Optimizely SaaS CMS & Visual Builder is here! Is it the right choice for your digital product?

Back in January I wrote about the upcoming launch of Optimizely SaaS CMS in the context of embracing choice and flexibility (Optimizely Headless SaaS CMS (netcel.com)). As of July 15th, the SaaS CMS platform was officially launched. 

With the platform now fully available, it’s an appropriate time to look back to see if anything has fundamentally changed. And the short answer is, no. 

The core purpose for Optimizely launching their SaaS CMS remains the same, to provide their end customers with an architectural choice. However, the choice is not always quite what it seems. 

At surface level, you may think that if you want Optimizely, and want headless, the choice is the new SaaS CMS platform. But that’s not really the case. Optimizely is one of the most adaptable platforms. With that, you can choose fully headless, or hybrid headless, with either the new SaaS CMS or the longstanding PaaS CMS platform.  

The only time there is a definite route is in a headed solution – this is PaaS all the way. The only reason to definitely choose SaaS CMS here is if you want a platform, built from the ground up, as headless by design.  

Other than that, there are many factors to consider including, and importantly, the level of customisation that may be required to deliver on your organisational outcomes. In this context, there are limitations with any pureplay headless platform and why, with Optimizely providing architectural choice, it’s such a great option to consider, as you are not limited in your digital evolution. 

Whilst many conversations we have start with “do we need headless?”, this is not always the appropriate question to be asking. The question is more “should we adopt a headless architecture and what level of citizen do we want editors to be?”. 

This latter part of the question is core to your choice of headed, fully headless or hybrid. In reality, if editors aren’t to be second class citizens, you will probably need a headed or hybrid headless architecture. Why? Talk to us and we can explain this more. 

Back to the launch of SaaS CMS. One of the reasons we’re really excited about the potential of the platform is that Optimizely are launching the SaaS CMS platform alongside both their Graph and Visual Builder components. Whilst Graph is a hugely powerful search technology, the Visual Builder component brings with it Optimizely’s legacy in content management and the years of learning Optimizely have had in building editor interfaces and functionality for content to the SaaS CMS platform. This combination of SaaS CMS, Graph and Visual Builder is an incredibly powerful combination and one, combined with the personalisation and experimentation capabilities within the Optimizely One operating system, are market leading even at this early stage. 

Don’t be fooled by the notion that headless is faster then headed or hybrid. It’s probably faster to the initial launch stage for sure, and indeed is probably faster in campaign or small application context. However, for enterprise solutions with a vision for capabilities such as hyper-personalisation, the reality is that there isn’t that much of a difference in engineering time, it’s just a different skillset. 

In short, whilst choice is great, it can also create confusion, so, here’s my fast guide: 

• If your requirement is for an enterprise scale site with complex requirements, most likely with the need for a properly considered editor experience, you’re probably looking at hybrid headless or headed on PaaS CMS. 

• If your requirement is for a rapidly deployed site with limited complex requirements, but still with the need for rich editor experience considerations, that’s most likely SaaS CMS with Visual Builder (and Graph). 

• If your requirement is for fully headless, you could go SaaS or PaaS CMS. 

As you would expect from a progressive vendor such as Optimizely, launch is just the beginning. The roadmap for continual evolution and maturity of the SaaS CMS platform is in place and it’ll be exciting to see how the platform develops in the months ahead. 

Are you wondering whether – fully headless, hybrid-headless or headed is the right approach to meet your digital ambitions?  

Contact or connect with me and we can arrange an initial 30 minute conversation to explore how we start to answer that together.