Why the End of Gartner’s WCM Magic Quadrant Should Concern You?

In a move that’s taken the industry by surprise, Gartner has done away with its Web Content Management Magic Quadrant for good. The analyst firm has declared that it’s not just dropping the web content management MQ but also the “Critical Capabilities” report associated with it. The reason Gartner cites behind it is that the market “has reached its maturity with products becoming more homogenized.” And that “client demand has been shifting from WCM to the broader scope of DXP (Digital Experience Platforms).”

Whether it’s a mere change of terminology or a serious move towards an idea whose time has come (i.e., DXP) — it’s adieu to WCM-MQ for now.

The Most Obvious Question—Why?

The move does not, for a moment, imply that Gartner has jumped to any conclusions suddenly. The conditions had been ripe from quite some time, since consumers are increasingly getting used to content experiences away from websites, due to touchpoints like social platforms, mobile apps, native apps, digital marketplaces and affiliate networks, conversational interfaces, IoT devices, and immersive experiences like AR/VR. This change in the content delivery approach has been the chief reasons to this major shift.

What Happens Next?

Does it sound the death knell for WCM itself? The answer is an emphatic ‘No.’ WCM, as a platform, is not going to perish till the time websites exist. So, there’s no threat to all the new and established brands offering WCM; as a technology, WCM is here to stay. Just because it’s no longer only the web, it doesn’t mean that the significance of a web presence has finished altogether. That said, the idea of content management has now evolved into managing content for a variety of channels; besides, Gartner intends to make a clear and strategic shift towards DXPs.

What Are the Industry Implications?

There’s an entire background to an organic shift towards DXPs, which is neither new nor hidden in the industry. Gartner’s researchers have over the years, seen native content management capabilities expand into the realm of DXPs, where users desire a WCM technology built on microservices, mesh app and service architecture (MASA), along with serverless and containerized architectures. Largely speaking, the interest in inquiring as well as purchasing a “lone WCM” solution is plummeting. Many WCM vendors have tried to differentiate themselves by adding capabilities like workflows, localization, drag-and-drop and translation. However, this can only hold the fort temporarily, as the move towards DXPs is real.

Will There Be More Focused Demand of DXPs? Our Opinion!

Our opinion is in line with what Gartner predicted in 2019. It said: “Through 2021, 85% of effort and cost in a digital experience platform program will be spent on integrations with internal and external systems, including the DXP’s own, built-in capabilities.”

As the foreseeable future looks laden with an extraordinarily complicated, vast and interconnected network of technologies, we feel that enterprises would experience an overwhelming pull towards DXPs. Also, as the need for highly contextualized experiences soars on every possible touchpoint and channel, the high degree of interoperability and integration between technologies will be needed to support consistent customer journeys.

How Pimcore Will Keep up With This Evolving Trend?

With an enterprise open-source DXP as its primary offering, Pimcore hopes to make the most of this development by increasing its emphasis on seamless, personalized customer experiences powered by its robust data management capability to deliver real-time information across a range of channels and touchpoints.

Though Pimcore also has a Web Content Management System (WCM) as one of its core products, it will continue to provide a broader range of offerings under its umbrella of DXP. This will also include supporting digital experiences through headless content-as-a-service (CaaS) approach to ensure better versatility and flexibility.

Lastly, it’s our customers’ needs, which would be the basis of how our solutions get deployed. That said, Gartner’s announcement would undoubtedly tilt the mood of the industry in favor of DXPs. And we’re certainly excited about it!