The DXP category is defined by content management, personalization, customer data management, marketing orchestration, AI, integrations, and multi-experience support. The leaders are defined by:
Leaders have ample ability to support a variety of DXP use cases and consistently meet customers’ needs over substantial periods. Leaders have delivered significant product innovation in pursuit of DXP requirements, and have been successful in selling to new customers across industries.
Gartner 2023
Optimizely is again named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for DXPs 2023.
This marks the fourth year Optimizely (formerly Episerver) is tracking with Adobe, Sitecore, and Acquia. Adobe and Optimizely this year show greater separation from the leaders pack. Sitecore despite a massive infusion of cash just a few years ago is showing signs of lag.
Tech Stack
- Adobe – Java
- Optimizely – Microsoft .NET
- Acquia – LAMP Stack
Key Insights
- Acquia – lagging on headless and composability, market confusion created by ties to open source
- Adobe – strong brand recognition at a high cost of ownership, a large ecosystem of vendors, and cutting-edge tools, all at a high cost of ownership.
- Optimizely – modular pricing transparency (relative to competitors), UI support for React (formerly Dojo), improved headless support, growth, and innovation via acquisition have created brand and UX fragmentation across the platform.
- Sitecore – improving time to market (relative to its history), integrating a low-code templating approach, and focusing on customer support with the Sitecore360 program—monolithic vs. composable system in architecture confusing buyers. Sitecore acquisitions and architecture methods confuse buyers with duplicative features and increased cost of ownership.
Also notable in this year’s Gartner Magic Quadrant is the dropping of Oracle and Salesforce.
Other Thoughts
While Gartner mentions the acquisition of Welcome to the Optimizely suite it does not expand on the implication of marketing orchestration built into a DXP. Welcome (since rebranded under the “Orchestrate” umbrella) proposes a compelling vision for the future of content management. Effectively, orchestrate pushes into the marketing and content creation timeline. Where most DXPs and CMSs are focused on what happens after you have created content, Orchestrate seeks to pull planning, creation, administration, asset management, omnichannel publication, and CMS tools closer together. This vision for the future of the category is very compelling and marks a big shift away from e-commerce-focused positioning. While Optimizely is once again a leader in the DXP category we are curiously awaiting its status within the commerce category.
Optimizely Takes the Lead in Magic Quadrant for Content Marketing Platforms
(Update – March 17, 2023) Optimizely takes the leader’s quadrant for CMPs. I believe this is a reflection of the progress made via the acquisition of Welcome noted above. And Gartner’s caution notes include more discussion of Welcome in this category than in the DXP category. Notably, Optimizely’s focus on AI integrations throughout the platforms stands out in the category. This is an interesting addition not mentioned in the DXP category, the rise of generative AI is separating the leaders from the competition in the CMP category.
The Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXP 2023
The Gartner Magic Quadrant for DXP 2023 report has once again affirmed Optimizely’s position as a leader in the digital experience platform space. With its innovative features, seamless integration capabilities, and a strong focus on personalization and experimentation, Optimizely has consistently demonstrated its commitment to empowering businesses to create exceptional digital experiences. As the platform continues to set the standard for DXP solutions, competitors and market trends alike will be influenced by its success. For businesses seeking a robust, reliable, and future-proof DXP, Optimizely remains a top choice, delivering value and growth in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
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