Navigating tomorrow: Sitecore's ongoing commitment to XP excellence and customer empowerment

We want to make a clear and definitive statement to our customers invested in Sitecore Experience Platform (XP) and Experience Manager (XM). As we have communicated previously, we pledge ongoing investment and support to our customers, both now and in the years to come, as evidenced by our upcoming 10.4 release, along with plans for 10.5 and beyond.

Our community is excited about our Composable DXP and the advantages it offers to the hundreds of customers transitioning their DXP investments to the cloud. But, for each of our thousands of customers, their digital journey is as distinct as the brands they represent.

For many brands, XM/XP delivers the necessary foundation for your digital strategy into the future. We've listened closely to our customers, and I want to highlight some of the continued growth they’ve seen in 2023 with an XM/XP platform solution at their core:

• Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group saw a 42% increase in new visitors across 36 websites on XM/XP, with optimized hosting on Sitecore Managed Cloud.
• L’Oreal brought AI-powered meta-tagging into their composable XM/XP implementation of over 500 websites, saving them over 120,000 hours of maintenance work.
• Destination Gold Coast is managing 45,000 digital assets in combining Sitecore Content Hub with XM/XP, achieving a 17% increase in visitor time on site through engaging content.
• Thule Group increased conversions by 35% by integrating omnichannel marketing automation with Sitecore CDP while optimizing their 11 XM/XP websites across 80 markets.

These recent successes are just a sampling of reasons why many customers continue with XM and XP at the heart of their digital experience journey. But some of you might still have questions about your own digital journey with XM and XP. We hear you and want to explain how Sitecore is continuing to support your success for years to come.

Confidently enabling your DX journey

XM/XP 10.3 was our highest adopted and most complete release ever. With new capabilities and innovations, better integrations, and overall platform modernization, 10.3 went further than ever to power standout experiences.

The upcoming release of 10.4, scheduled for April 2024, will bring all-new capabilities and enhancements to meet the ongoing needs of digitally mature organizations. Built on a 20+ year heritage of pioneering innovation, the latest release will continue to power unique and relevant enterprises, so they can deliver valuable and cohesive experiences.

Here’s a preview of what’s coming …

• Bring the platform to your composable marketing stack – New integration capabilities, powered by Sitecore Connect, allow you to make the most of your Sitecore XP analytics and sync directly into marketing automation, CRM, or CDP systems like Sitecore Send, Sitecore CDP, Salesforce, Microsoft, HubSpot and more.
• Customize visitor profiles without a developer – A new no-code user interface allows marketers to extend visitor schemas to support common scenarios without developer involvement, while still retaining the advanced customization capabilities already available for developers.
• Meet regulated industry standards – Improvements to security and accessibility enhance the already impressive capabilities of the platform to meet the rigorous demands for regulated industries.
• Over 200 other updates to XM and XP – Exemplified by our customer-first mentality, as many of these are based on direct customer input for features or enhancements.

Future releases will focus on increasing the ability for customers to connect to other elements of their stack, native support for generative AI, and continued modernization of the content publishing experience.

Furthermore, we’re continuing to innovate within our Managed Cloud offering – providing more cost-efficient, secure, and high-performing options that take the burden of hosting and managing website infrastructure off you and IT teams.

We are here to provide clarity, predictability, and security with both our composable DXP and XM/XP. Mainstream support for XP and XM 10.4 will be available until the end of 2027, extended support until the end of 2030, and as many of our customers know we also provide support beyond this, covering a 10.4 deployment for the next decade. This means that existing customers can continue to upgrade along with us, receiving the support they need, as we move along together in this journey.

Realizing value from your investments

We know that every customer is unique, and every customer will have their own digital experience strategy. There are a range of ways we, along with our extensive global partner network, can help you maximize the value of your XM/XP solutions.

• Want to level-up your digital experience on your existing site? Learn about how to improve your clickthrough rates and increase relevant results with Sitecore Search, or check out how to quickly integrate marketing automation with Sitecore Send
• Interested in role-specific training and certification? We have world-class online and instructor-led training recommended for XM and XP, start learning today. Coaching and specialized support also available within our Sitecore360 program.
• Looking for an expert, digital experience partner? Our diverse ecosystem of partners enhance your investment’s impact and guide seamless integration of new capabilities from Sitecore.

The future is bright

When I meet with our customers and community, they are all very excited about the direction we are heading and how it aligns with the needs of today’s digital marketing teams.

Sitecore knows that we didn’t get here suddenly or get here alone. This success is because of many years of evolving with our customers and meeting their needs to deliver the best experiences they can for their audiences. We are the trusted vendor for dozens within the Fortune 100 because of this close partnership and a heritage of industry-leading innovation.

We look forward to working with all our customers and helping you take advantage of all the new innovations coming from Sitecore while also unlocking new ways of delivering value out of your existing investments.

The future is composable, and our platform is a vital part of that future in building lifetime value for you, and your customers.