1. Digital Platform Selection
Blending Creativity and Technology to Deliver Better Business Solutions
New York . Toronto . Phoenix . Los Angeles . London. Dubai . New Delhi

2. Agenda
Introduction to eDynamic
Digital Platform Selection Overview
Challenges with Selecting a Digital Platform
Road to Success
1
Case Study: Large Electronics Retailer

3. About eDynamic
eDynamic is a digital solutions firm that helps marketers acquire and
engage customers with strategy, experience and technology expertise
Experienced. Founded in 1999, 200+ clients worldwide
Trusted. Diverse business critical projects delivered for mid-size
to Fortune 500 organizations
Versatile. Experience across diverse verticals, including
Financial Services, Technology, Manufacturing, Retail, Travel and
Hospitality, Oil and Gas and others
Global. Locations in New York, Toronto, Dubai and New Delhi 2

4. eDynamic Empowers Digital Marketing
Our capabilities center around empowering the marketer during
the entire customer lifecycle, from acquisition to engagement
3

5. A snapshot of our global client list
Our customers include mid-size to Fortune 500 companies with a mix of High
Tech, Financial Services, Publishing, Retail, Education and Travel clients
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6. So what is a digital platform?
Digital Platform Selection
5

7. Digital Platform Selection
Choosing technologies for your 6
digital marketing efforts
is not as simple as it appears…

8. …there is more than
meets the eye once you
get started.
7
7

9. Quite often CMS is the only product
that decision makers consider when
selecting technology for their digital 88
platform…

10. …but your digital platform is 9
an ecosystem of solutions…

11. …that leads you to
look at a basket of
platform options.
10
10

12. So what is a digital platform?
What is a digital platform ?
A Digital Platform is a
solution ecosystem that
marketing uses to
accomplish online customer
acquisition, retention and
engagement goals.
11

13. Web Content Management Systems
WCMS is typically the center of a digital platform strategy that
becomes the foundation for other surrounding solutions
Trends to watch Considerations
Vendors are focused on Technology platform
differentiation, as CMS Focus on how rather what
capabilities are commoditized
Beyond CMS; extension of core
Vendors are encroaching on capabilities
other solutions: marketing/email
User expectations
automation, digital asset
management, e-commerce Ease of use
Focus on customer Same features, different
engagement through approach
personalization and context
Platforms 12
Acquisition and consolidation
Sitecore, Day, SDL Tridion,
Microsoft, Drupal , Autonomy,
Fatwire, Ektron

14. Site Search
Site search has typically been included as part of many CMS
platforms, but search must now work across digital platforms
Trends to watch Considerations
Solutions are providing unified Will the CMS-integrated search
search across platforms work across platforms
Semantic search will quickly Structure bias of your content
become common place Control over the search results
Faceted search is now available Sophistication of visitors
in most search solutions
Out-of-the-box connectors
Platforms
FAST, Coveo, Autonomy,
Endeca, Lucene 13

15. Analytics
Analytics is becoming more common within CMS platforms, but
cross-platform analytics may warrant an external solution
Industry Trends Considerations
Vendors focus on driving Will pre-integrated CMS
actions, not just reports Analytics work across platforms
Support of integrated marketing Using platform-specific Analytics
across channels is common platforms
Social media listening tools are Out-of-the-box connectors
gaining notice and value Fewer options
Measurement of visitor
engagement across sessions Platforms
Mobile analytics become an Omniture, Unica, Coremetrics,
integrated part of the picture Webtrends, Nedstat 14

16. Purpose-driven Solutions
Many solutions within the ecosystem are purpose driven,
creating a whole-solution within the digital platform
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SugarCRM
Digital Asset Management (DAM)
Extensis, Scene7
eCommerce
Microsoft Commerce Server, Hybris, Magento
15

17. Emerging Platforms
Many of the “hottest” platforms are still emerging—still working
toward maturity, but can offer some of the biggest gains
Marketing Automation
Eloqua, Marketo, Neolane
Communities
Jive, Lithium, Telligent, KickApps, Get Satisfaction
Social Media
HubSpot, Buzzeo
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18. So what is a digital platform?
Why is the Digital Platform selection
process complex?
17

19. Why is the Selection Process Complex?
Increased marketing
sophistication requires products
to deliver more capabilities
CMS does not cater to all digital
needs
Commoditization, Proliferation
and Overlap
Emerging technology vendors are
unproven
Things are changing quickly; hard
to keep track
Gap between marketing and IT 18
leads to selection process gaps

20. Marketers drive
Platforms
The sophistication
and expectation of
Marketing drive the
need for broader,
yet integrated
capabilities—a
single platform no
longer supports 19
Marketing’s needs.

21. Your CMS
cannot be the
only one that
carries a load
Many CMS selection
initiatives spiral out of
control, as they
realize the a single
platform cannot 20
deliver all capabilities
well.

22. Commoditization
As platforms become more
commoditized, there are more
to choose from.
Proliferation
A single ecosystem can
contain WCMS, DAM,
technologies, Search,
Analytics, eCommerce,
Marketing Automation and
CRM.
Overlap
Multiple platforms provide 21
seemingly the same
capabilities

23. The road to success
22

24. The road to success
Get educated
Needs not features
Solution not products
Set-up a team to
succeed
Follow a process to
the right solution
Define a roadmap
Vendor stability
23

25. Educate yourself
Analysts provide plenty of context
Gartner, Forrester, blogs, CMSWire.com
Learn from your colleagues
24

26. Set up a team that will win
Involving a broad stakeholder team lays the foundation for later
success; Marketing should lead the effort with goals in mind
Not a technology project
Marketing should be a key decision maker in the initiative
Drive stakeholder participation
Drive hard to get internal sign-off of requirements
Consultants can bring value
Broad expertise 25
Strong understanding of products and gaps
Beyond theory

27. Follow a process
Use a proven process the to make sure the proper approach and
techniques are used to make best-fit platform decisions
Proven 4-step process
Discovery—understand the vision and objectives for the project
Analysis—capture and prioritize requirements
Investigation—identify vendors with align with requirements
Selection—prove vendor recommendations to a final selection
Holistic approach to incorporating stakeholder input
Designed to incorporate and balance key corporate objectives
Engage all stakeholders equally, while prioritizing requirements 26
Enable open discussions of requirements with software aspects

28. Selection Process
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29. Discovery
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30. Analysis
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31. Investigation
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32. Selection
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33. Selection Funnel
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34. Case Study: Consumer Electronics
Large, international consumer electronics manufacturer was
looking to replace their decade-old digital platform
Objective
Replace aging digital platform supporting the corporate website, e-
commerce website and partner portal
Platform selection for WCMS, Search, E-commerce and Product
information management (PIM)
Background
Project duration: 12 weeks
Number of stakeholders: 30+
33
Number of departments: 6
Number of countries: 5+

35. Case Study: Research overview
Key requirements stakeholder groups: IT, Marketing, Product
management, Customer support, EMEA and APAC
Group education and elicitation
Kick-off, Best-practices review and Team elicitation session
1-2 hour long sessions that were performed in person and on the
phone with groups
Individual discussions
1-2 hours with key stakeholders—particularly department
management
Special attention 34
The EMEA and APAC regions

36. Case Study: Key decision points
Key decision points: Must-have characteristics, requirements-
driven RFI responses and vendor demonstrations
Must have characteristics: Formed the basis and direction
for the vendor selection process
Proven longevity—Gartner and Forrester vetted participants
Multi-language support—clear support of regional stakeholders
Open architecture—clear path for integration with systems
RFI responses: Revealed commonality and differences
Three RFIs—for Web CMS, eCommerce/PIM and Search platforms
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Vendor demonstrations: Provided insight into product
subtleties and the potential vendor relationship

37. Case Study: Using buckets of options
Bucket approach: Look at holistic solution buckets instead of
comparing individual products within a platform category
Examples of a bucket approach
Platform abbreviations
CS: Microsoft Commerce Server
DR: DigitalRiver
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OMS: Sitecore online marketing suite

38. Case Study: Unexpected finding
Lack of product information management (PIM) system: The
critical path for a successful e-commerce implementation
A repeated theme: Product managers and marketers need product
information management tools
Product information management: Current state
Incomplete—does provide the rich attributes demanded by web
visitors
Low accessibility—few people can access systems or find
information
Unmanaged—distributed across multiple systems and formats
Difficult—hard to use and typically accessed through gatekeepers
Critical path: Introduction of a PIM 37
Lack of product information—poor user experience and brand
impression from the e-commerce website
Web content is product content—90% of all content is product
content that originates from outside the web CMS

39. Case Study: Conclusion
Successful selection of three products—an unexpected
combination that provides the mix of capabilities and cost
Web CMS: Sitecore CMS
E-Commerce and PIM: Hybris
Search: Endeca
38

40. Conclusion
Questions?
Contact Information:
Rahul Khosla, Rolf Kraus,
Partner CMS Practice Director
Rolf.kraus@edynamic.net 39
Rahul.khosla@edynamic.net
Visit us at:
www.edynamic.net