CMS predictions: What to watch for in the year ahead

It occurs to me that there has never been a safer time to guess what the future holds. On the one hand, imagining the technologies we will utilize is relatively straightforward.

On the other, everything else—how and where we work, the economy, the pandemic, and all the rest—points to such an uncertain year, prognosticators can hardly be blamed for miscalculations. All reports should include this disclaimer: “Data was collected in 2020, please be kind.”

With that in mind, here are the topics and trends I expect we’ll be discussing in 2021:

Artificial Intelligence will bring subtle changes

Kroger and Microsoft are bringing digital shelves to brick-and-mortar grocery stores where ads are displayed beside merchandise and prices change on the fly. With examples like this, CMS-driven commerce will need to react as the online and offline experiences comingle.

Content creation is already using AI. We’ve hardly noticed as Office applications suggest writing changes with Word, provide design assistance in PowerPoint, and enhance Excel charts. CMS will benefit directly and indirectly as we come to expect what we didn’t even see coming.

Chatbots will be everywhere – and customers will be none the wiser

The first chatbots were clunky and obvious. Soon it will be hard to tell if our first-line support is human or robot. We won’t care — if we get the help we need and are smoothly passed off to a real person when appropriate.

Chat capability integrated with CMS platforms, as could be the case with Progress® NativeChat, will be table stakes for any serious CMS hoping to serve a complete digital experience.

Digital portals, created with CMS platforms, will proliferate

When COVID-19 displaced employees and customers alike, technologically nimble organizations and government entities responded effectively with solutions that foster better, more engaging digital experiences.

In May 2020, Gartner reported 74% of CFOs intend to increase remote work opportunities for their organizations permanently. The modern, interactive portal facilitates remote work, acting as a mechanism to enhance business processes and customer service.

Portals serve with modern security, search options, chatbots, mobile and IoT capabilities, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, providing service and self-service for industries as varied as manufacturing, insurance, and healthcare.

Traditional portal software is neither adequate nor needed for this task. CMS platforms with multi-site capabilities like Progress® Sitefinity® offer the connectivity and integration capabilities needed for these digital portals.

Edge computing will bring efficiency, personalization and security to enterprises—CMS platforms will provide centralized control

In 2021, we’ll see more cloud computing. Part of this will be edge computing as applications requiring low latency (faster than SaaS) proliferate. Edge computing isn’t new, but the emergence of 5G will facilitate its faster growth. Speed fosters innovation.

Edge computing moves data processing closer to the source of data collection. Physical devices, fog nodes, located anywhere there is a network connection, do the processing. They will be above store aisles, in office ceilings or along roadsides.

Autonomous vehicles and robotics require this, but the technology has more pedestrian uses as well. For instance, grocery store chains are some of the early adopters.

Hyper-personalization will occur in places it had never been possible before. Imagine a shopping list on your mobile device dynamically resorting to adjust to your position and path through the store aisles.

Content management systems will benefit as personalization becomes more efficient and less constricted by centralized processing and storage. Security and privacy will improve with distributed processes and information.

Research from Santa Clara, California-based Aruba Networks, suggests enterprises should seek solutions that manage all domains from a single cloud-native pane of glass. Content management will easily adapt to this model, but expect multi-site and multi-channel capabilities to be required in most implementations.

True, pure-play, headless CMS vendors will offer decoupled solutions out of necessity

A coupled CMS inextricably links the backend administration and the frontend display, but since most enterprises require integration on the backend and multiple channels on the frontend, modern CMS platforms are either headless or decoupled.

Both headless and decoupled options separate content from presentation and offer API integration, but true headless CMS platforms lack applications for webpage development designed for non-technical users.

A headless CMS is API-first, cloud-first, and IT-centric. The result is content management that is flexible, agile and fast, promoting best-of-breed development for output to any channel or service: web, mobile, voice, kiosk and beyond.

One criticism of these true, pure-play headless vendors (and their build-it-yourself, best-of-breed philosophy) is that they leave customers overly dependent on development teams with no WYSIWYG options.

I see these vendors becoming more likely to recommend or create applications for webpage creation as part of their messaging—a DIY decoupled system!

Development teams will insist on .NET Core

The .NET Core framework, the successor to the .NET Framework, allows for the development of cross-platform ASP.NET apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is open-source and offers compelling enhancements.

With .NET Core, developers can accelerate and simplify the development of hybrid and progressive web apps (PWA). Productivity is boosted with configurable widget properties and behavior. Developers can code with any text editor and the code compiles faster.

Developers will want .NET Core. With it, they can deliver their projects faster, delivering them across multiple platforms and devices. Expect this group, which heavily influences the CMS buying decision, to insist on .NET Core. Any CMS without it will be disregarded.

Then again, that’s not all there is to say

Search remains important and will become more so as content multiplies exponentially. We will also expect more of search, what it delivers, and how it anticipates the meaning behind our requests. Voice will continue to change how we interact with devices, the internet and each other.

It’s an exciting time with a lot to anticipate. Then again, after 2020, who’s to say we won’t again be scratching our heads wondering “What just happened?” this time next year.