What’s Next for Ektron Customers?

Customers who have purchased the Ektron CMS Platform have seen some turbulent conditions in recent memory, but as the dust has settled from the combination of Ektron and Episerver, the path forward for many current Ektron customers is becoming clearer. Many Ektron customers have already committed to porting their web site properties onto the Episerver platform, and for good reason.

Episerver has distinguished itself as an credible Enterprise-class CMS and digital marketing platform, having been recognized as a Leader in Gartner's 2015 Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management and recently debuting in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce in March of 2016. A brief glance at the Episerver client list reads like a Who’s Who of the world’s leading brands and companies, including Pizza Hut, AXA Insurance, GlaxoSmithKline, Electrolux, Pfizer and Reebok.

Ektron customers have a lot to look forward to if they stay on the path to Episerver. The best elements of Ektron have now been combined with the scalability, modern technical architecture and e-commerce capabilities of the Episerver platform. The resulting product truly is greater than the sum of its parts:

• Personalized content delivery, including full integration with marketing automation tools, is made possible through a combination of innovative tools within Episerver, providing marketers with unprecedented abilities to measure, experiment with and deliver compelling messaging to the right customers at the right time.
• Integration is a seamless experience using the Episerver Digital Experience Hub, instantly allowing non-technical business people to own and manage complex, content-rich experiences without leaving Salesforce.
• Support for expansive multilingual content delivery is inherent in Episerver, making it an ideal candidate for global organizations with multiple languages and dialects to support. 

It’s clear what a powerhouse option that Episerver represents for current Ektron customers. To make the move, Ektron customers can partner with any of more than 100 Episerver partners, including Ameex Technologies. Ameex’s specific expertise in both Ektron and Episerver allows us to provide relatively quick and inexpensive migrations from one platform to another. Migration projects can be as simple as “lift-and-shift” projects where the same core user interface, functionality and information architecture is replicated in Episerver to more comprehensive redesign projects that include full responsive redesign efforts in addition to the back-end CMS change.

There are other options for current Ektron customers, of course. Some customers have decided to look for alternative CMS platforms that share Ektron’s .NET technical back-end. Among these, Sitecore, Kentico and Sitefinity appear to be some of the more popular choices. Sitecore remains among the more expensive options, in both licensing and migration costs, of the .NET alternatives. Kentico and Sitefinity are good fits with customers will smaller budgets and needs, but who still prefer the convenience of staying on the .NET platform.

Other customers are interested in exploring open source solutions instead. In these cases, Drupal and Magento (and to a smaller extent, WordPress) are the most popular choices there. While significant savings can be found in the open source world, it’s also important to remember that content authoring and administrative experiences can be very different from the more page-oriented, hierarchal models that users of the Ektron Workarea may be used to. Having said that, there is no question that open source platforms now rival commercial tools when it comes to security and performance.

In summary, current Ektron customers have a lot of options in how they can proceed with their web properties. At Ameex, we offer a CMS Scorecard exercise that can help expedite the decision-making process when it comes to choosing your next CMS platform. And as always, the CMS Experts at Ameex are available to consult with you on your specific needs.

Contact Ameex

Contact Brian Browning (brian.browning@ameexusa.com or at 804-920-1956) to learn more about how Ameex can assist you with migrating from Ektron to your next CMS platform.