The DXP Catalyst Update - Feb 11, 2025

INTRO
Welcome to This Week’s DXP Catalyst Update

Each year Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for DXPs sparks conversation - who’s leading, who’s slipping, and what defines a DXP in today’s market? But while the report provides a useful snapshot, it doesn’t always reflect the full picture.

In this issue, I’m breaking down what’s new in Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant, including:

• The assumptions and trends Gartner is betting on (and where I disagree).

• How key vendors have moved over the past year - including surprises.

• New emerging players and drop-offs, and what that signals for the industry.

• The reality of composable DXPs - who’s truly composable, and who’s not?

VENDORS
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant - Key Shifts & My Vendor Takeaways

What Gartner Defines as a DXP in 2025

Assumptions and DXP Definition

Gartner made some bold predictions in this year’s report:

• By 2026, 70% of organizations will be mandated to adopt composable DXP technology.

• By 2027, 40% of organizations will fail to deliver impactful digital experiences due to a lack of AI-driven content coordination and operational strategy.

They also reinforced their DXP definition, emphasizing:

• Composable architecture (modular, API-first approach).

• Cloud deployment (SaaS or PaaS).

• Multi-experience delivery (hybrid/headless capabilities).

• Integration & orchestration (cross-app/service connectivity).

• Core features like content management, personalization, analytics, customer journey mapping, and applied AI.

Where I Disagree

Gartner’s assumption that 70% of organizations will be mandated to adopt composable DXP technology by 2026 feels highly unrealistic - and it raises questions about who’s being surveyed. In practice, this simply isn’t happening at that scale.

If composable architecture is a strict requirement for a DXP, then the report contradicts itself - many vendors included aren’t fully composable. While composability offers clear advantages, it’s not a universal fit. As I discussed in my last edition, composable is an option, not an absolute requirement.

This also raises concerns about how vendors were evaluated - for example:

• Why is OpenText included when it’s not a composable DXP?

• Some vendors labeled as “composable” (like Acquia) have limitations.

• Sitecore, despite its SaaS products and APIs, still lacks a truly cohesive composable DXP.

I’ve previously written about how I think of a DXP as an ecosystem of capabilities including content management, commerce, customer data management (CDP), digital asset management (DAM), marketing campaigns & automation, personalization/experimentation, and search. A true DXP aims to cover most, if not all, of these areas - and where it doesn’t - connectors to other vendors/products, should be in place to fill the gaps.

So, it’s surprising to see vendors like Contentful and Contentstack make the list just because they’ve recently made one or two acquisitions to slightly expand their portfolios. They still have significant gaps, yet Gartner now considers them DXPs. That raises an important question - where do we draw the line?

Next, I’ll break down the Magic Quadrant rankings - analyzing vendor positioning, movement over the past year, and what it all means for the market. These aren’t my personal rankings, but an objective take from someone who works across these platforms.

Here’s a preview of what’s covered:

• The Top Players : Who’s Leading?

• Holding Their Ground

• The Shakeups: Notable Movement

• Contentful & Contentstack: Moving Toward DXP Status

• New Entrants & Rising Players

• Longtime DXP Vendors: Still Here, But Are They Evolving?

• Drop-offs - Bloomreach and Crownpeak

The Top Players: Who’s Leading?

Optimizely: Leapfrogging Adobe

For the first time in five years, Optimizely has surpassed Adobe in the Leaders quadrant. Since acquiring Episerver and rebranding, Optimizely has been on a steady upward trajectory, with leadership changes accelerating its momentum.

This shift has been years in the making, driven by:

• Optimizely One – A unified “operating system” for marketers, offering the benefits of a composable DXP without requiring businesses to assemble their own best-of-breed stack.

• Strategic acquisitions – Optimizely has steadily built out its suite through acquisitions. The latest, Netspring, enhances analytics by linking experimentation data directly to business metrics stored in data warehouses, providing deeper campaign insights.

• AI-powered capabilities – Optimizely is embedding AI across its suite, including Opal, an AI assistant integrated into Optimizely One to support marketing workflows. I attended a couple Optimizely events in NYC last May and thought this was a standout feature.

• Strong CMP platform – Optimizely’s CMP solution is terrific and is even more powerful when combined with their CMS as part of Content Cloud. I got to spend some time hands on with their CMP product and was pretty impressed.

• CustomAI – A “bring your own AI” approach, allowing businesses to integrate their preferred AI models (OpenAI, Google, etc.) into CMS and Commerce. This enables custom AI-driven content generation and insights tailored to proprietary data.

Where They Still Need to Improve

• SaaS CMS maturity – Their SaaS CMS launched mid-last year and is still evolving, while Optimizely CMS 12 (PaaS) remains the more mature option.

• Commerce product naming – This is a bit nit-picky, but their naming conventions could be clearer. The B2B commerce product still remains separate from the rest of the suite (remnants from the InsiteCommerce acquisition years ago).

The Bottom Line

Optimizely is one of the few vendors with a true composable DXP with their a composable suite approach. They have a single interface where capabilities can be swapped with other vendor solutions. Their vision and execution continue to impress, and their momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon.

Adobe: Still the Enterprise Gold Standard

Adobe remains a go-to choice for enterprises that can afford it. Their feature-rich Experience Cloud offers an extensive suite of capabilities but comes with a high price tag and requires specialized (and costly) implementation teams.

At the core of Adobe Experience Cloud - Adobe’s DXP - is the Adobe Experience Platform (AEP), which serves as the data foundation. AEP powers Real-Time CDP, Journey Analytics, and Journey Optimizer, enabling data-driven personalization and automation across Adobe’s suite of products. Meanwhile, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) remains a top-tier CMS choice for enterprises, offering hybrid and headless flexibility along with deep AEP integration for personalized content delivery.

With a massive ecosystem and continuous innovation - typically announced at Adobe Summit each year - Adobe continues to set the bar. Here’s a breakdown of last year’s opening keynote: Adobe Summit 2024 Highlights.

Key Innovations:

• Edge Delivery Services - Enhances content delivery speed and performance, leveraging edge computing to optimize site performance and real user monitoring.

• GenStudio - Accelerates on-brand content creation and activation.

• Firefly - Introduces Custom Models & Firefly Services, bringing GenAI from experimentation to production.

• SearchStax Partnership - Enhances search and discoverability within Adobe’s ecosystem.

• AI Assistant in AEP - Streamlines workflows across RTCDP, Journey Optimizer, and Customer Journey Analytics, enabling faster insights, troubleshooting, and task automation.

Best Fit for Adobe’s Experience Cloud? Fortune 500s needing a deeply integrated, full-stack marketing platform.

However, Adobe’s licensing remains cost-prohibitive, and Adobe-certified specialists come at a premium. This is why Fortune 500 enterprises are the primary users of Adobe Experience Cloud, often partnering with top global consulting firms for implementation.

For companies that demand cutting-edge digital experiences, Adobe remains a leading player - and they’ve held that spot for five+ years for good reason.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they announce at this year’s Adobe Summit (March 17–20).

Holding Their Ground

Acquia: A Hybrid DXP with Strong Ties to Drupal

Acquia continues to maintain its position in the Leaders Quadrant, driven by ongoing innovation and strategic partnerships.

At their Engage event in NYC last fall, they announced several key updates:

• Drupal Starshot Initiative - A SaaS-like evolution of Drupal, making it more accessible for non-technical users with pre-packaged “recipes.” This launched on schedule in mid-January.

• Experience Builder - The next iteration of Acquia CMS (SaaS Drupal), v2.0, introduces Experience Builder to simplify visual content creation.

• Accessibility Leadership - A strong focus on WCAG 2.2 compliance, backed by their Monsido acquisition for accessibility tools.

• Search & Discoverability - Their search capabilities can now powered by SearchStax, a partnership that gained broader attention about two weeks ago.

• Expanding the Ecosystem - New additions include Acquia ID Launchpad for identity management and AI-driven DAM tools like Copilot.

Is Acquia actually a composable DXP?

They market themselves as a composable DXP, but in practice, its approach is more of a hybrid model that a fully composable ecosystem.

• Drupal-First Architecture - At its core, Acquia is still heavily reliant on Drupal. While they offer SaaS solutions like Acquia CMS (i.e., Drupal Starshot), it doesn’t provide the same modular, interchangeable architecture as other vendors.

• Ecosystem Lock-In - Many of their tools - Convert (personalization), CDP, DAM, and Site Studio - are primarily designed to work within Acquia’s ecosystem. True composable DXPs allow for more best-of-breed selection, enabling businesses to swap out components more freely.

• API-First, But Not Backend-Agnostic - While Acquia supports API-first integrations, it still leans toward a Drupal-first mentality, making it less composable than vendors that are truly backend-agnostic.

Challenges & Future Outlook

• Constant Portfolio Reorganization - It seems like Acquia’s product lineup shifts frequently, making it difficult to track where every product fits year after year. That’s probably okay from a customer perspective, but for analysts and partners, it can be a bit confusing.

• Commerce Remains a Gap - Acquia lacks a commerce solution, relying on third-party integrations. Given their trajectory, an acquisition - perhaps BigCommerce - could be an interesting move.

Acquia continues to evolve and strengthen its SaaS-based Drupal offering, but its composability claims should be taken with some nuance - it’s a hybrid DXP with composable elements rather than a truly composable platform.

Squiz: An Emerging Alternative in the DXP Landscape

Squiz remained in the Niche Player category, but I think they’re underrated and deserve more credit than Gartner gives them. While they’re still relatively new to the North American market, they’ve been around for 25 years, originating in Australia and steadily expanding. In NA, most of their customers are in public sector and higher education, but they’re broadening their reach to other industries.

Key Strengths

• Fully SaaS Composable DXP - A cloud-native, modular platform with strong integration capabilities.

• No-Code/Low-Code Tools - An intuitive visual page builder and low-code tools empower marketers to create and manage experiences without heavy developer reliance.

• Personalization, CDP, and Analytics - These capabilities exist, but they’re more basic compared to other vendors. They do, however, meet most organization’s requirements.

• Advanced Search Capabilities - Their Funnelback search engine stands out with predictive search and multi-source indexing, excelling at unifying content across disparate systems - ideal for organizations managing siloed data and multiple websites. I’m really impressed by their search capabilities.

• Intuitive Licensing Model - Squiz offers a flexible pay-for-what-you-use subscription model, which reduces the risk of overpaying for underutilized tools. Their modular approach enables organizations to start small and scale up as needed, avoiding vendor lock-in. They provide opportunities to explore specific features before commiting fully to buying, ensuring that businesses can evaluate the platform’s value without a significant upfront investment.

As they continue to grow in North America, I expect Squiz to gain momentum over the next few years. I’m in the process of getting sandbox access to their platform, so looking forward to digging a little deeper with it.

Magnolia: Improving Execution, But Still Playing Catch-Up

Magnolia remains in the Visionary category, continuing to make progress in execution. I attended one of their events in NYC last fall and appreciate the direction they’re heading.

They recently announced a SaaS version of their DXP, but they’re behind competitors in this transition - most leading vendors moved toward SaaS years ago. That said, they recognize that some customers still require PaaS, and they aren’t going to aggressively push forced replatforming to their SaaS DXP.

While their PaaS DXP continues to evolve, it remains on par with other vendors rather than standing out. For example:

• Composability - Magnolia emphasizes a modular approach, but this is now table stakes rather than a differentiator.

• Hybrid Headless Capabilities - Supports both traditional and headless content delivery, but again, this is expected at this point rather than innovative.

One challenge remains their market reach - while their North American presence is growing, most of their customer base is still in EMEA, where they were originally founded.

Magnolia is making the right moves, but they’re still catching up to competitors rather than leading the pack.

The Shakeups: Notable Movement

Sitecore: From Leader to Visionary

I’m very familiar with Sitecore and have been critical of some of their offerings, but I was still surprised to see them drop from the Leaders Quadrant to Visionary.

A few key challenges contributed to this shift:

• Portfolio Complexity - Sitecore now has four CMS products, and customers struggle with the upgrade path to XM Cloud.

• Integration Challenges - Despite their composable DXP positioning, their ecosystem still feels like a collection of loosely integrated standalone products.

• Overwhelming Product Expansion - They announce new products nearly every year, but this often adds more complexity instead of clarity.

I covered this in a blog series last summer, where I outlined the dilemma facing Sitecore XP customers:

• Should they upgrade to the latest version?

• If they’re only using content management, should they transition to Sitecore XM?

• Should they modernize to XM Cloud (SaaS)?

• Or is it time to replatform entirely?

Many customers have found themselves stuck in this decision-making process and that hasn’t really changed over the last year.

At their Symposium event last fall, Sitecore announced:

• Sitecore Stream - A suite of AI-driven tools across their portfolio, built on Azure OpenAI Service, supporting XP, XM Cloud, and Content Hub.

• HIPAA Compliance - They introduced compliance for Personalize and CDP, a critical update for healthcare customers who previously struggled with adoption.

What’s Next for Sitecore?

Despite these challenges, I think Sitecore will bounce back in these rankings. They had some shakeup in their leadership team last year that I believe will benefit them in the coming years. I’ll be watching closely to see what’s ahead in the coming year.

Contentful & Contentstack: Moving Toward DXP Status

Historically pure headless CMS platforms, Contentful and Contentstack are evolving into composable DXP-like suites. However, I don’t consider them true DXPs yet. Contentstack is slightly closer than Contentful, but including either in the DXP category feels premature.

Contentful: Expanding Beyond Headless CMS

Contentful has been steadily expanding its capabilities beyond its pure headless CMS roots, introducing new tools and features aimed at enhancing usability and enterprise readiness. Some key developments include:

• Contentful Studio - Introduces low-code tools for visual content building, making it easier for non-technical users to create experiences.

• Enterprise-Ready - Supports enterprise governance, multi-brand use cases, and large-scale localization, making it a fit for complex global deployments.

• Ninetailed Acquisition - The acquisition of Ninetailed (announced last fall, finalized earlier this year) enhances their personalization and experimentation capabilities.

While these advancements move Contentful toward DXP capabilities, its heavy reliance on integrations for many core DXP functions still makes it feel more like a composable content platform than a full-fledged DXP.

Contentstack: A Step Closer to DXP Territory

Similar to Contentful, Contentstack is gradually expanding beyond its headless CMS foundation, integrating new capabilities that push it closer to DXP territory. Key developments include:

• Lytics Acquisition - Contentstack recently acquired Lytics, a CDP vendor, enhancing its personalization and audience segmentation capabilities.

• Personalization Engine - Their Personalize feature offers A/B testing, segmentation, and edge-optimized delivery.

• Front-End Hosting - Their Launch platform provides integrated hosting, serverless functions, custom domains, and GitHub integrations.

Contentstack is staying true to its MACH-first CMS roots but is evolving into a composable DXP with its CDP acquisition and built-in personalization capabilities -adopting a composable suite approach rather than remaining just a CMS.

New Entrants & Rising Players

Uniform: A Newish Visionary

Uniform made its first appearance in the Magic Quadrant, and it’s well-deserved. Founded in 2019, they weren’t on my radar until 2021, when the company I was with at the time used Uniform for experience orchestration, leveraging Sitecore as the single source of truth for content.

What Sets Uniform Apart?

• Composable Enablement - Helps companies transition to a composable model by integrating multiple content repositories.

• Backend & Frontend Agnostic - Unlike most vendors that operate within closed ecosystems, Uniform can connect with multiple CMS/DXP solutions, making it a flexible orchestration layer alongside other DXPs. I’m a big fan of this.

• Expanding Portfolio - They introduced their own CMS in the past year, broadening their platform capabilities.

• AI-Powered Capabilities - Like many DXP players, they’ve launched AI-driven features, including agents for personalization, A/B testing, SEO, and content optimization via natural language chat interfaces.

I have a meeting next week to learn more about their latest innovations and overall direction, and I’m looking forward to it. Uniform is a vendor to watch - especially for companies managing multiple content sources that want to move toward composability while enabling low-code/no-code experience orchestration on the front end.

Builder.io: A Visual Development Platform

Builder.io’s inclusion in the Magic Quadrant is interesting - it feels more like a headless CMS with advanced optimization and analytics than a true DXP. It’s really a component within a composable DXP stack, rather than a full DXP on its own.

Builder.io stands out for its strong visual development capabilities, enabling teams to create and optimize digital experiences with minimal coding. Key features include:

• Figma Integration - Seamlessly connects with Figma for direct design-to-development workflows.

• Drag-and-Drop Components - Empowers teams to build pages without deep technical expertise.

• AI-Driven Experience Creation - Uses AI to generate on-brand experiences from prompts.

• Automated Design-to-Code Conversion - Transforms Figma designs into production-ready code, accelerating migrations and reducing development cycles.

This combination of low-code/no-code tools and AI-powered automation makes Builder.io a compelling choice for organizations looking to streamline content delivery while maintaining design flexibility.

While Builder.io is a valuable tool within a composable DXP stack, it’s not a full DXP itself, so its placement in this report is a bit surprising. That said, it’s great to see it getting industry recognition.

PIMCore: Evolving from Data & Content Management to a DXP

Pimcore is a new entrant to the Magic Quadrant. While it has long been known for its Product Information Management (PIM) capabilities, it was originally built as a unified data and content platform, combining PIM, Master Data Management (MDM), DAM, and CMS functionalities. Now, Pimcore is further broadening its positioning as a composable DXP by extending its capabilities into:

• Customer Data & Content Delivery - Incorporating CDP functionalities and supporting both headless and traditional content management.

• Integrated Commerce Framework - Enabling B2B, B2C, and D2C commerce by integrating product data with personalized experience management.

As Pimcore continues to evolve, its modular approach makes it a unique player in the DXP space, blending structured data management with experience-driven capabilities.

Longtime DXP Vendors: Still Here, But Are They Evolving?

Some vendors consistently appear in the Niche or Challenger quadrant year after year - OpenText, Liferay, and HCL. While they have a presence, their focus and innovation in the DXP space don’t seem to be as strong as other players in the market.

OpenText: More of a Closed-Loop DXP

• GenAI Integration - OpenText has been integrating GenAI into its offerings, including OpenText Experience Aviator, which enhances personalized content creation and delivery.

• Tightly Integrated Ecosystem - Their solution is heavily tied to OpenText’s broader ecosystem, making it feel more like a closed-loop DXP rather than a flexible composable solution.

• DXP No Longer a Priority? - OpenText appears to be shifting focus toward areas like Customer Communications Management (CCM), which may be drawing investment away from their DXP capabilities.

• Hybrid & Headless Capabilities - These are available through OpenText TeamSite, though adoption seems to be declining. Many companies I’ve worked with are migrating off TeamSite rather than adopting it.

Liferay: A Legacy Intranet Platform with Slow Composable Adoption

• SaaS Evolution - While most Liferay deployments remain on-prem, they have introduced a SaaS offering. However, customization limitations make it less appealing for enterprises with complex requirements.

• Intranet Focus - Liferay continues to excel as an intranet solution, making it a strong choice for companies looking to use a DXP for internal collaboration and employee engagement.

I rarely come across Liferay in the market. While their move to SaaS is a step forward, they still carry a legacy perception as an intranet platform. Combined with their slow adoption of modern composable architectures, this makes them less competitive in today’s DXP landscape.

HCL: A Legacy Platform Moving Toward “Total Experience”

• Total Experience Strategy - HCL is positioning its DX platform around Total Experience (TX), aiming to unify customer, employee, and user experiences within a single framework.

• GraphQL & Headless Capabilities - While HCL has introduced GraphQL APIs and hybrid headless content delivery, these feel more like incremental updates rather than a full shift toward composable DXP architecture.

• Legacy Perception - Like other legacy vendors, HCL’s DXP still reflects its enterprise portal roots, making it feel outdated compared to modern cloud-native, API-first DXPs.

While HCL is modernizing aspects of its platform, it hasn’t fully embraced composability the way some of its competitors have, which keeps it lagging behind in the evolving DXP landscape.

Drop-offs - Bloomreach and Crownpeak

Bloomreach

Bloomreach was removed from the Magic Quadrant, because it has repositioned itself as a Commerce Experience Cloud rather than a traditional DXP.

Their platform is now structured into three key areas:

• Content - A headless CMS designed specifically for commerce.

• Engagement - Personalization & customer data capabilities.

• Discovery - AI-powered search & merchandising.

While Bloomreach still has many DXP-like components, its commerce-first positioning means Gartner no longer considers it a full DXP.

Key Strengths

• Commerce-First Positioning - Rebranded as a Commerce Experience Cloud, focusing on unifying product and customer data to enhance eCommerce experiences.

• AI-Powered Capabilities - Leverages AI through:

  • Discovery (AI-driven search & merchandising).

  • Engagement (personalized marketing automation).

• Composable Architecture - Supports GraphQL APIs, SDKs for frameworks like React and Vue, and pre-built commerce platform connectors.

• Commerce Experience Accelerator - Introduced React-based storefronts and product feed connectors to accelerate deployment.

• Global Adoption – Strong footprint among retail and eCommerce marketers worldwide.

I have mixed feelings about Bloomreach’s evolution. While they still offer DXP-like capabilities, their commerce-first focus shifts them away from being a true DXP. Similarly, when I explored their CDP capabilities last fall, I found that they function more as a customer engagement platform rather than a traditional CDP.

Crownpeak

Crownpeak was removed from the Magic Quadrant due to Gartner’s revenue threshold requirements, but I still believe they belong in DXP conversations. While vendor profile considerations (including revenue) play a role in evaluations, eliminating Crownpeak purely based on revenue feels limiting. That said, this is a standard Gartner criterion.

What Crownpeak Offers:

• Hybrid Headless CMS - Their “headless 2.0” approach bridges the gap between developer flexibility and marketer usability.

• AI-Powered Search & Product Discovery - Includes AI-driven search, merchandising, and personalized recommendations.

• Compliance & Accessibility Focus -

  • Privacy tools for GDPR and CCPA compliance.

  • Accessibility features designed to meet WCAG standards.

  • Personally, I first used Crownpeak for GDPR compliance, rather than its broader DXP capabilities.

• Global Reach & Localization - Supports multilingual and multi-regional deployments, making it a strong choice for enterprises needing localized content and commerce experiences.

Even though Crownpeak no longer meets Gartner’s revenue criteria, they still have a place in DXP discussions, particularly for organizations prioritizing compliance, accessibility, and global content management.

Final Thoughts

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant is a helpful guide, but it also has inconsistencies in how it categorizes DXPs. If composability is now a requirement, why are certain vendors still included despite lacking true composable architectures? And if pureplay headless CMS vendors that added CDP and personalization (e.g., Contentful, Contentstack) are now considered DXPs, where do we draw the line?

Another observation - since CMS is a core capability of a DXP, it always feels strange that WordPress isn’t mentioned, given that 40-45% of websites run on it. That said, there isn’t a DXP built around WordPress - WP Engine and Automattic are more about enterprise hosting and dev-ops tools rather than full DXP capabilities.

At the end of the day, choosing the right DXP isn’t just about where a vendor lands on a quadrant - it’s about finding the right fit for your business. Key considerations include:

• Business Needs – What are your specific goals and pain points?

• Pricing Model – Does the cost structure align with your budget and long-term ROI?

• Integration Flexibility – How well does it integrate with your existing tech stack?

And an even bigger question - do you even need a DXP? In some cases, a robust CMS with personalization capabilities may be enough. The right solution depends on your digital strategy, not just industry trends.

While the Magic Quadrant offers a market snapshot, real DXP evaluation requires a deeper look - understanding the strengths, trade-offs, and execution gaps of each vendor.

I’ll be watching how these platforms continue to evolve over the next year - especially as AI-driven orchestration, content automation, and true composable ecosystems become more important.

WHAT’S NEXT
Upcoming Topics

• Next Week: Applied AI in DXPs: Real Use Cases & What’s Hype vs Reality