Avanade’s digital transformation journey

Avanade—a global leader in digital, cloud, and advisory services—took center stage at Symposium to share their inspiring digital transformation journey, powered by Sitecore. Known for helping businesses unlock the power of Microsoft technologies, Avanade’s commitment to innovation and client success has made them a trusted partner for organizations worldwide.

During their presentation, Avanade’s leadership highlighted how Sitecore’s cutting-edge solutions enabled them to reimagine their website and overall digital strategy, delivering remarkable business outcomes.

Avanade’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ruth Rowan, opened the presentation by emphasizing the critical role their website plays in their business strategy. “Our website is one of our biggest channels for driving our business and sales,” she said. However, the site needed a significant upgrade to meet evolving business needs and customer expectations.

Their goals were ambitious:

• Deliver a cleaner, more impactful design: A new design system built with client-centric navigation, bold visuals, and optimized user flows.
• Showcase expertise through case studies: Highlighting real-world impact stories that resonate with clients.
• Enable seamless content management: Allowing marketers to create, publish, and update content quickly without relying on developers.
• Support robust scalability and agility: Leveraging a future-ready, cloud-based platform for growth.

The first phase of the project focused on creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) within six months. By the launch, Avanade had achieved a complete design refresh, a streamlined content strategy, and an optimized platform—all within their $2 million budget.

When selecting the technology to power their transformation, Avanade chose Sitecore XM Cloud. Jason Hunt, Leader of Avanade X at Avanade, explained why Sitecore was the right choice:

• Composable architecture: Sitecore’s adaptability enabled Avanade to tailor solutions to their needs.
• Long-standing partnership: With over 15 years of collaboration, Avanade trusted Sitecore’s expertise and innovation.
• Scalability and sustainability: XM Cloud’s auto-scaling and reduced environmental footprint aligned with Avanade’s goals for growth and sustainability.

Two years after the MVP launch, Avanade has seen transformative results. Their revamped website now:

• Doubles pipeline generation: From $1 billion annually to over $2.5 billion.
• Triples conversion rates: Better-qualified leads flow seamlessly from marketing to sales.
• Supports personalization at scale: Using Sitecore Content Hub, Avanade tailors content and experiences to specific client needs, driving deeper engagement.

Avanade’s website has also become a vital tool for both acquisition and nurturing, Rowan proudly noted, being at the heart of how they acquire new clients and grow with existing ones.

The presentation also highlighted Avanade’s use of Sitecore’s Content Hub to streamline their content workflows. By tagging and organizing content intelligently, they’ve enhanced their ability to deliver personalized experiences.

Additionally, Avanade showcased how AI integrations and headless architecture are shaping the future of their digital strategy. With capabilities such as automated lead nurturing, intelligent content recommendations, and enhanced customer insights, Avanade is evolving their website into a truly dynamic marketing and sales platform.

By embracing Sitecore XM Cloud and Content Hub, Avanade has positioned its website as the cornerstone of its customer experience, seamlessly integrating marketing and sales functions to drive meaningful results.

The journey revealed the importance of a customer-centric approach, streamlined content management, and the agility to adapt quickly to changing market demands. Looking ahead, Avanade remains committed to continuous evolution, with plans to deepen personalization, leverage AI-powered insights, and further integrate marketing, sales, and delivery teams.

Closing the session, Rowan underlined how the website has become central to Avanade’s success, “The website is at the very, very heart of our success, particularly when we think about both acquisition of new clients and growing share of wallet with our existing clients. It’s really become the critical foundation of the business.”

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