email, social media, and more. This omnichannel approach ensures a cohesive user experience, no matter where or how the customer interacts with the brand.
• Integrated Marketing Tools: Sitecore offers a suite of integrated marketing tools which support a wide range of marketing functions like automation, analytics, A/B testing, email campaigns, and more. These tools help marketers to develop, manage, and continually optimize their marketing campaigns.
• Scalability and Performance: Sitecore's architecture is designed to support extreme traffic demands and complex site structures, making it a trusted choice for large enterprises and their substantial digital footprints. Sitecore can efficiently scale to meet growing business demands, ensuring that all digital experiences remain responsive and performant as businesses grow. Headless implementations of Sitecore provide frontend performance optimization and efficiencies that maximize Google Lighthouse (speed) scores and fuel ongoing SEO success.
• Confidence in Security: For intelligent enterprise businesses, security is an uncompromisable priority. Sitecore provides robust and consistently updated security features that protect sensitive data and comply with regulations like GDPR. Key examples include granular access controls, data encryption, and secure development practices. Sitecore maintains certificates of adherence to an extensive list of internationally recognized standards and uses SOC 2 reports to demonstrate the operating effectiveness of its controls for security, confidentiality, and availability of its public cloud environment.
• Extensive Ecosystem and Community: Sitecore benefits from a large ecosystem of partners, developers, and third-party integrations, providing businesses with a wide range of tools, extensions, and services to enhance their digital experience platform capabilities. The active Sitecore developer community also shares valuable resources, support, and best practices.
• Continuous Innovation: Sitecore is known for its commitment to innovative solutions, regularly updating its platform with new features and technologies to meet the evolving needs of digital marketers and technologists. This ensures that enterprises can stay ahead in a rapidly changing digital landscape.
  
  

These reasons, and certainly many others, make Sitecore DXP a popular choice among enterprise businesses aiming to maximize their digital solutions.

Sitecore DXP Features

Sitecore has a wide range of valued features that cater to the business needs of digital marketers, IT professionals, and business leaders. Key features of Sitecore DXP solutions provide comprehensive capabilities for content management, digital marketing, and personalized customer experiences.

The key features of Sitecore DXP include:

• Content Management: Sitecore's content management environment is meticulously designed for successful content creation, management, and delivery across multiple channels. It provides a user-friendly interface, allowing marketers and content creators to update and manage content without needing extensive technical knowledge.
• Personalization and Customer Data Management: One of Sitecore's standout features is its advanced personalization capabilities. The platform enables businesses to tailor content and digital experiences to individual users based on their behavior, preferences, and past interactions, enhancing relevant engagement and conversion rates.
• Omnichannel Delivery: Sitecore supports omnichannel content delivery across today’s array of digital connections, ensuring brands can consistently and successfully engage audiences wherever they are. Cohesive brand strategies can be constructed and deployed across intelligently targeted touchpoints and channels.
• Marketing Automation: Sitecore includes powerful marketing automation tools that allow businesses to design, execute, and measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. This automated orchestration includes email marketing, A/B testing, AI account-based targeting, and workflows to nurture leads and drive conversions.
• Integrated Ecommerce: Sitecore OrderCloud integrates ecommerce capabilities with the digital experience platform, allowing businesses to create seamless shopping experiences that are personalized and connected to the broader customer journey.
• Analytics and Insights: Sitecore provides in-depth analytics and insights, enabling businesses to measure the effectiveness of their content and marketing strategies. This includes real-time analytics, engagement value scoring, and the ability to track and analyze customer behavior and campaign performance.
• Advanced Search and Navigation: Sitecore includes advanced, AI-powered search functionality and dynamic navigation features to help users find relevant content quickly and efficiently, improving the overall user experience.
  
  

These features of Sitecore’s DXP solutions are designed to work together seamlessly, providing businesses with a high-performing platform environment for managing their digital presence, effectively engaging with customers, and driving growth through digital channels.

Leverage Sitecore DXP

As a Sitecore Platinum Implementation and Hosting Partner and award-winning Sitecore solutions agency, Americaneagle.com has helped businesses maximize both DXP models from Sitecore, Platform DXP and SaaS DXP.

Sitecore Platform DXP is the choice for businesses that prefer hosting flexibility. By either managing hosting internally, or with an established hosting partner, businesses continue to feel more control over their tech stack installations, as well as privacy and security measures. They continue to have a choice in regard to update deployments and their timing. Not all businesses are ready to make the jump to cloud-based SaaS solutions and hosting.

Sitecore SaaS DXP is the choice for businesses that are adopting cloud-based SaaS solutions and hosting. By choosing SaaS DXP, software never becomes obsolete, as it is continually upgraded and patched to current versions. Personalization and omnichannel deployment solutions are advanced within Sitecore SaaS DXP. The SaaS option also provides speed and overall performance advantages, enabling faster development cycles as well.

FAQ on Sitecore’s DXP Offerings

Find answers to common questions regarding Sitecore DXP offerings.

How do I choose the right DXP?

Americaneagle.com has built teams with award-winning experience and performance within a wide range of the most capable DXP options. Our strategists help businesses choose the best DXP to meet their specific needs by establishing digital goals that advance business success, as well as considering existing business systems, contributing professionals, and technology.

What is the difference between a CMS and DXP?

CMS platforms help teams to create, edit, and maintain website content. DXPs do that and also add cross-channel capabilities, personalization, artificial intelligence, and advanced integration capabilities for optimized user experiences.

Does my business need a DXP?

If your brand is engaging with customers and other relationships across multiple digital connections, a DXP is likely the right choice for your business. The flexibility and scalability of today’s DXP options, like Sitecore, promote speed-to-market when new opportunities arise.

What kind of support and training does Sitecore DXP offer?

Sitecore and Americaneagle.com both offer shared clients extensive documentation, training, and ongoing support resources. Clients are introduced to these assets within each development project. The dedicated Sitecore team at Americaneagle.com also provides full-stack web application training within Next.js and React when solutions include their development framework.