Incremental Revenue Benefit From XM Cloud

Evidence and data. Interviewees reported that one compelling outcome of deploying XM Cloud was the measurable uplift in revenue and conversion rates. This benefit is rooted in the platform’s ability to empower marketing and digital teams with the ability to deploy content rapidly, personalize user experiences, and integrate with e-commerce and CRM systems seamlessly. Interviewed customers consistently highlighted how XM Cloud’s composable architecture and intuitive content management capabilities enabled them to launch multiple websites, optimize digital journeys through A/B testing, and deliver dynamic, localized content — all without heavy reliance on IT. These capabilities not only accelerated time to market but also enhanced user engagement and conversion, translating directly into increased digital revenue.

• The chief of digital innovation for the education institution elaborated: “Over five years, we estimate €7 million in additional revenue from our digital transformation, with €2.5 million directly attributable to Sitecore’s capabilities. The unified platform and automated content generation have made it much easier to funnel opportunities and drive sales. Sitecore’s integration with our CRM and marketing tools has been a key factor in this uplift.”

• The director of digital platform for the business insurance provider explained: “Since moving to XM Cloud, our digital revenue has doubled, with online sales increasing by 200%. This growth is due to a combination of the new website, faster performance, and rebranding, but Sitecore’s platform was central to enabling these improvements. The ability for marketing to quickly launch co-branded partnership pages and run A/B tests has directly impacted our conversion rates and partner relationships.”

• The digital strategy director for the recreational hospitality organization described their experience: “After launching our new Sitecore-powered website, our hotel and venue bookings increased by 443% in the first year. The addition of a booking widget and personalized player dashboard made it much easier for guests to engage and transact online. These features, combined with real-time content updates, have driven significant revenue growth from digital channels.”

Modeling and assumptions. This benefit focuses on the business efficiency impact of digital sales for the composite organization with XM Cloud’s ability to empower marketing and digital teams in creating digital experiences that improve conversion to sales. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes the following:

• Eight million unique website visits per year.

• A conversion rate from unique website visits of 2.0% in the prior state.³

• Before deploying XM Cloud, the composite has 160,000 digital sales transactions per year and an average order value of $100.

• Gross website sales comprised 3.2% of overall sales previously.

• The gross improvement in digital conversions is 50% with XM Cloud. The net improvement (row A6) is based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud platform: 40% improvement in Year 1, 45% in Year 2, and 50% by Year 3.

• After deploying XM Cloud, the composite has 224,000 digital sales transactions in Year 1, 232,000 in Year 2, and 240,000 in Year 3, representing 4.5% of overall sales for Year 1, 4.6% for Year 2, and 4.8% by Year 3.

• To determine the net business impact for the composite, the revenue benefit is converted into operating profit. Forrester assumes that the operating margin for the composite’s industry is 15%.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences and that the incremental revenue gains will vary among organizations depending on the following factors:

• Website visits, which while measurable, can be distorted, although they are a more useful metric than overall website views.

• Conversion rates to sales from website visits will vary by industry, product or service type, and the buyer’s relative technological sophistication.

• The operating margin is business and industry dependent, and therefore may be higher or lower than the composite organization’s.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.1 million.

Cost Savings From Eliminating Self-Hosted Legacy Solutions

Evidence and data. A significant benefit consistently highlighted by interviewees migrating to Sitecore XM Cloud was the substantial cost savings realized by retiring self-hosted legacy CMSs. By moving to a fully managed, cloud-native SaaS platform, customers could eliminate expenses tied to infrastructure maintenance, software upgrades, and dedicated IT resources previously required to keep legacy systems operational. XM Cloud’s automated updates, scalable architecture, and robust support model meant that organizations no longer needed to budget for server hosting, manual patching, or costly downtime. This shift not only reduced direct operational costs but also freed up resources.

It is worth noting that three of the interviewees migrated from Sitecore’s XP platform. Although the lift and shift might have been smoother for customers migrating from XP from a usability standpoint, the financial benefits identified below were equally applicable.

• The VP of marketing for the financial services firm responded to the question about eliminating their legacy CMS with: “By moving from our on-premises CMS to XM Cloud, we’re saving an estimated $300,000 to $500,000 annually. These savings come from eliminating hosting, licensing, and IT maintenance costs that were required to keep our old system running. Now, our IT team is freed up for more strategic work, and ongoing maintenance is minimal.”

• The chief of digital innovation for the education institution explained: “Our digital transformation, including Sitecore, resulted in annual cost savings of about €70,000 by removing legacy platforms and associated management fees. With XM Cloud, there’s no need for internal staff to maintain infrastructure; maintenance is included in the subscription. This has allowed us to reallocate resources to more value-added activities.”

• The director of web marketing for the electronics devices supplier observed: “With XM Cloud, we’ve become far less dependent on IT for troubleshooting and system issues, and we no longer need to manage upgrades or downtime. Using [a digital agency] for front-end services has also reduced our cloud hosting costs, and optimization efforts have eliminated expensive overages, resulting in significant operational savings.”

Modeling and assumptions. This benefit quantifies the three types of cost savings the composite organization realizes to maintain its self-hosted legacy CMS system: 1) hosting the legacy system, 2) avoided upgrade costs, and 3) the IT team’s effort to maintain the legacy CMS system. For the composite organization, Forrester assumes the following:

• The gross cost savings in eliminating hosting expenses are $115,000 annually. The effective cost savings (row B1) are based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud platform.

• Similarly, the annualized cost savings from not having to upgrade are $75,000. Row B2 reflects the effective savings based on the ramp of the XM Cloud solution.

• Two full-time IT ops professionals spend 15% of their time toward legacy CMS platform maintenance.

• The fully burdened annual salary for an IT ops professional is $135,000.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these financial model results may not reflect the unique experiences of organizations migrating to Sitecore XM Cloud, and the following factors may impact this cost savings benefit:

• The cost savings from hosting expenses and related overages will depend on the organization and what is average for different industries.

• The cost savings from not having to upgrade will vary depending on how frequently the organization needs to upgrade its platform and the agility expectations by industry.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of just under $471,000.

Improved Digital Marketing Team Productivity-Driven Savings

Evidence and data. All interviewees stated that adopting Sitecore XM Cloud resulted in significant productivity-driven cost savings across their website marketing teams, both for marketers and developers. For marketers, XM Cloud’s intuitive, drag-and-drop content management tools and real-time page editing capabilities empowered non-technical users to create, update, and personalize digital content rapidly, thus significantly reducing reliance on IT and accelerating campaign launches. At the same time, developers benefited from the platform’s composable, API-first architecture, which streamlined integrations with other business systems and automated routine operational tasks. By eliminating manual bottlenecks and enabling true self-service for content creation, XM Cloud allowed interviewees’ organizations to use their website marketing operations teams more optimally.

• The director of web marketing for the electronics device supplier stated: “We’ve seen a 50% improvement in productivity for content creation and updates — tasks that used to take hours or days now take half the time. The new system allows non-technical users across business units to manage content, reducing the workload of the web team. For developers, integrations and customizations are faster and easier thanks to XM Cloud’s composable, API-first architecture.”

• The director of digital platform for the business insurance provider stated: “Publishing blogs is now 30% more efficient, enabling marketing staff to take on additional responsibilities beyond content updates. Creating co-branded partnership pages went from three to four days with developer involvement to just one day, now handled by marketing.”

• The chief of digital innovation for the education institution explained: “Automated content generation from CRM data and integrated e-commerce have significantly reduced manual work for both marketers and developers. Efficiency gains in personnel costs totaled €2.1 million over five years, with Sitecore contributing about 15% of that.”

• The digital product owner for the travel services provider stated: “Content-only changes that used to take four to six weeks with our old systems can now be made in about 15 minutes. Even minor development changes are completed within a two-week sprint, so we can respond much faster to operational needs.”

Modeling and assumptions. This benefit quantifies the productivity improvement for the core digital marketing team — both marketers and developers — related to content creation, content deployment, and integrations. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite’s digital marketing team creates 600 unique content pages annually.

• It took 6 hours to create each page before deploying XM Cloud.

• The net improvement in productivity for page creation is 50% in Year 1, 55% in Year 2, and 60% by Year 3, based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud solution.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for a website marketing professional is $52 (rounded).

• In total, the composite organization performs 60 integrations annually across all its various digital sites.

• Before implementing XM Cloud, each integration required 32 hours of website developer time.

• The net improvement in productivity for integrations performed by website developers is 40% in Year 1, 45% in Year 2, and 50% by Year 3, based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud solution.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for a website developer is $78 (rounded).

• To put these numbers in perspective: The five marketing FTEs previously spent 35% of their time on content page creation and now spend only 14% of their time on this task. Similarly, there were five website developers in the prior state who spent 18% of their time on integrations. The three website developers in the current state spend 15% of their time on integrations.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences and that productivity gains will vary among organizations depending on the following factors:

• The time spent on creating unique digital content and for integrations in the prior state will depend on the type of CMS platform used.

• Productivity benefits may vary.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of just under $400,000.

Developer Time Savings For Website Operations

Evidence and data. Interviewees consistently cited that adopting Sitecore XM Cloud resulted in significant reduction in developer time for ongoing digital experience operations. XM Cloud’s modern, composable architecture and API-first design streamlined routine tasks such as content integration, template updates, and new feature deployment, allowing developers to focus on higher-value projects rather than day-to-day maintenance. Automated workflows, reusable components, and robust support for headless and cloud-native development further minimized manual intervention and repetitive work. As a result, development teams could more efficiently deliver enhancements, integrations, and optimizations, accelerating time to market for digital initiatives and reducing operational overhead.

• The director of digital platform for the business insurance provider stated their value realized with XM Cloud: “We reduced the time developers spend on routine content updates and operational tasks, resulting in about half a million dollars in annual savings. Developers now focus on higher-value improvements and enablement rather than day-to-day website maintenance. The platform’s automation and self-service capabilities have made it possible for non-technical users to handle most content changes.”

• The director of web marketing for the electronics device supplier put it as follows: “Thanks to XM Cloud, non-technical users can manage most content, so our web developer team no longer needs to handle every update. As a result, developers have been redeployed to focus on innovation and new features rather than day-to-day website operations. This shift has led to significant operational savings and improved team efficiency.”

Modeling and assumptions. This benefit encompasses the reduced need for website developers to support ongoing operations, which required significantly more effort in the prior state. This benefit does not duplicate the reduction in IT FTEs for supporting and maintaining self-hosted legacy CMS systems, quantified in benefit B. And it also excludes the regular effort expended on integrations, quantified in benefit C. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• There would be five developers on the website marketing team in the prior state.

• The time savings for website developers with XM Cloud deployed is 20% in Year 1, 30% in Year 2, and 40% by Year 3, based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud solution.

• With XM Cloud, the number of website developers that the composite can redeploy for higher-impact initiatives is 1.0 in Year 1, 1.5 in Year 2, and 2.0 in Year 3.

• The fully burdened annual salary for a website developer is $162,000.

• Forrester does not apply a productivity adjustment factor for FTE cost savings.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences and that website developer time savings will vary among organizations depending on the following factors:

• The number of website developers needed for an organization with XM Cloud deployed will depend on the nature of the organization and the specific industry.

• The time savings of website developers will depend on the relative sophistication of the organization’s marketers and their propensity to adopt CMS tools.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of just more than $530,000.

Business Impact Of Consolidated Multibrand Promotional Efficiencies

Evidence and data. Some of the interviewees whose organizations used Sitecore XM Cloud discussed their ability to manage and promote multiple brands or business units efficiently from a single, unified platform. These interviewees cited XM Cloud’s composable architecture, modular content management, and robust support for multisite, multichannel, and multibrand deployments, which empowered marketing teams to rapidly create, customize, and launch co-branded campaigns, microsites, and promotional assets. This centralization streamlined workflows, ensured brand consistency, and enabled content and component reuse across brands, significantly reducing the time and resources required to execute cross-brand marketing initiatives. As a result, organizations could respond faster to market opportunities and scale their promotional efforts.

• The digital strategy director for the recreational hospitality entity outlined their experience: “XM Cloud enabled us to support multiple business units and brands on a single instance, allowing each to build and manage their own websites. We can now quickly create personalized, event-specific landing pages for different player segments. This consolidated approach has made our marketing more agile and scalable across brands.”

• The director of web marketing for the electronics device supplier described how they work with strategic partners: “With XM Cloud, we can efficiently create and update partner pages for major brands like [partner #1] and [partner #2], and we often launch new co-branded content every month. The modular, drag-and-drop system lets marketers make changes without waiting for developer resources, ensuring brand consistency and faster campaign execution. This has significantly improved our ability to run multibrand promotions and respond to partner needs.”

Modeling and assumptions. The composite organization has multiple brands that previously operated independently with minimal collaboration, each with its own marketing team, product catalog, and customer base. With XM Cloud centrally deployed, Forrester assumes the following:

• The composite has five major brands that conduct promotional events through their websites once a quarter.

• The time savings for website developers with XM Cloud deployed is 20% in Year 1, 30% in Year 2, and 40% by Year 3, based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud solution.

• The acceleration in revenue per event for each brand is estimated at $60,000 for the composite with the use of XM Cloud. Based on the effectiveness ramp of the XM Cloud platform, this translates to $48,000 in revenue acceleration for Year 1, $54,000 for Year 2, and $60,000 by Year 3.

• By way of perspective, the total revenue acceleration for the composite represents 4.3% of digital revenue for Year 1 after deploying XM Cloud, 4.7% in Year 2, and 5.0% by Year 3.

• To determine the net business impact for the composite, the revenue benefit is converted into operating profit. Forrester assumes that the operating margin for the composite’s industry is 15%.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences and that the incremental revenue acceleration will vary among organizations depending on the following factors:

• The number of brands and promotional events each year per brand.

• The value of each promotional event, and the nature of the business and the industry.

• The operating margin is business and industry dependent, and therefore, may be higher or lower than the composite organization’s.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of just more than $320,000.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• Scaling for growth. Interviewees noted XM Cloud’s ability to scale with their business, whether supporting more brands, handling increased traffic, or enabling new digital experiences. They saw the cloud-native, composable architecture as a safeguard against future technology shifts, ensuring new capabilities would be available quickly and that the platform would not become a bottleneck as their organizations grew. The chief of digital innovation for the education institution said: “We chose Sitecore because it’s an enterprise solution that can grow with us. The platform’s flexibility and managed services mean we don’t have to worry about outgrowing our CMS.”

• Continuous innovation. XM Cloud’s SaaS model means brands are always on the latest version, without needing costly, time-consuming upgrade projects. Interviewees highlighted that the automatic upgrades provided by Sitecore XM Cloud significantly reduced the burden of maintaining infrastructure and eliminated disruptive, resource-intensive version upgrades. This allowed teams to focus more on innovation, content creation, and customer experience rather than backend maintenance. The continuous delivery model not only reduced operational overhead but also accelerated access to innovations like AI-driven capabilities, enhanced authoring tools, and integrations to support digital experience creation. The digital product owner for the travel services provider said: “We don’t have to worry about maintaining infrastructure or doing upgrades. That’s a huge benefit. It frees us up to focus on other things.”

• Empowering non-technical users for improved collaboration with developers. Interviewees consistently described how XM Cloud’s intuitive interface and visual editing tools enabled non-technical staff — especially marketers and content creators — to manage and update website content independently, reducing bottlenecks and accelerating digital initiatives. The Martech manager for the financial services firm stated, “Our marketing team can now create and update pages without waiting for IT or developers.” Additionally, the platform’s user-friendly tools and role-based access controls fostered better collaboration between marketing, product, and technical teams. More stakeholders could participate in content creation and review, leading to higher-quality digital experiences and less friction in day-to-day operations. The digital CX manager for the travel services provider said: “Our digital signage team and business partners now work together more efficiently since the platform allows for easier content management and sharing responsibilities. This collaboration has improved both the speed and quality of our communications.”

• Providing superior customer support and partnership. Several interviewees highlighted the value of Sitecore’s customer support and the collaborative approach of both Sitecore and its implementation partners. Interviewees saw Sitecore’s responsive, knowledgeable support teams as instrumental in overcoming challenges and ensuring a smooth transition to the new platform. In addition to baseline support, Sitecore provided various service package levels as add-on options. The digital product owner for the travel services provider commented on their customer service experience: “Sitecore and our implementation partners were highly responsive and collaborative throughout. Whenever we faced technical challenges or needed to adapt the platform for our unique signage use case, they worked closely with us to find solutions and keep the project on track. Their willingness to engage deeply with our team made a complex transition much smoother.”

• Supporting brand consistency and corporate governance. Interviewees’ organizations that managed multiple brands or business units appreciated the ability to enforce brand standards and governance across all digital properties. XM Cloud’s templating and modular content features made it easier to maintain consistency while still allowing for local customization. The director of digital platform for the business insurance provider said, “We can ensure every brand and business unit follows our guidelines but still give them the flexibility to tailor content for their audiences.”

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement XM Cloud and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Composable architecture and ease of integration. Interviewees noted that XM Cloud’s composable, headless architecture allowed their organizations to easily integrate with other systems (such as CRM, LMS, e-commerce, and analytics platforms) and adapt their digital ecosystem as business needs evolved. This flexibility enabled rapid adoption of new technologies and seamless connection to legacy and modern tools, supporting ongoing innovation and future-proofing the organization.

• Rapid deployment platform. Several interviewees mentioned that XM Cloud’s cloud-native, SaaS model eliminated infrastructure constraints and manual upgrades, allowing their organizations to scale quickly and deploy new features or sites with minimal friction. This flexibility supported business growth, new market expansion, and the ability to handle spikes in demand or organizational change without being held back by technology limitations.

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in detail in Appendix A).