Pimcore: The Digital Experience Platform for Business Success

Digital experience platforms (DXPs) came about as an enhanced version of WEM (Web Experience management). The idea was to make them go from being marketing-centric to customer-centric by emphasizing contextualization and personalization and creating compelling web experiences across devices and touchpoints.     

• Phase 1: Digital Experience Stacks- Businesses started building their digital experience stacks over time. With a single vendor not supplying every component that an enterprise needs but in a rush to deliver consistent digital experiences across every channel, the business bought components for digital experience from multiple vendors—and a digital experience stack was created. However, the missing purpose of assembling technologies and lack of an actionable understanding gave rise to interoperability issues, and the responsibility to integrate fell into their hands.
• Phase 2: Market Evolved- Large vendors quickly went from legacy to single-tenant Software-as-a-service (SaaS) to multi-tenant SaaS and started heavily investing in modernizing their software. In the meantime, entry to the cloud eased, and cloud-native software emerged that emphasized interoperability with other software, something which larger vendors were not so quick to do. As a result, what came about was an ecosystem of software providers that were good at one single thing.            
• Phase 3: Emergence of True DXPs- With integration and interoperability becoming paramount, vendors started working towards simplifying (while modernizing) their technology and interoperability. And deeper integration of platforms (rather than mere assimilation of components from multiple vendors) became the backbone of a true DXP. As a result, large vendors began to offer pre-integrated product portfolios, while small vendors concentrated on creating pre-integrating their smaller portfolios with cloud.      

• Content and Commerce: Digital experience platforms (DXPs) are founded on content management. Content needs to be disseminated to various customer touchpoints such as mobile apps, native apps, social platforms, IoT devices, AI powered conversational interfaces. DXPs also facilitate commerce by enabling businesses to conduct transactions, build digital storefronts, take payments, and track orders.
• Intelligence and Analytics: Digital experience platforms (DXPs) need to be well-equipped to offer intelligence and analytics by examining the interactions and engagement across channels, offering real-time insights into user workflows, and behavior, and providing proactive recommendations while continuously improving marketing efforts. Insights are the fuel for efficient targeting and personalization.     
• Automation and Personalization: Because Digital experience platforms (DXPs) analyze customer behavior data as well as third party data, they have the capacity to carve personalized and customized buying experiences. Automation is what helps businesses scale these experiences into cohesive customer journeys for optimal omnichannel engagements.
• API-led Integration: Top-notch DXPs are those that provide high-end flexibility. Decoupled, API-driven, open architectures offer seamless integration with best-of-breed solutions and help deliver content to maximum touchpoints and channels. In addition, APIs avoid tight dependencies, minimizing complexities. 

Intelligent, data-driven approach that takes into consideration customers’ context to offer highly relevant experiences to a growing number of channels and devices (web, mobile web, kiosks, mobile apps, smart devices) and modes (chatbots, digital assistants, voice assistants, etc.) is central to a Digital experience platforms (DXP). Contextual capabilities facilitate individualized customer experiences based on segmentation and past behavior. AI/ML technologies aid in personalization. Contextualization is equally effective on authenticated as well as anonymous users. The context is the most potent element when it comes to serving customers; it is extrapolated from customers’ 1st party data, traces, locations, devices, interactions, or user history and leverages the collected insights to automate improved customer experiences intuitively.

DXPs offer the right environment for a contextual understanding of the customers by including the processes, technologies, and skills required to cater to customer needs.

Another ‘context’ that Digital experience platforms (DXPs) facilitate for organizations (and are specific to every organization) is to give shape to a system that connects people, processes, and technologies across business functions for improved team engagement and unity.

From overcoming technology limitations to carving cohesive experiences for customers to supporting continuous customer lifecycles across multiple digital channel delivery and enabling constant conversations, DXPs are built for a dynamic use. Key benefits of DXPs are:

• Improved Interaction on Touchpoints: DXPs streamline customer and brand interactions to bring sophisticated customer exchanges to life. They eliminate data silos between channels and deliver interactive, omnichannel experiences that drive engagement and foster loyalty.    
• Water-tight Interconnection: APIs allow DXPs to connect and create a technology ecosystem by including a range of platforms, from marketing to eCommerce and customer support. The ease of integration distinguishes a true DXP from simple product portfolios.       
• Streamlined Insights: DXPs make drawing, utilizing, and interpreting analytics data convenient by looking at it within a unified platform. Individualized data about every customer helps businesses understand user journeys better and make data-driven decisions.
• AI Capabilities: The built-in AI capabilities of DXP can dig deep for valuable information in vast volumes of data. AI can investigate customer sentiments with regards to a given product line; it can act on those insights without any assistance by contextualizing digital experience. 
• Improved Control Over Business: The biggest advantage of DXPs is the integrated cross-platform support they offer to brand communication and marketing in real-time. With a strong focus on content and data, they harmonize the process of content management and data collection, respectively. 

The digital experience platform for any business does not come preassembled. Hence, multiple vendors must be selected to best serve a particular digital strategy. Most DXPs require standard components like content, customer data, and a front-end for experience. However, certain exceptional parts may also be needed in specific industries, for example, ‘staff scheduling software’ or ‘medical record system’, etc. That is why choosing and integrating a digital experience strategy in conjunction with the business’s operational model is recommended. For choosing a DXP, companies must see it as:

• A Coalition of Applications and Platforms: No single application or platform is a one-stop destination for any business; it’s always a collection where parts are needed or replaced at different points in time.  
• Pieced together by Several Vendors and Agencies: Many vendors are good at creating particular components. These components must be configured to generate a cross-system alliance to make DXPs a collaborative platform.
• Stitched by APIs: DXPs need to follow best interoperability practices and build cohesiveness through open integration using REST APIs, GraphQL, and event-driven architecture required to build cloud-native applications.  
• Connected With High-quality Data: Data is at the heart of DXPs. With a range of users and creators, it becomes a byproduct that uncovers insights drawn from clean, consolidated, actionable knowledge and is made available to various teams.   
• The Right Foundation for Experience: Digital experiences have four foundational factors a) comprehending customers via data, b) carving experiences with content, c) customizing experiences to suit the context (through marketing) d) delivering value through commerce.