What to Make of WordPress DXP
Longtime WordPress hoster WP Engine has rebranded its enterprise offering as "WordPress Digital Experience Platform." DXP is a sexy term now, but in this case, what does it really mean?
One of the nice things about WordPress (and to a lesser extent, Drupal) is that there is a very vibrant PaaS ecosystem, including WP Engine and others. They can provide an array of system services, potentially including: managed cloud hosting, specialized system reporting, connectors to services like Google Analytics or Twitter/Facebook, services for agencies doing multi-tenant stuff, and formal and informal vetting of plug-ins/modules for security and performance.
That’s all good.
What these hosters typically don’t do is heavily customize or extend the core platform itself. WordPress DXP is really just souped-up managed hosting and not a WordPress fork.
As subscribers to RSG's Web Content & Experience Management research know, WordPress natively is a useful WCM system — especially for blogs, microsites, and some news/club sites. Yet it remains rather weak at broader notions of managing “Digital Experience.” Of course, DX is a practice and not a technology marketplace, but if your vision of DX includes services like segmentation/personalization, integration of content and services, and specialized content applications, then you'll probably want to look elsewhere.
So in this case I’d say the DX label is a misnomer.