What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) to develop sites and apps in the financial customer and retail sectors. We also work with big brand sites. We use the platform to build websites, mobile applications, solutions for digital asset management, and marketing campaigns.
How has it helped my organization?
The main advantage of using Acquia’s platform is the opportunity to work with a recognized firm, which gives us extensive commercial and marketing support.
However, there have been some structural issues within our organization that have led to changes and restructuring, which impacted our use of certain tools within the platform.
What is most valuable?
One of the most valuable aspects is working with a recognized firm, which sometimes surpasses the commercial and marketing requirements for big customers.
Additionally, they offer useful digital asset management features and personalization tools, although there have been compatibility issues.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement is how Acquia sizes its platform for customers, which can be ambiguous and often results in penalties after doing business.
Issues with defining site requests and visits are not standard in the market. They also need to improve their support and technical advisory services. The manuals provided lacked clear and complete information.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution since 2017.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In three years, there was only one incident involving downtime of about forty-five minutes with a Bank, which was quickly resolved. Otherwise, the stability was quite commendable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is a challenging aspect due to some mysterious elements in the platform’s design. Minimizing issues was sometimes encouraged, which was not ideal. Scaling might mean increasing capacity or decreasing it, and this last, is the complex part.
How are customer service and support?
They are usually okay, and depending on the complexity of the ticket, we can reach good experts who are far from the CX knowledge base. However, once we had customer support service in Latin America, we faced unprofessional attitudes as tech advisors. Despite participating in advisory meetings, the experience with this particular was less supportive than expected.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had previously been developing on Drupal CMS before switching to Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP).
How was the initial setup?
Our first steps in 2017 were complex since we subscribed to an ambitious and complete DXP project with several modules for a mature customer. Now, we are very familiar with most of the platforms, and we have updated the Acquia methodology with our Agile way of work and always suggest approaching step by step your paint points while the customer adopts the expertise needed for the next step.
What about the implementation team?
We have implemented Acquia first for ourselves and then as a service to several customers—more than 7 customers with more than 45 sites, directories, apps, and digital signings.
What was our ROI?
On highly demanding traffic sites of large organizations with several digital channels, different brands, or assets that need to be healthy governance by efficient teams concerned with what they publish, the quality of the information, and the performance of their digital products, the ROI is over 40%/Y or hight when you quantify the easy and quick to go life with any modification.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is considered expensive compared to other vendors, but you have to make your own TCO calculations to understand its value. The service model is based on the demand, the level of SLA needed, and the other services the customers need to build and program for any digital products. Sometimes, the Platform Sellers want to quote you everything you possibly need, and we advise you to ramp up as you need the subscription as a preferred strategy to avoid wasting costs on features that your customers are not prepared to use.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, as part of the company process, we are always looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the market offer to advise our customers and develop skills around them. I have been involved in integrating and developing Oracle's Colud application for Digital Experience and Customer Experience, Adobe AEM and the Marketing Suits, and several others for several years. Technology is becoming a commodity per-ce in its features and capabilities, especially if it is a SAAS or PAAS solution, a trend in the last few years. So, the main difference is how they compile for the market you are in and how well their value satisfies your customers' needs.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the product, as it fits well with specific dimensions and needs, depending on the customer and company's needs. However, it might be challenging for others with strong Microsoft, Google or similar product affiliations.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten, more for the company policy and unclear partnership with the integrators than for the technical aspects of the solution, which is higher than 7.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. We are an Acquia Strategy partner with vast experience in Spanish-speaking countries. We have developed digital products with the Acquia DXP Platform for Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Chile. We have also provided support to some US corporations in English.
