Kentico Cloud is a completely new product from Kentico, and as such we thought it would help if we offered a bit of an explanation on just what this new product suite, recently announced by Kentico is.

Kentico Cloud versus Kentico In The Cloud

Many CMS providers have opted for the approach of moving their existing CMS platform as is, into the cloud via providers such as AWS (Amazon) etc. Being honest, Kentico also did this way back in 2011, calling it Kentico+.

There’s a new approach at Kentico however, one that was outlined by Petr Palas recently. Now,  Kentico is aiming for a truly cloud-first platform, building inherently upon the advantages cloud-based services provide, such as scalability, flexibility, redundancy, and speed to market.

As such, this approach demands a completely new architecture, learning from the very successful Kentico EMS, but tackling new challenges faced in the new world of cloud-based digital marketing.

As a Kentico partner, and one that was lucky enough to be invited to discuss this product with Kentico during R&D, we know Kentico has big plans for this product line, and the next couple of years is going to be very exciting indeed.

Kentico Cloud currently consists of three separate but complementary products:

• Kentico Draft
• Kentico Deliver
• Kentico Engage.

Kentico Draft

Kentico Draft is already fully supported for import into Kentico CMS/EMS via a freely available module.

Kentico Draft is a cloud-based content gathering and editing tool. Kentico Draft offers a solution to the problem of websites being built but having to wait for content before they can be launched. Draft allows you to create content types, sitemaps and taxonomy, upload structured content and images, and manage workflows, all in parallel with your website being developed. Once the site is complete, and ready for launch, the content can be quickly and easily imported into the site.

Kentico Deliver

Kentico Deliver is a cloud-based, Headless CMS.

As is very much the current trend, with no signs of slowing, web applications are being built more and more across a variety of platforms. Kentico recognises this trend, noting solutions are much more likely these days to interface with a Headless CMS via the use of APIs.

Headless CMS: Traditional CMS platforms manage your content for you, but also generate and serve the pages themselves to the browser. Kentico CMS is an example of this, with its Portal Engine for template creation, in-context or on-page editing, Preview mode, device previews, etc.

A Headless CMS only manages the content for you, and leaves building the website and displaying that content completely up to you or another connected system.

While you lose the friendly editing features, a Headless CMS can provide additional benefits, such as:

• Creating content once, but delivering it across multiple channels or platforms, such as websites, apps, wearables, third-party content aggregators etc
• Having the freedom to develop the web front-end in the technology of your choice
• Finalising content before the website has been built

Kentico Deliver offers all of these benefits, along with a completely redesigned, user-centric interface. And, as expected, integrates neatly with Kentico Draft for content already gathered.

Kentico is also committed to offering Software Development Kits (SDKs) for popular delivery platforms, such as ASP.NET, PHP, iOS and Android.

Kentico Engage

Kentico Engage is a cloud-first Digital Marketing platform.

Engage is implemented into a site via a simple JavaScript snippet, similar to the way we do it for Google Analytics. Once implemented, Kentico Engage will start gathering information on site visitors, looking at behaviour, and offering insights. Where analytics tools are used to identify trends, Kentico Engage also seeks to provide insights into individual users, helping analyse and hopefully predict behaviour for certain customer segments or personas.

The real genius of this product however is found when using Engage’s APIs in the development of a site, to leverage all the information gathered to drive personalisation across content channels.

Is Kentico Cloud Right For You?

Consider these questions. If your answer is yes to any of them, you would be wise to discuss Kentico Cloud with a Kentico expert:

• Do you have multiple content delivery channels such as your website, mobile app(s) and third party aggregators?
• Are you already reliant on one or more systems such as mailing lists, forms, or eCommerce that you wish to continue using?
• Do you have a strong preference for a presentation technology which does not provide content management?
• Do you have a need to quickly deploy a stand-alone campaign, or product site?

Conclusion

It’s great that any of the Kentico Cloud products can be used independently, with enormous third party integration ability, when combined together, you are presented with a powerful, cloud-based, omni-channel digital marketing platform, all while retaining choice of publishing platform and additional tools.

Kentico Cloud is not a new version of Kentico EMS – it’s something very different and new. Kentico CMS and EMS are not replaced by Kentico Cloud, instead they are complemented by this new product suite.