Recently we covered the ins and outs of the Sitecore Content Hub and some of its exciting potential. In our view the product’s depth, features, flexibility and integration potential make it an intriguing proposition for existing Sitecore customers, especially those with particular complex needs or who have specific use cases that the Content Hub meets well. For example, organizations with extensive product and services portfolios will benefit from leveraging Sitecore Content Hub’s Product Content Management (PCM) capabilities. We also think that Sitecore’s DAM offering can appeal to non-Sitecore customers too.
New offering, mature product
In this article we’re going to look into more detail at where Sitecore Content Hub fits into the overall DAM market. The product is firmly positioned at the enterprise market with an emphasis on medium to larger organizations, or those with specialist DAM needs.
Our conversations with clients and through the industry suggest that the new offering is still relatively unknown although we expect this to change through 2020 with growing awareness and the emergence of case studies that demonstrate value and ROI. Sitecore itself is certainly pushing the Content Hub, and it was extensively featured in talks and sessions at the last Sitecore Symposium.
Although in some respects Sitecore is relatively new in the DAM space, the product is mature; Stylelabs was founded in 2011 in Belgium and subsequently we’re on version 3.2, not in beta. This means that Sitecore has entered the DAM market with an already strong offering. In fact Forrester’s recently released Forrester Wave: Digital Asset Management for Customer Experience Q4 2019, covers Sitecore Content Hub as one of 14 leading DAM providers. Forrester also rates Sitecore Content Hub as a “strong provider” (the second highest band behind market leaders like Adobe), a great achievement that shows integration work behind the scenes has been successful in making sure the Content Hub is a full offering within the Sitecore platform.
Deep capabilities for complex use cases
Customer experience software experts the Real Story Group describe the DAM software market as dividing between those solutions that are simple and straightforward, and those that can cover more complex use cases. Sitecore Content Hub is definitely in the latter category, not only in the scope of its functionality but the ability to integrate with the wider Sitecore suite to provide a full digital marketing and content management ecosystem.
Forrester’s assessment of Sitecore highlights its strong and intuitive user interface, its high levels of scalability and also the range of complementary tools with the DAM at its center. We certainly see these all as strengths; for example if you’ve simply got a massive collection of digital assets that are used at high volume then Sitecore Content Hub should be able to serve your needs. We’re also excited about the potential future roadmap not only in the tighter integration with other Sitecore functionality but also with external applications, helped by a new native scripting language, Azure integration and a range of customization options.
A DAM platform that appeals to existing and non-Sitecore customers
These qualities mean that while the Sitecore Content Hub will be a no brainer for any existing Sitecore customers who need to invest in a new DAM platform (or who will eventually replace or upgrade their DAM), it also will appeal to organizations needing a highly robust and strong DAM which can then integrated and extended with a wider digital ecosystem. We could certainly see some organizations starting with the DAM as their initial entry into the world of Sitecore rather than the CMS or experience platform which has been the path up to now.
Let’s talk
We’re excited about Sitecore Content Hub and where it’s going. The product is already a market leader in the DAM space and is only going to improve. If you’re looking into a new DAM system or think that Sitecore Content Hub sounds like it could meet your needs then get in touch.
