This blog takes a close look at a how Sitefinity can put you on the right track with a solution architecture built for agility and integration flexibility, without compromising security and administration integrity.
Content and UX in the Age of Smart Everything
Nano chips, handheld computing, chatbots, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence. A smartphone in every hand and an OS in household items. The times of smart everything. The times of size shrinking and shape shifting. The best time to be a developer?
Now, I guess that’s where you ask frontend, backend or full stack? Well, you know, programmer pranks and the backside of Mount Rushmore are good fun, but this piece on micro frontends by our friends over at Telerik isn’t one to miss either.
Without oversimplifying it, the challenge has always been how to do more with less—and achieve more agility and control. Smaller codebases are more manageable. There’s less regression testing and fewer things that can go wrong with smaller deployments. Low-code and no-code integrations allow a higher level of flexibility and shorter time to market.
API-first Platforms and Presentation-Neutral Content
In CMS terms, the need to serve omnichannel content has really been driving a revolution. The multitude of channels and unprecedented speed of access, the diversity of development platforms call for new ways to deliver content far beyond a traditional medium, such as websites. Smart devices, IoT, VR and artificial intelligence bring about novel, advanced and more exciting interactions and experiences. It’s a challenge to not only respond but anticipate and adapt to a new reality that’s far from static.
APIs are the holy grail and content delivery to multiple frontend consumers is the new baseline. The industry is obsessed with separating the backend from presentation, single-source publishing and omnichannel delivery. It’s a tug-of-war of sorts between decoupled, headless and content as a service. Often, these terms are used interchangeably and even, every now and then, confusingly. It’s a highly competitive market and most vendors want to don the headless badge.
But hey, doesn’t pure headless give up some of the out-of-the-box capabilities of modern WCM? Fine for those who don’t need them—they can indeed plug anything in. On a second thought, do you need to get rid of the head to make room for API-driven connectivity? Perhaps not, if the content is already API-driven and presentation-neutral.
Without going on and on about it, we have compared headless and decoupled on more than one occasion. And by the way, here’s why we think Sitefinity is the sensible answer.
Multiple BEs for Multiple FEs, or One Backend to Serve them All
One thing is certain. The time of single source to single channel content is running out. Traditional CMS as a mere website backend just doesn’t cut it anymore. The commodity in high demand is a content platform, which can power an entire ecosystem around your website.
Microsites, native mobile apps or PWAs that not only consume the content created and stored in the backend but take full advantage of the platform’s underlying features and services such as SSO, user authentication, third-party integrations, security and personalization. The content you develop has to be reused, as in easily delivered to and consumed by multiple frontend applications, regardless of the tech stack you choose to employ.
Check out the infographic below for how Sitefinity is superbly equipped to both serve as a traditional CMS and pull the strings of an entire ecosystem with headless content delivery to multiple frontend consumers.
Decoupled presentation and an architecture built on separation of concerns have multiple positive effects on multiple aspects of what we do. Administration, development, hosting, deployment, scalability, customization, you name it. We all look for solutions that are flexible and agile, offer shorter time to market and are easy to iterate and scale—and all of these without sacrificing the security and administration integrity.
In case you’re wondering whether the content platform you’re considering is future-proof, open (not synonymous with open-source) and omnichannel, make sure these boxes are ticked:
- Robust set of standard-compliant APIs
- Structured, presentation-neutral content
- Frontend flexibility, faster client-side development
- Separate frontend and backend that can scale at varying rates
- Service model architecture for a wealth of custom, low-code integrations
Want to experience Sitefinity firsthand? Go ahead and get a free 30-day trial. If you’d like to mix with likeminded people, give our New Progress Community a try. Or, join our Customer Validation Program and make your voice heard.
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Anton Tenev
A Sitefinity Product Marketer, Anton has a mixed background of software and writing for the web. He has spent the last 10 years in software development, on the project management and product ownership side, all the while writing about technology, gadgets and their use and usability. He is always trying to get to the bottom of things without missing the bigger picture.