Seven enterprise CMS traits that you should be looking for

By Marcus Paterson, APAC Sales Manager, Storyblok

The recent State of CMS in APAC survey indicates that 46% of organisations are actively looking at migrating to a headless content management system (CMS).

A headless system means that your programs are independent rather than closely tied together because each one is powered by its own API. As a result, there’s a built-in quarantine in case of an attack. So even if one program of your company falls, it doesn’t mean the whole thing will come crashing down.

There are many headless options out there to choose from, but not all are created equal. The key is finding one that matches your company’s needs and requirements. It’s also important to ensure your brand and team are ready to make the move from a monolithic/traditional CMS to a headless one.

If your organisation is looking to migrate to a headless CMS, here are seven key features you may want to consider before deciding: 

Top-tier security measures

Businesses can’t afford to treat security as an afterthought. A single breach could lead to a huge loss of clients, data, and cash. That’s why security should be at the top of your mind while you’re looking for an enterprise CMS.

This is one of the areas where headless really stands out. As programs in a headless system are isolated, it means that the entire CMS is more secure even if there is an attack. In contrast, an all-in-one suite is just that: all-in-one. If someone hacks just a single-entry point, they gain access to everything your business has to offer. 

The same goes for monolithic systems with a set front-end. Front-end attacks will channel directly into your back-end, which only opens up more opportunities for data loss. Separating the two with a headless system minimises your risk.

Overall, a headless system would offer the best security available, but if you’re committed to a traditional system, be sure to closely inspect their protective measures and ask about how they’ll be keeping your data safe. Seeking out which different industry certifications their data security policies are in compliance with is a good place to start.

Access to multiple customer channels

Gone are the days when an enterprise CMS could provide little more than a home page. Nowadays, customers aren’t just demanding more and more ways to connect with your brand – they’re expecting it! Modern headless CMSes must support the “omnichannel” experience.

Because enterprises have the resources to provide this, there’s not really an excuse for not doing so. It’ll reflect poorly on you and could project an image of low technical ability. And with the huge audience that most enterprises have, showing that you can connect with customers in multiple ways can be the key to obtaining and retaining users.

Take augmented reality (AR) technology as an example. With all the buzz surrounding the metaverse these days, there's been growing interest in using AR to connect with customers. Even if you're not ready to take that step yet, having the option in the future could be very useful.

Try to choose a system that won’t restrain you; one that allows you to add new technologies. It also means centralising your content. You’ll want to pick something that allows you to push your content out simultaneously regardless of channel. That way, your users will receive a consistent, high-quality experience no matter how they choose to interact with your content. 

High-performance at all times

Let’s not skip over one of the most important parts of a digital presence: performance. The best content in the world can be sabotaged by long loading times. This is another aspect that customers will naturally expect from you. If your system can’t deliver in terms of handling traffic, you’ll be failing to fulfil a basic need of your customers – and if they can’t trust you to do that, will they trust you enough to make a purchase?

This also goes back to those multiple channels we mentioned earlier. Can a shopper using a voice assistant get the same smooth experience as one using your main website? If you’re not providing consistently fast load times, you risk looking like you can’t quite handle the technology you’re offering – not to mention the impact that it’ll have on your search engine optimisation (SEO)!

Hence, it’s good to look beyond the big picture and sweat the small stuff by asking: How fast does the CMS company’s website itself load? Does it offer in-engine performance tools like image optimisation? Does the system have customisation potential without the need for complicated coding workarounds that can bog down loading times?

Even speed differences of a single second can make your bounce rates skyrocket or your search rankings plummet. Don’t be afraid to use analytics tools like PageSpeed Insights to check out how websites using that enterprise CMS perform – and to keep an eye on how your performance changes as the system does.

You might also want to keep future growth in mind when you're thinking about performance. As your company expands, so will the potential for traffic spikes and site crashes. Try to choose a CMS that's been designed to scale effortlessly. 

Collaboration between developers and content creators

The bigger your company is, the more likely it is to develop complicated workflows and interdependencies. Collaboration then becomes a big element of quickly creating content to send out to your audience. Pick an enterprise CMS that lets your whole team work together.

Collaboration features that embody this may include comment functionality. That way, your team can work asynchronously without missing a beat. Other features to keep an eye out for include robust editing histories or predefined workflows that ensure all work goes through the correct pre-publishing channels.

It’s not just about working together, either. Finding a system that lets all users work to the best of their ability regardless of technical skill is crucial. Choose an option with a visual editor. That way, both categories of users get an intuitive option that still allows for the code-based view when necessary.

You might also want to consider your CMS's ability to support third-party programs. Your developers might not want to code everything from scratch themselves. Giving them the option to integrate separate plugins can save a lot of time and effort down the road. 

Support for growth in every direction

Growth can be hard to predict – thus, it can also be hard to prepare for. Whether you’re increasing traffic, adding more pages, or scaling to entirely new channels, choosing a system that lets you expand quickly is crucial.

For example, you may have dreams of expanding your company to new countries with different languages. In that case, you’d want to make sure that localisation and translation features are robust enough to support those goals even if they’re far in the future. This can help avoid a serious roadblock down the line.

You should also check to see if your CMS experience will be consistent during growth. If scaling up includes unpredictable changes in fees or required upgrades that you don’t want to use, this could end up limiting you. The same goes for inconsistent customer support or frequent changes that require employees to constantly alter their approach.   

Future-proofed technology

Tech changes fast. If you’re a future-forward organisation that strives to provide the latest and greatest to your users, this is an essential feature to consider. However, even those who prefer a simpler approach should be concerned: after all, even the most straightforward CMS may become outdated with time and become a burden in need of replacement.

You can prevent this by choosing an enterprise CMS that relies on MACH architecture. MACH architecture ensures that you’ll always have the freedom of an agile setup that allows you to grow. APIs are specifically important here. These allow you to connect whatever technology that you want to your centralised system, making swapping them out easy and seamless. It also prepares you to integrate future technology or data sources that may not even exist yet.

A system that offers an extremely fast, out-of-the-box start can be very attractive, especially if you’re operating on a tight timeline. However, this can end up seriously constraining you down the road, requiring more money and time investment to switch to a better one. As such, be sure to look beyond the initial benefits of your system before you buy. If you want certified technology that meets these standards, checking out members of the MACH Alliance is a good place to start. 

Efficiency in everything

Efficiency is essential for any enterprise. Getting the most done in the shortest amount of time with the least resources is key to a clean bottom line and swiftly delivered customer experience.

Check out how efficient an enterprise CMS is at every stage. This includes answering questions such as: 

- Will developers have to learn an entirely new programming language to start working with it? 

- Will your content editors face a steep learning curve, or not be able to work independently? 

- Can you reuse your content in different places or will you have to repeatedly recreate your work? 

- Is managing individual pages as easy as managing the entire ecosystem?

Aspects like these are almost always tied to how easy it is to use an enterprise CMS. After all, you can’t quickly and effectively serve customers when the system itself is too clunky to allow flexibility. An easy-to-use system is an efficient system – even the most powerful features can be worthless if using them is a pain!

This is also a good reason to check out a CMS's set of features before you commit. For example, features that allow you to automate tasks save a lot of time right from the start. The same goes for reusable components and customisable workflows to optimise collaboration.