Vercel and Sitecore Align on Composable DXP Stack
Vercel has announced a strategic partnership with Sitecore, the Digital Experience Platform (DXP) and Content Hub vendor, aiming to provide a fully composable, end-to-end solution for building and deploying dynamic web experiences. The collaboration pairs Sitecore's customer data, AI-driven personalization, and multi-channel CMS capabilities with Vercel's frontend infrastructure.
Why Sitecore Needed a Modern Frontend
Sitecore faced growing demands from users for faster, continuous experiences across devices. To address this, the company sought a frontend partner capable of meeting several key requirements:
- Developer-centric stack: Provide frontend developers more flexibility in choosing frameworks and tools.
- Better performance: Move beyond the limitations of a monolithic .NET codebase to meet user expectations for speed.
- Omnichannel support: Leverage headless APIs and app architecture to unify experiences across all customer touchpoints.
- Portfolio management: Simplify management of multiple sites and large numbers of domains from a single codebase.
"At Sitecore our mission is to elevate leading brands through unforgettable digital connections with their customers. As a global leader in digital experience software, our partnership with Vercel extends the Sitecore Composable DXP product portfolio. This provides our customers with an end-to-end solution for all their digital needs."
Owen Taraniuk Global SVP Partners
Sitecore selected Vercel for its frontend framework Next.js, the Turborepo build system, and interactive preview capabilities. Vercel's global edge network and serverless compute were also key factors for delivering optimal end-user experiences.
What the Combined Stack Delivers
The integrated Vercel and Sitecore solution provides several distinct advantages:
- Optimized performance: Applications run on the edge with automatic scaling. Vercel Edge Middleware allows dynamic page rendering and personalization without compromising speed.
- Collaborative content editing: Commenting on auto-generated preview deployments allows developers, designers, and content creators to collaborate efficiently. Integration with Sitecore's XM Cloud enables content editors to publish pages directly without developer involvement.
- Lower infrastructure costs: Vercel's serverless, edge-first infrastructure replaces the need to manage and pay for multiple CDNs, cloud providers, security tools, CI/CD platforms, and monitoring systems.
- Omnichannel compatibility: Headless architecture ensures a consistent brand presence across channels without redesigning the entire platform.
- Developer productivity: Integration with modern developer tools and Sitecore's OrderCloud makes full-stack development quicker for teams.
Early customers using this architecture include Avid Technology and Focus Brands, which run the Schlotzky's and Moe's online platforms with an emphasis on speed and throughput during peak ordering times.
Support for Headless Migrations
Implementation partners are already active in this space. According to Vercel, the tight integration between Next.js, Vercel, and Sitecore is helping reduce the cost, risk, and duration of migrations to composable application stacks.
The company states that with partners actively implementing this architecture for customers, 2023 will be the year Sitecore and Vercel drive digital differentiation for global brands.
Getting Started with Sitecore and Vercel
- Join a January 18 webinar with partner Xcentium on modernizing through the frontend
- Read more about the Sitecore integration
- Explore pre-built XM Cloud and OrderCloud integrations
