SUGDE 2024 - Sitecore Insights & Teamwebit Impressions

Mark Cassidy kicked off the event, providing insights into the world of Optimizely with his extensive experience as a Sitecore developer. In his presentation "Is the grass greener?", he compared the two Digital Experience Platforms from a developer's perspective, highlighting their similarities and significant differences. His conclusion: The grass is not necessarily greener on Optimizely's side compared to Sitecore's, and each of the two DXPs has its specific use cases.

Anke Kiener from PIA UDG and Simon Kögel from NürnbergMesse followed with a report titled "Road to XM Cloud". They described the journey from the classic Sitecore Experience Platform to XM Cloud, the new SaaS Headless component of the Sitecore Content Management System. They discussed challenges from a project management perspective that had to be overcome along this path and addressed resulting questions regarding software architecture: Which technologies are suitable for the frontend? How can the integration of existing systems, such as commerce or ticketing platforms, be successfully implemented? And how should partial solutions from the old project be adapted for the new SaaS XM Cloud world?

It is always enriching when agencies and clients allow themselves to peek over each other's shoulders in testimonials like this one and provide interesting insights. According to Anke and Simon, the journey to the XM Cloud is definitely worth it and offers many opportunities to rethink and optimize processes.

Anna Bründel's presentation on Sitecore Search got quite technical. Anna explained in detail how Sitecore Search can be set up and configured, as well as the additional possibilities such as handling facets and filters. We received many practical tips for dealing with Sitecore Search, which could be very useful in future projects. We found the topic of indexing time-critical website content immediately after its publication particularly exciting, in order to make it available through search as quickly as possible. Currently, Sitecore is working on additional Search APIs, which will provide us with more opportunities in the future to implement custom solutions for our clients.

After the professional input and a digital journey, Alex, Jóna, and the rest of the Sitecore User Group embarked on a real excursion into the long history of the city of Mainz. Mathias Reinhardt took the lead through the streets and provided exciting insights into the history, from the Roman roots to the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg, to the Mainzelmännchen. This not only offered the opportunity to get to know Mainz better but also to engage in casual conversations with others. An exchange that was continued later in the evening at the hotel bar.