Content as a Service (CaaS) facilitates the separation between content and its presentation in a headless, or hybrid headless environment. It is the ability of a CMS to allow content to be created and managed in one place, and then be distributed to a variety of channels – apps, websites, social media, VR and IoT touch points etc – via API. “Through 2022, 80% of marketers will continue to struggle to seamlessly connect more than three channels of the customer journey” (Gartner) With that prediction in mind, a CaaS approach ultimately doesn’t seem much of a choice – much more, a requirement.
Contemporary CaaS providers like to build their value proposition around the narrative that a “traditional” CMS, like WordPress, simply doesn’t provide the architecture and flexibility to accommodate business needs for multi-channel distribution.
In WordPress’ case they’re wrong, and here is why: Content as a Service is baked into WordPress’ core DNA, from the early days of RSS feeds to the modern era of RESTful APIs, query languages, and block-based content management. The truth is that WordPress provides a hybrid headless CaaS architecture and has powered fully decoupled CaaS experiences for years. It just hasn’t been marketed as such to a greater extent because API-first applications aren’t a relevant use case (yet) for the smaller and medium-sized businesses who drive a large portion of WordPress’ growth and adoption.
Off the beaten path of WordPress.com’s “start a blog” tagline, however, open source WordPress continues to gain market share amongst organizations whose RFPs list requirements like decoupled frontends, omnichannel delivery, and personalization – and WordPress delivers. Its core REST API, native extensibility, and custom post types support advanced CaaS user stories, while its Block Editor (“Gutenberg”) powers best-in-class publishing experiences for a growing number of enterprise clients.
More importantly, many of those organizations have relied on the “traditional”, monolithic CMS for decades. They can’t just pack up and re-platform to a fully decoupled environment, but need to gradually migrate to a hybrid CaaS approach while keeping their existing content catalogue presentable.
WordPress allows for a smooth transition. Its natively modular architecture is able to elegantly bridge the gap between old and new worlds according to a client's vision and budget, positively impacting employee experience with the inherently lower total cost of ownership that comes with its open source license.
Content as a Service, as a powerhouse for cutting-edge digital experiences, may be shaking up the enterprise CMS playground. But WordPress sure enough is game.
|
|
