The future of content management directly impacts how organizations like yours connect with audiences in an increasingly digital-first world. Whether you’re managing a single website, a complex multi-platform presence, or preparing for the next wave of technology when it comes to things like generative AI, understanding where content management is headed is critical.

How Have Content Management Systems Evolved?

Content management systems or CMS platforms have been the foundation of digital experience for over two decades. CMS solutions were initially designed to make it easier for organizations to create, manage, and publish content without needing extensive technical knowledge. But today the expectations for digital experiences are evolving rapidly and have potentially outpaced organizations’ capabilities.

The way we think about CMSs is shifting to reflect new user experience needs, such as more flexibility, faster performance, and greater integration capabilities with third parties. 

Where is Content Management Headed?

The future of content management revolves around three key areas: 

• Universal CMS
• Composable architecture 
• Low-code platforms 

These trends are redefining how organizations build and manage their digital ecosystems. So let’s take a deeper look at each one. 

Universal CMS

You’re likely aware of traditional open source CMS platforms like WordPress and Drupal or traditional enterprise and SaaS-based content management systems such as AEM and Sitecore. These have historically been monolithic, meaning they handle everything from content creation and management to publishing and rendering of the front-end experience in one integrated system. 

Then came headless CMS solutions such as Contentful, Contentstack, and Sanity. This type of solution separates content management from content delivery, allowing developers to create custom front ends and use modern frameworks, like MixedJS for example, that bring enhanced capabilities along with them, allowing you to build websites that are more performant, more secure, and more feature-rich. 

Universal CMS represents the next evolution, combining the benefits of both open source and headless platforms. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the more monolithic content management systems starting to reinvent themselves to look more like their headless-first counterparts. And on the other side we’ve also seen solutions like Contentful and Contentstack move in the other direction — adding in features like visual editors and more page-based tooling to fill in some of the gaps or inadequacies that users found in their platforms. 

In other words, the two different models are starting to look a lot more like each other. All of the visual editing capabilities that come with more traditional platforms and all of the API-first and structured content benefits of headless platforms are converging. This  appears to be the paradigm that’s going to win out — and it’s what we’re calling universal CMS.

What does the onset of universal CMS mean in practice? A universal CMS allows organizations to manage content centrally. And because it’s highly structured, it can deliver that content seamlessly to multiple destinations (websites, mobile apps, generative and conversational AI tools) while at the same time providing a familiar editorial experience and offering the flexibility of headless technology in front ends. 

If you’re evaluating content management systems, Forum One recommends finding one that offers this kind of universal CMS functionality. It’s a game changer for organizations looking to create once and publish everywhere while still ensuring consistency, efficiency, and familiarity of tools and ease of use of tools.

Composable Architecture 

Think of composable architecture as a modular approach for your digital ecosystem, one that’s closely tied to that shift toward headless and ultimately universal CMS. Rather than relying on a single all-in-one platform, composable architecture is an API-first approach to designing your digital ecosystem. Where we would call a CMS headless, composable architecture looks at the wider ecosystem. 

Composable architecture allows organizations to pick and choose the best tools for different aspects of their digital strategy — the best-in-class services for analytics, search, authentication, and more. For instance, rather than relying on your CMS to be a central, monolithic hub that handles everything from content management to authentication, it can be deployed as a thinner layer that does what it does best, i.e. manage content. Meanwhile, you can use a purpose-built solution such as Okta and Auth0 to handle authentication, or you can use Salesforce CRM for that purpose if you so choose.

Composable architecture really boils down to API-first systems that are more plug-and-play and easily integrated with each other, so  you can kind of pick and choose the best tool for the job. And if done right, this can lead to lower cost of total ownership and minimal vendor lock-in, and an overall more feature-rich digital ecosystem. 

Also, because digital needs are evolving at an unprecedented pace, a composable approach means your organization can adapt more quickly without being locked into a single vendor.  That’s particularly important for non-profits, government agencies, and mission-driven organizations that need flexibility as their priorities and the technology landscape both change.

Low-Code Platforms

Low-code platform solutions allow non-technical users to build and maintain digital experiences with minimal coding. For example, platforms like Webflow and Acquia’s low-code Drupal offering can empower organizations to create visually rich functional websites while relying less heavily on developers to make every single change. 

The advantages of low-code platforms are pretty clear in that they lower the barrier to entry. These platforms enable organizations with limited technical resources to manage their digital presence effectively. 

However, it’s important to recognize their limitations as well. While low-code platforms provide speed and ease of use, they may not be the best fit for every use case. For instance, if something is highly complex and customized from a project basis, requiring advanced functionality and integration, it may not be the best fit or at least the best fit for the entire solution and maybe plugged into a piece of the solution but not the whole thing. 

That said, we’ve seen organizations successfully leverage low-code solutions for things like microsites, campaign landing pages, and internal tools. For example, Forum One worked with the American Jazz Museum to use Webflow to launch an interactive site that highlights the history of jazz and offers an engaging and dynamic experience without extensive development resources.

Adapt Your Digital Experience to Advance Your Mission

So, what does this all mean for the future of content management? It’s really all about adaptability. The platforms and strategies we choose must allow us to respond quickly to changes in technology and user expectations: 

• Universal CMS will be key in providing a central hub for managing content across multiple channels. 
• Composable architecture gives us the flexibility to integrate the best tools for the job.
• Low-code platforms empower teams to build and iterate faster than ever. 

At Forum One, we’ve seen firsthand how these trends are shaping the way mission-driven organizations engage with their audiences. If you have questions or want to explore how these content management trends can support your organization’s mission, feel free to reach out.

This article is part of a series on The State of Digital Experience.  For more information, be sure to access our complete report here.