The evolution of content management systems

With many types of CMS available, such as headless, decoupled and monolithic, understanding the requirements for each – and stacking up their benefits against your business’s goals – is no walk in the park. In this blog post, we will be shining a spotlight on the evolution of content management systems.

Where it all started – aka the monoliths

Understanding the newest renditions of CMS’s means understanding where they started from.

In a nutshell, monoliths follow the traditional approach to software architecture: all in one, unified component.

Content Management Systems are used for content creation and presentation, and monolithic CMSs are created with a tightly linked backend and frontend. In other words, how it works and how information appears to the user function together—you can’t have one without the other. Designing the frontend is a process specific to websites, driven by themes and templates.

Monolithic content management systems have a host of benefits, that include a quick set up, a wealth of default templates that facilitate content creation and many useful plug ins and add-ons.

Kentico’s flagship enterprise content management system is a great option for those looking to benefit from the pros of traditional CMS options – Xperience is a true enterprise DXP that delivers on many levels.

Umbraco is another well-established contender in the world of traditional CMS’s. Known as 'the friendly CMS', Umbraco has become the world's most popular open-source .NET CMS. 

While it may be ideal for some types of companies, monoliths have limitations in terms of flexibility since they don’t support a presence across multiple digital platforms.

This “all-in-one” approach has been challenged by the likes of decoupled and headless CMS alternatives, that empower teams looking for more independency, flexibility, speed of delivery and efficient ways to be omnipresent.

The best of both worlds – let’s talk decoupled

The main difference between a traditional CMS – or monolith – and a decoupled option, is that the frontend and backend are developed separately. With a decoupled CMS, the frontend is still there – as in, you can have a presentation layer that you can customise with ready-made or tailor-made tools – but the content delivery is separate. In essence, the frontend and back end communicate in the same way as in a headless CMS.

This translates into greater independency within your team, while benefitting from the ease of pre-configured layouts, templates and various other publishing or editing tools. Developers are able to push content to a variety of platforms, while marketers enjoy editing and publishing tools that are user friendly. The best of both worlds!

Endless potential – the power of headless                    

The true essence of the omnichannel experience is masterfully captured by a headless CMS. As you may have suspected, headless is a content management system where the frontend and backend are entirely detached.

The possibilities are endless with content presentation, and it’s a delight for your developers as it enables them to experiment and innovate, with faster roll outs.

Since headless is predominantly reliant on API integrations, the microservice approach enables companies to bring together various pieces of the puzzle. This type of modularity supports future focused strategies through speed, agility and scalability.

With headless CMS, content delivery becomes a flexible process for a truly powerful omnichannel experience and a seamless navigation. User experience is emphasized in this context.

It’s also possible to connect with a variety of software from your MarTech stack, allowing your business more control over data flows. At the same time, any maintenance, upgrade or improvement does nothing to disrupt the frontend experience.

Contentstack is one brilliant example, offering an enterprise Content Experience Platform at the forefront of a new breed of agile CMS!

Kontent is another powerful alternative to traditional web platforms. Kentico’s cloud-based headless CMS streamlines content delivery across all channels and improves collaboration between developers and marketing teams.

All good so far. What’s next?

This was a round-up of the content management systems available for businesses, yet there is so much more to know about each. Choosing the CMS that fits the bill is crucial to delivering customer experiences that compete within fast paced markets; and the choice boils down to your business objectives and professional teams. 

Explore which option is ideal for your business by getting in touch with one of our digital experts.