For many businesses, the automatic ability to instantly scale content options to different regions and countries comes with the notion of replatforming down the line. Last year’s outdated technology, newer users on the platform, and the challenge of new markets have leadership investigating costly migrations. However, replatforming is costly, disruptive, and a lengthy process fraught with peril. Simply replatform to the point where a headless CMS can be stacked on top, edge delivery can be implemented, and micro replatforming can be achieved. Scaling, rather than starting from scratch, allows enterprises to hold onto their original technology investment while meeting the accelerated requirements of international digital enterprise today.
The Costly Expectations of Replatforming
There’s a promise of replatforming at a new start, yet what’s clear is that the costs associated with replatforming are through the roof. When an entire enterprise needs to be migrated to a new platform, that takes months, years down the line, only to compound lost timing to market and effective time operating. Replatforming takes such a disjointed amount of time that marketing and content teams find themselves sitting on their hands while digital assets are in flux where replatforming would have been better to scratch and start anew only to be held up by unnecessary technical changes while the instinct is to create and tweak campaigns.
There’s a dollar amount associated with time lost, but there’s also the hidden cost of retraining a staff that’s no longer used to where resources are on a different platform. If entities must pay at an enterprise level to export information to new and develop redundancies, it becomes more expensive, more miscalculated than ever. Full documentation for Storyblok CMS provides enterprises with the guidance needed to modernize effectively without unnecessary disruption. At the enterprise level, this applies to even more areas, with more risk because replatforming does not just affect one region at a time. Therefore, instead of joining the cycle of replatforming, enterprises can take advantage of new technology without it being a new platform by accessing a headless CMS and starting on the road to modernization without disrupting the flow of service.
Headless CMS Creates a Composition Connector to Expand
The answer to scaling without having to scale down is a headless CMS platform. Where a normal CMS might act with connected content and delivery, the primary distinction of a headless system is decoupling; therefore, it allows organizations to continue using websites and applications and keep legacy systems without needing to scrap or rebuild in various formats to enjoy the benefits of expansion. Instead, the headless acts as a connector through which structured content can be managed and pushed out through APIs to any frontend application. This means legacy environments can stay if need be while new digital touchpoints can be created through mobile applications, kiosks and voice systems. Allowing for connection through headless options means companies do not have to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel to experience expansion, they can extend their reach through reliable options granting enterprises time to breathe instead of forcing them to move at disruptive rates.
Edge Delivery Removes Latency Issues
Latency has always been one of the biggest challenges for global content delivery. If your content exists in one centralized location, and your users are sprawled across multiple continents, there’s no way to guarantee speed. Edge delivery caches and delivers content from servers located around the world that are positioned closer to end-users. With an edge network and headless CMS, enterprises can deliver all the structured content they require in nearly real time from anywhere. For example, companies with excessive traffic think high-volume streaming services or e-commerce platforms will lose revenue by the second if their customers encounter latency based on a centralized delivery solution. But with the ability to offload the edge delivery experience, there’s no need for brands to over-stress their legacy infrastructure, and customers will have the seamless experiences they’re looking for and without needing to remove their traditional CMS, since the headless and edge layer are placed atop what’s already there.
No Need to Duplicate to Accommodate Regional Needs
Merely tapping into a global customer base doesn’t mean an enterprise is providing services and products faster; it also means connecting with regional needs. Regional audiences expect products and services to have content in their languages, with cultural nuances, and oftentimes, regulatory compliance. Traditionally, organizations with CMS solutions would need to duplicate entire repositories to house some content in one place, and other content in another only confusing their backends and creating inefficiencies. But with headless capabilities, enterprises can maintain one source of truth while altering for localized needs. Since edge delivery can accommodate regional needs, products can remain consistent worldwide for specifications while pricing, images, and disclaimers can swap for each applicable region as long as they exist at the edge without duplication! This prevents the complications that come from scaling regions and gives enterprises and their reliable systems the ability to grow.
Risk Averse with Incremental Modernization
Replatforming is no small feat and comes with risks. Downtime, lost integration, extensive retraining for new hires, etc. When a global enterprise has skin in the game for customer-facing experiences, that is a risk not worth taking. Incremental modernization means the business can change and grow without changing and growing. For instance, implementing a headless CMS as an overlay allows companies to still operate on existing platforms and simply add on new capabilities. New/Future teams can learn new processes gradually, integrate with more modern solutions gradually, and daily operations do not need to halt. Incremental investment is easier to fit into budgets to avoid overstretching all at once, minimizing risks and fostering resilience. Instead of a one-stop shop migration overnight, companies can modernize over time when the time is right.
The Demand for Governance/Compliance and Speed to Scale Globally
To grow globally is to grow a lot but also to need good governance to ensure compliance within areas. Growing across borders means content strategies must account for data sovereignty rules like GDPR in Europe or age/gender-regulated content in North America. A headless CMS helps companies develop compliance expectations by delivering governance abilities; permissions, roles, workflows, and audit logs mean that decentralized teams can create and push out content without jeopardizing authorities’ standards. They are still accountable to the larger organization and cannot do whatever they want. Additionally, many headless CMS solutions integrate with region-specific hosting companies, meaning when sensitive information is at play, data remains where it should remain. Companies not only avoid potential legal headaches later on but also offer edge delivery capabilities for better performance without having to redo hosting configurations. The ability to foster regulatory trust and control means longer-term sustainability.
Scaling Performance Across All Delivery Channels
Scaling content delivery isn’t just about being able to scale it’s about scaling support. Customers today expect the same experience on the web and in mobile, on in-store interactive kiosks and, soon, augmented reality and voice commands.
For any program that’s been around a legacy CMS fulfilling such need will place pressure on customizations or pure duplication efforts. Yet a headless CMS enables success by giving channels by way of APIs; therefore, content can flow where it needs to, on any channel, required. And with edge delivery on top, the content comes served fast, too. Companies can scale their omnichannel efforts not with the promise of needing to replatform down the line but instead, with a guaranteed platform that provides for users as needed, always on and reliable experiences.
Growing for the Future Without Getting Locked In
When it comes to the future, growth must be flexible. Companies with inflexible platforms will get stuck escalated replatforming efforts are needed every time there’s new technology to adopt or a new geography that requires expansion. Yet through a composable architecture, blending a headless CMS with edge delivery, companies have a system that’s future-proof. If they want a new personalization engine, analytics, or localization capabilities, they can plug in those services without disrupting what’s already set up and running. A composable, API-first approach means companies are never locked into one vendor/technology and, therefore, can pivot at the drop of a dime as change occurs, scaling to new audiences/regions and channels without fear they’d be held back by something that used to work better in the past.
ROI From What Already Exists
Finally, scaling doesn’t require replatforming to happen because it generates ROI from what’s already there. Enterprises have spent millions and millions of dollars over the course of time working with legacy CMSs creating integrations, workflows and repositories that exist at great complexity. To have to replatform not only means wasting revenue but also losing institutional knowledge and application learned over time. Therefore, a headless CMS allows for these systems to exist as is in integration with a new composition. It makes them feel new again while allowing the revenue used over time to still have value. Companies that can layer their past efforts instead of replacing them can not only afford to scale but maintain continuity and, most importantly, protect their ROIs.
Decentralize Execution Without Fragmented Systems
As companies grow, it’s essential to empower regional offices and allow them the freedom to act independently to pivot and react to market needs. However, allowing regional offices to run independently in terms of systems will lead to fragmentation and inefficiencies across the company. While many regions may be doing great things, if they don’t talk to each other, no one knows what anyone is doing. A headless CMS allows for decentralized execution and a central authority. Regional teams can campaign, localize efforts and manage hosting capabilities while remaining plugged into the global strategy for budgeting efficiencies, streamlined redundancies and operational efficiencies.
Business Continuity When Expanding
There are always threats to business operations when going global system outages, compliance failures and replatforming when you’re trying to do so, just increases risk exponentially. But with a headless CMS, companies can layer new content delivery over existing systems instead. There’s no need to tear down what’s working to make way for new content delivery; layering allows companies to maintain operations and keep content delivery systems alive while expanding their infrastructure in other regions. This makes expansion fluid and companies don’t need to worry about vulnerabilities to operations or customer trust in the process.
Culture of Innovation Without the Risk
When companies want to innovate, they should be able to; however, many legacy CMS platforms prevent such a thing from happening and make it unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming. Instead, a headless CMS allows for a modular ethos where companies can test new services or integrate new technologies without impacting the whole. For example, A/B testing for personalization engines, third-party analytics or even artificial intelligence interfaces can be tested without the fear of replatforming; if it doesn’t pan out, then there’s nothing put into it that would be lost by a project that doesn’t work out.
Compliance is a Competitive Advantage
Compliance is often seen as an impediment slowing companies down; however, for the companies that can tackle international requirements on an in-house level, compliance can be a differentiator. Headless CMS options allow companies to integrate such methodologies into the process from Day One, no matter where the company resides. For instance, if a company wants to boast transparent digital experiences, it must ensure that all generated content with guidelines has been adhered to and not allowed to go live. Such compliance shows companies can be trusted and that they’re responsible for all elements of the operation, making compliance a competitive advantage, because customers see reliable and compliant companies as safer bets than those who may exceed regulatory framework scope.
Conclusion
There’s no reason to create a global content delivery infrastructure from scratch. Replatforming may be the simplest means to kick off a modernization initiative, yet it’s less than beneficial due to unnecessary risk and expense. By adopting a blended approach transitioning to a headless CMS and an edge delivery solution, enabling incremental modernization where appropriate, and relying on composable integrations brands can create an agile, scalable environment without having to forfeit anything they already have. Such an environment will allow brands to meet international demand and position themselves for success down the line without compromise. Ultimately, those who succeed in a hyper-competitive landscape are those who scale properly those who build upon the successes of the past, modernize what’s no longer effective, and offer compliant, efficient, and high-quality content experiences where they do business, no matter where that business may be.