Opticon 2023 Highlights: Optimizely SaaS Core

Optimizely SaaS Core - an upgrade-free, low-code version of CMS

The general trend in recent years has been to reduce technical complexity and increase the level of cloud-based "plug-n-play", allowing for shorter time-to-market with new websites and functionality that can be reused across all digital channels.

Headless, APIs, and Low-Code/No-Code are often-used buzzwords in this context, and Optimizely haven't been idle in this area. During Opticon, they announced that they now have a SaaS version of CMS available - Optimizely SaaS Core - which not only opens the door to an entirely new customer base, but also entirely new ways of creating websites.

What sets the SaaS version apart from the traditional PaaS version?

Optimizely (formerly Episerver) CMS has always been a product that offers a high degree of customization and tailoring, whether you have your own on-premise environment, or have used the cloud-based operating environment (DXP). Both the CMS and Commerce products have been available for both on-premise and cloud-based operations.

Traditionally, much of the work involved in a website/e-commerce site has been technical development, which typically needs to be performed with the help of an Optimizely partner or skilled in-house developers. While Optimizely has been cloud-based, based on industry standards like ASP.NET Core and Azure, with APIs for all types of content manipulation, specialized expertise was usually required to develop content templates or override core functionality in Optimizely.

The traditional cloud-based version is known as PaaS (Platform as a Service), which means that Optimizely offers a hosting environment (DXP/Azure) and takes care of infrastructure, monitoring, and security. However, the application itself (the Optimizely website/e-commerce site, including core components and customized templates/functionality/integrations) is developed, upgraded, and rolled out to the operating environment by the customer (typically through an Optimizely partner).

The dependence on technical expertise is turned on its head by the new Optimizely SaaS Core. SaaS stands for "Software as a Service," and it denotes that Optimizely now delivers both the platform and the application - in other words, both the operating environment, databases, and the Optimizely interface with all its core components.

What are the main features of SaaS Core?

• SaaS Core covers both CMS and Commerce: Whether you have just CMS or Commerce in combination with CMS, you can now set it up in the cloud without the need for coding.

• Always updated: Optimizely takes care of both the operating environment and upgrades to core components, eliminating the need for partners to plan upgrades, as Optimizely handles everything.

• No-code template building: You can now perform most of the template building and user/access configuration directly through a web interface without the need for coding. You can make changes without having to rely on a developer to deploy new code.

• Low-code integrations: Much of the data exchange between CMS/Commerce and other systems you need can be accomplished through pre-built integrations ("connectors"). This allows you to set up integrations with a variety of pre-approved systems with just a few clicks.

• Headless/API-first: Data stored in SaaS Core will be accessible via APIs. This opens the door for customers who want to create their own editing interface or build the presentation layer using their preferred frontend framework.

Screenshots of Optimizely SaaS Core

The following are concept images taken from the developer documentation for the beta version of Optimizely SaaS Core (CMS). These images demonstrate how to define content types with properties through the familiar Optimizely user interface.

When will Optimizely SaaS Core be available?

Currently, SaaS is still listed under the beta program, meaning that development is ongoing, and general availability is getting nearer.

Optimizely themselves estimate that SaaS Core will be available to customers globally in Q1 2024.

Which Optimizely products are included in SaaS Core?

CMS and (Configured) Commerce will be available in SaaS Core variants. The traditional (developer-driven) versions of CMS and Commerce will be referred to as PaaS Core.

How do you build templates in Optimizely SaaS Core?

In SaaS Core, there is a no-code approach to template building (i.e. the way you define page types, block types, and forms (all content types).

This means that you can define content types, specify all the properties needed for a content type, determine which properties should be required/optional, and what data type they should contain (rich text, short text, numbers, images, lists, etc.) - all through a web interface.

For a glimpse of how this will look, take a look at the blog post "Redesign of Admin mode content types" by Grzegorz Wiechec. This is likely not exactly how it will look in SaaS, but the functionality will be fundamentally similar. You define a content type, specify each property, the data type to be stored in each property (rich text, short text, numbers, lists, images, etc.), whether the property should be required, and whether the value entered must adhere to a specific format (e.g., an email or a phone number).

Trivia: Ever since the beginning (when Optimizely was called Episerver), it has been possible to build templates through the web interface - for several years, it was actually the ONLY way to define templates, until defining templates in code became available. So in a sense, Optimizely (Episerver) have come "full circle" 15 years later - only now in the cloud.