Sitecore, the global leader in experience management software, unveiled the Sitecore Experience Cloud, which offers a range of content management, digital marketing, and commerce tools as well as continuously optimized experiences, new approaches for collecting customer data, and real-time insights using machine learning. As part of the announcement, Sitecore announced a significant Version 9 release of its flagship Sitecore Experience Platform (XP) digital experience platform and Sitecore Experience Manager (XM) web CMS.

With the Version 9 release, Sitecore introduces Sitecore xConnect, a framework of rich APIs and services that allows users to integrate customer interaction data collected by Sitecore with customer data from nearly any third-party system or channel. Leveraging that abundance of data is Sitecore Cortex, an innovative machine learning engine with advanced algorithms that deliver real-time insights across both native and third-party customer data. With Sitecore Cortex — announced as part of the Sitecore Experience Cloud—customer behaviors, decisions, interactions, and outcomes are continuously processed and optimized to unveil new customer segments and revenue opportunities, giving brands a competitive advantage. Marketers not only benefit from a rich, holistic customer view, but can now act on intelligent insights to generate omnichannel experiences that are highly personalized for each individual.

“Effective marketing today requires knowing how customers are engaging with your brand in real time,” said Mark Frost, CEO of Sitecore. “With Sitecore Experience Cloud, Sitecore Cortex, and Version 9 of both Sitecore XP and Sitecore XM, Sitecore remains at the forefront of innovation. Most important — our customers benefit from the immediate ability to more effectively and intelligently acquire, retain, and grow their customer relationships.”

“This latest release marks yet another visionary step forward for Sitecore. From the fully integrated commerce offering to the new Sitecore xConnect feature—enabling native, omnichannel access to customer data in the Sitecore Experience Database [xDB], you can really start to see exactly how your marketing efforts are affecting the way customers interact with your brand,” he said. Thom Howard, .NET Practice Director at TechAspect and another trial program participant, agreed, saying, “The new xConnect feature truly opens up Sitecore’s xDB analytics database—making it the perfect core system for any enterprise marketing technology stack,” Jason Wilkerson, Sitecore MVP and Technology Evangelist, RBA, Inc who participated in the trial program for Version 9 of Sitecore XP.

Sitecore XP and Sitecore XM Version 9 deliver new value in innovation, enhancements, and time-to-market capabilities that shorten the path between brands and their customers. Alongside Sitecore xConnect and Sitecore Cortex, Version 9 release features include:

• Newly designed web forms, scalable e-mail marketing, and rich automation for marketers
• Powerful headless capabilities for developers who want to deliver digital experiences on IoT, wearables, and other mobile devices
• Sitecore® Connect for Salesforce and Sitecore® Connect for Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM systems
• Greater security and control with Federated Authentication and encryption support for personally identifiable information (PII) to help customers with compliance obligations

Version 9 of the Sitecore Experience Platform and Sitecore Experience Manager is available globally.