As Sitecore XP moves through its end-of-life transition, users are faced with a decision about what comes next. For many, the answer will be to make the move to a modern cloud-based solution where they can enjoy more flexibility, speed, agility, and freedom from maintaining onsite infrastructure. Sitecore itself has recognized this need by making a late entry to the composable space with its SaaS CMS offering, XM Cloud. But is this relatively new entrant to the SaaS category, backed by only a few customer stories, your best bet? 

If you’re moving to cloud to take advantage of SaaS models, headless CMS, composability, and modern frameworks, then you want a proven solution with a solid vision and a complete toolkit, not just the next iteration of Sitecore. But, of course, we don’t expect you to just take our word for it.

We asked Joao Antonio Rabelo, a software engineer at Apply Digital with experience working on multiple platforms, including Sitecore and Contentful, to share his thoughts.

Making the shift from a legacy CMS to a modern, cloud-based solution

Cloud-based solutions offer more flexibility, speed, scalability, and reliability than their predecessors. It’s a paradigm shift in how you build and deliver digital experiences. As such, it requires some work to make the transition, regardless of which cloud solution you choose.

It’s important to understand that even if you move from an older version of Sitecore, such as Sitecore XP 9 to XM Cloud, you will need to rebuild and reconfigure a number of things because you are moving from a non-cloud to a cloud-based platform. For example, you will need to rebuild Sitecore MVC components and custom modules, port over content models, re-architect features, rewire personalization rules, and the potential transition from legacy to new frameworks like Next.js, depending on your current implementation.

You also want to think about how a modern platform will change the way you work and deliver a good return on investment. If you’re just copying the old way of thinking to the new way of building, then you won’t get the results you’re looking for. 

This means thinking about what technology you want to use now and in the future, and how developers, marketers, and other members of your digital teams can work more efficiently when supported by modern technologies. The platform you choose will impact these decisions.

Given the effort required to replatform from a non-cloud to a cloud-based build and the future ramifications of the platform you choose, it is important to consider your options so that you get the best solution for your business. For people using Sitecore XP, this means comparing XM Cloud with other cloud-based solutions.

See how Sitecore stacks up against Contentful in this comparison chart.

Key considerations when deciding what comes after Sitecore XP

How well does the platform support your digital teams — marketers and developers

Developers: Can developers use their frameworks of choice? Will most of your developers be able to work on the platform? Does the vendor offer migration support, documentation, and other resources for developers? 

Marketers: How will the new platform impact marketers and other non-technical users? Will it empower them to work independently and use their preferred tools or will they be heavily reliant on developers for day-to-day publishing?

For example, as an established platform, Contentful has resources for developers that include an active developer community, learning center, and documentation, as well as guides to help marketers and products like Studio that empower marketers to work without depending on developers for every step.

What are the upfront costs and expected ROI?

What are the upfront costs of replatforming? Is the pricing model transparent so you can understand both the initial cost and total cost of ownership? Has the platform helped other companies realize ROI quickly?

Are there other areas you need to invest in, such as hiring an agency or securing people with specific technical expertise? For example, with Sitecore you will need developers or specialists who understand the Sitecore platform to make sure things are set up correctly and to help you move faster. This can mean you end up paying more because you are dependent on a limited pool of Sitecore specialists.

By contrast, any developer with a content platform background will pick up Contentful quickly. The APIs are straightforward, developers can work in their preferred language, and there’s nothing too platform-specific. It's a lower barrier to entry and less of a burden to hire people because more of your developers can work on the platform from the start.

Will you get the flexibility and extensibility you expect from a cloud-based solution?

One of the reasons companies move to the cloud is to get a more flexible solution and the ability to choose the technologies they want to use. It’s important to consider how your upfront decisions will impact that flexibility and your ability to integrate the tools you want.

With XM Cloud, Sitecore has done some of the upfront legwork for you to provide an out-of-the-box experience, but when you rely on Sitecore’s prebuilt directions for migrating from XP to XM Cloud, you're fixed into certain implementation patterns. If future integrations deviate from those patterns and components, they will require more steps. It’s a heavier cost in terms of developer resources and time, and the integrations are not guaranteed to work. 

Part of the challenge is that Sitecore is biased toward Windows/Microsoft platforms and XM Cloud heavily favors Next.js, making it strenuous to build and integrate with other modern frameworks like Astro, 11ty, Gatsby, and Svelte. When you implement a biased technology, it’s harder to change things in the future because you’ve coupled your required components with their preferred components and now you have to spend more to move to something else.

Contentful is more in tune with the cloud aspect. The decision field is wide open with the neutral approach to use of any technology. You can choose technologies that better fit your product and team, and have the flexibility to integrate with an unlimited amount of leading tools.

From my experience, most of the key technology players have some sort of Contentful integration in the Marketplace. You don’t have to figure out how to make the integration work. You can plug in a third-party vendor partner and start using it right away.

Does the platform have proven success as an enterprise-ready solution?

Moving to a cloud-based solution is an investment in your future capabilities. Look for customer stories and reviews to find a vendor with proven success at the enterprise level.

For a complete list of what to look for in your next platform, check out Ten critical questions to ask before selecting a CMS. 

In my experience, replatforming to Contentful is easier, faster, and delivers the best value

If we think about the goal of replatforming to a cloud-based solution as getting more flexibility, speed, agility, and reliability, then Contentful meets that goal. With XM Cloud, you get some convenience with prebuilt components, but the tradeoff is a heavily coupled implementation with a hefty license cost. Deviating away from Sitecore’s preferred components toward a more custom build requires more steps. 

Apply Digital favors the decoupling of any given technology or approach. When technologies are decoupled, it's easier to think about what gives the best value. In this case, Contentful gives the best value by enabling your team of experts to choose and build using platforms best suited for your goals.

At Apply Digital, we find it's much faster to bring the Contentful platform live and make it work. It gets people excited, as some projects may only take a few weeks to deliver a meaningful concept. We can start building a small project in as little as 3-6 months or less depending on the engagement. There’s less effort on training.  

It's easier to do a proof of concept and to experience Contentful by using the free version. It allows you to start building right away. 

Contentful offers easier integrations

Contentful is more plug and play and has a bigger ecosystem of integration partners. For example, if you want to use Cloudinary as your DAM, you can just plug that in. Your content editors can keep working while your developers use the APIs from Cloudinary to build the front end. No one has to stop. You’re up and running very quickly.

Another example is search. Contentful comes with a search capability out of the box, though you can easily plug in search tools like Algolia to enhance the experience, results, geo-location, and scalability. Sitecore uses Solr to power search for XM cloud and XP. Solr requires a more hands-on approach and isn't as easy to set up and use. The integration between Sitecore and other search engines is more arduous as it is biased toward Solr.

Future-proof and AI-ready

Another consideration is how easy it will be to add new technologies, including emerging AI tools. So, today you might be using X product and that might work well on Sitecore. Six months from now, if a revolutionary product comes out, will you be able to just plug it in or will you have to build everything yourself?

In my opinion, adding new technologies in the Sitecore environment will be more difficult. With Sitecore, you have to deal with the configurations, the management build, and the website or public-facing build. Contentful is more likely to be plug-and-play in terms of new AI technology within the content management side. In either case, you would still need to build the front end where you decide what you want the AI to do, such as marketing campaigns, personalization, content suggestions, etc.

See how Contentful’s recent acquisition of Ninetailed offers customers a scalable, AI-driven personalization solution that’s already integrated into the Contentful platform.

Make your move to the cloud with Contentful

In my experience, Contentful has a lower barrier to entry and more flexibility on so many points. It’s a cloud offering with proven success and features that both developers and marketers love.

With a large ecosystem of partners, including Apply Digital, and in-house professional services, Contentful can help you move smoothly from Sitecore XP to a cloud-based solution that will bring your business into the future and scale with you for years to come.

Find out how our in-house migration experts can smooth your path from Sitecore to Contentful and accelerate your transition with our dedicated Sitecore-to-Contentful migration services.

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