The 3 Signs a Business Thinks It Needs a CMS - But Really Needs a DXP

You know the brief. 
“We just need a new CMS.” 
“The old one’s clunky.” 
“We can’t update the homepage without logging a ticket.” 
“We’re not replatforming, we just need to move faster.”

I’ve heard versions of this in nearly every kickoff meeting for the last decade. And here’s the truth:

Most businesses who think they need a CMS… actually need a Digital Experience Platform (DXP).

Not because they’re wrong. But because their problems aren’t about publishing - they’re about performance, orchestration, and customer experience. 
Here are the 3 telltale signs. 

1. “We want to personalise content for different users.”  

If you’re thinking about segments, journeys, or serving different experiences to logged-in vs. anonymous users - you’re not talking about content management anymore. 

You’re talking about:

• Personalisation rules
• Customer data layers
• Decisioning engines
• Testing what works for different audiences

A CMS alone won’t get you there. A DXP will. 

2. “We want marketing to self-serve without dev.”   

This is less about “freedom to publish” and more about autonomy to optimise. A DXP empowers marketing teams to: 

• Launch campaigns without waiting for IT
• Run A/B or multivariate tests
• Use AI to recommend content
• Build dynamic pages with drag-and-drop tools

With platforms like Optimizely + Opal AI, marketers aren’t just publishing faster. They’re learning and improving in real time. 

3. “We want one platform to do more.”   

This is where the “just a CMS” story falls apart. If you’re also trying to solve for:

• Email targeting
• Digital commerce
• Multi-language delivery
• Product content integration
• Customer data and analytics
• Workflow approvals and governance

You don’t need a CMS. 

You need a platform that unifies those capabilities - or plugs into them seamlessly.

That’s a DXP.