WTF is a DXP?
Buzzword WildernessSeason 1Episode 1April 30 2024Lately, it seems like DXPs, or digital experience platforms, are all anyone can talk about. But WTF are DXPs (other than a fancy acronym), and why should anyone care about them? Touch grass with Matt as he shares his POV on the origin, meaning, and application of DXPs.
Matt: Hey there. I'm Matt. I'm on the marketing team here at Directus. As somebody who's nontechnical and someone who's fairly new to the world of developer tooling and open source, I find myself completely lost when trying to learn, like, new terms, concepts, and a lot of the buzzwords that I've seen a lot lately. You have too.
You know, things like DXP, CMS, DMS, BaaS, SAS, composability, mock. I mean, what does it all mean? And as a marketer saying this, is any of it real, or is it just marketing? So, having some discussions with folks in the same position I am, turns out I'm not the only one. So I figured why not film a new series on Directus TV discussing each term, its origin, application, and, to switch things up?
I figured I'd touch grass, by filming out here in the in the woods of Virginia. This is real, not a green screen. Sometimes it does feel like you can get lost in the wilderness. First episode, we're discussing a fairly popular acronym I've seen a lot of recently, which is DXP. So in this episode, I wanna dive into WTF a DXP is.
What is a DXP? So a DXP is shorthand for digital experience platform. A digital experience platform, or DXP, isn't just a tool. It's a suite of tools. So think of it as, something that's engineered to construct and manage and optimize digital experiences across a bunch of different channels, web, mobile, even in store.
But what does that really mean when you get to the core of it for someone like you or me? So imagine you're using an app on your phone or you're browsing a website or you're interacting or kicking a malfunctioning digital kiosk, every smooth interaction, every personalized advertisement, every transition from one platform to another, that's the handiwork of a DXP. It's really about making your digital life as intuitive and enjoyable as possible. The goal is to cater your digital experience exactly to your preferences across every channel, which really isn't a bad thing. I would prefer to get things that I'm interested in as opposed to things I don't care about.
So some examples of things in the suite that I mentioned of, like, tools. Obviously, content management system, sees what you sees what you buy or the things that you prefer and changes what you see to suit you better. Analytics tools, obviously, that kind of power everything and let the person know that's running it, what's working and what's not. CRM, where everything is kinda stored, as creepy as that is about you. And then marketing automation tools, you know, email, SMS, things like that.
It's a lot like microservices in that, everything is kinda put together, but every touch is about providing you a great personalized experience. Origins of DXP. DXP. So why did DXPs even start? Well, back when the Internet was younger and more naive, websites were pretty simple just like a digital brochure.
Shout out to my favorite childhood website from 1996, Space Jam. Still one of the best ever. But as technology evolved and our expectations grew, just having a static website wasn't enough. We wanted more interaction, more personalization, more more more more more, and that's where DXPs came from. They came into play as, like, kind of a beefed up version of the traditional CMS.
They provide a rich interactive digital experience, kind of like going from a Nokia phone to a smartphone. Like, suddenly, there's so much more you can do. Real words real world scenario. So let's consider a real world scenario. A university using a DXP to manage its digital footprint.
Right? The platform enables them to provide, personalized learning environments, student portals, community engagement platforms, everything across different devices. It enhances the student experience, but also simplifies the back end processes for administration. So imagine having a personalized dashboard that knows your study habits, it recommends resources based on your course load, and connects you with, you know, fellow students in your major. That's something that would be powered by a DXP.
So benefits and drawbacks. The the advantages of a DXP are pretty clear. Right? They offer a smoother, more integrated user experience tailored to individual needs. They also allow organizations to manage all their digital stuff from one place, cut down on the chaos, keep things streamlined.
But really, it's, as you can guess, like, very complex. It requires a significant investment in time and money. Plus, you need the right skills in your team to keep everything running smoothly, or you have to find an agency to run it for you, and we know those don't always work out. But, yeah. I mean, those are just some of the drawbacks of using a DXP.
And, really, that's the lowdown of DXPs. They're powerful platforms designed to make digital experiences, like, really rich. So, hopefully, that was helpful for you. That's what I've learned so far. Obviously, I'm still learning, so I'll probably do another episode of this, once I learn more.
But, yeah, hopefully, it was helpful. I appreciate you joining me out here in the woods in this 90 degree Fahrenheit weather. If I'm sweaty, I apologize, but I appreciate the time today. I'll see you next time.