Best Content Management Systems for  Enterprises

Content management systems used by large enterprise businesses, with live examples

Large enterprises have unique requirements when it comes to online experiences. Whether it’s compliance, security, or advanced functionality it’s common for them to explore options beyond what a mid-sized business would consider. The following content management systems are currently used by large enterprise businesses in 2024.

#1: Adobe Experience Manager

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is an enterprise CMS system for building websites, mobile apps, and other online experiences. It is part of the Adobe Marketing Cloud and is designed to help businesses manage their marketing content and assets more efficiently. AEM provides a rich set of features for web content management (WCM), digital asset management (DAM), and digital experience management (DXM), making it the top choice among large enterprises for its scalability, flexibility, and integration capabilities.

Features & Benefits

  • Web Content Management (WCM) — AEM allows users to create, manage, and deploy digital content across various channels with a user-friendly interface. It supports responsive design, enabling content to be optimized for any device.
  • Digital Asset Management (DAM) — AEM includes a DAM system that helps organizations store, organize, and access digital assets like images, videos, and documents. This facilitates easy sharing and reuse of assets across different projects and channels.
  • Personalization — AEM provides tools for creating personalized digital experiences for users. It can deliver targeted content and experiences to different audience segments based on user behavior, preferences, and other criteria.
  • Multi-Site Management — With AEM, organizations can manage multiple websites and mobile apps from a single platform. This is particularly useful for businesses operating in different regions or languages, as it simplifies the management of global content.
  • Forms Management — AEM Forms simplifies the process of creating, managing, and optimizing forms. It supports complex forms workflows and integrates with back-end systems for seamless data collection and processing.
  • Cloud Services — Adobe offers AEM as a cloud service, providing scalability, security, and flexibility. AEM as a Cloud Service ensures that the platform is always up to date with the latest features and improvements.
  • Integration — AEM integrates with other Adobe products and third-party systems, enabling a seamless workflow across marketing, analytics, and CRM tools.

Websites Using It

#2: Sitecore

Sitecore is a leading digital experience platform (DXP) that combines content management, digital marketing, and commerce capabilities to help organizations deliver personalized digital experiences. It is widely recognized for its robust content management system (CMS) and extensive personalization features, enabling businesses to create, manage, and optimize their digital content across multiple channels in a highly customized way.

Features & Benefits

  • Content Management (CMS) — At its core, Sitecore provides powerful content management capabilities that allow users to create, edit, and manage web content with ease. Its user-friendly interface supports a wide range of content types and integrates seamlessly with digital assets for efficient content creation and deployment.
  • Digital Marketing and Personalization — Sitecore excels in offering tools for digital marketing and deep personalization. It enables marketers to deliver targeted content and experiences to users based on their behavior, preferences, and history. This is facilitated through Sitecore’s Experience Database (xDB), which collects and analyzes customer interactions across channels to drive personalized experiences.
  • Experience Platform — The Sitecore Experience Platform (XP) combines the CMS with digital marketing tools, including analytics, testing, automation, and personalization, to create a comprehensive platform for managing the customer experience.
  • E-commerce — Sitecore Experience Commerce (XC) integrates commerce capabilities with the digital experience platform, allowing businesses to create seamless, personalized shopping experiences. It supports the management of product catalogs, pricing, promotions, and more, all within the context of the customer’s journey.
  • Multichannel Management — Sitecore enables the delivery of content and experiences across multiple channels, including web, email, mobile, social media, and more. This ensures a consistent and cohesive experience for users, regardless of how they interact with your brand.
  • Scalability and Integration — Sitecore is built to scale with your business, supporting high traffic volumes and complex digital ecosystems. It also offers extensive integration capabilities, allowing for seamless connections with CRM, ERP, and other third-party systems.
  • Cloud Support — Sitecore can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud, offering flexibility in how organizations manage their digital infrastructure. Sitecore Cloud provides a managed cloud hosting solution that reduces the complexity of maintaining and scaling the platform.

Websites Using It

#3: Craft CMS

Craft CMS is a flexible, user-friendly content management system (CMS) designed for those who seek a tailored, intuitive platform for building bespoke websites and web applications. It stands out for its emphasis on customization, control, and quality of the end-user experience.

Features & Benefits

  • Intuitive Content Editing — Offers a clean, straightforward content editing interface, enabling content managers and authors to easily create and manage content.
  • Flexible Templating — Utilizes the Twig templating engine, allowing for the development of complex, dynamic websites with clean, readable templates.
  • Powerful Content Modeling — Provides robust content modeling tools to define custom fields, sections, and entry types, ensuring precise content structure and display.
  • Element API for Headless CMS Capabilities — Supports headless CMS configurations through its Element API, facilitating content delivery as JSON for integration with other systems or apps.
  • Extensive Plugin Ecosystem — Features a wide range of plugins in the Craft CMS plugin store, extending functionality to meet specific needs like SEO optimization and social media integration.
  • Multi-Site Support — Enables the management of multiple sites from a single installation, with easy content sharing or differentiation across sites, languages, or domains.
  • Highly Secure — Built with a focus on security, including proactive security patches and custom permissions for user roles.

Websites Using It

#4: OpenText Connect

OpenText Connect is a comprehensive single sign-on (SSO) service that enables secure and convenient access to OpenText’s suite of information management solutions. It simplifies how users interact with OpenText applications, both in the cloud and on-premises, by using a single set of credentials.

Features & Benefits

  • Single Sign-On — Users can access multiple OpenText applications and services with a single login, enhancing user convenience and security.
  • Secure Access — Implements robust security measures to protect sensitive information and ensure secure access to applications.
  • Centralized Management — Administrators can manage user access and permissions from a centralized location, simplifying the administration of user accounts.
  • Integration — Easily integrates with enterprise identity management systems, supporting standards such as SAML and OAuth.
  • User Experience — Provides a seamless user experience across OpenText applications, reducing the need for multiple logins and passwords.
  • Enhanced Security — Reduces the risk of password theft and unauthorized access by minimizing the number of login credentials users need to remember and manage.
  • Increased Productivity — Users spend less time logging in to multiple systems, allowing for more focus on productive tasks.
  • Simplified IT Management — IT departments benefit from simplified user account management and reduced helpdesk requests for password resets.
  • Improved Compliance — Helps organizations meet compliance requirements by providing secure and controlled access to information and applications.

Websites Using It

#5: Drupal

Drupal is a free and open-source content management system (CMS), written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is a highly flexible and powerful tool for building websites and applications, and is commonly used by government websites for it’s security benefits. It’s been around a long time (as long as WordPress) and has an established community. The large advantage over the other options here is price point: it’s significantly less in terms of the initial and ongoing investment required.

Features & Benefits

  • Custom Content Types — Drupal allows you to create custom content types with unique fields for different types of content.
  • Taxonomy System — Organize your content with Drupal’s powerful taxonomy system.
  • User Management — Drupal provides comprehensive options for user management, including roles, permissions, and user profiles.
  • Theming & Templates — Customize the appearance of your site with themes and templates.
  • Modules — Extend Drupal’s functionality with thousands of modules.
  • Multilingual Support — Drupal supports multilingual websites out of the box.
  • SEO Friendly — Drupal is designed to be SEO friendly, with modules to enhance search engine optimization.
  • Security — Drupal has a strong focus on security, with a dedicated security team and regular updates.

Websites Using It

#6: Headless CMS APIs

Custom built CMS systems are relatively common among large enterprises. Many of these systems sit on top of a backend CMS that serves content over and API, a pattern known as a headless CMS system.

A headless CMS system is a CMS that provides only the back-end capabilities of traditional CMS platforms. It stores, manages, and delivers content without a built-in presentation layer, making content accessible via an API for display on any device or channel.

Features & Benefits

  • API-Driven Content Delivery — Content is delivered through APIs, typically RESTful or GraphQL, for seamless integration with various front-end technologies.
  • Front-end Agnostic — Developers can use any technology stack for the front end, providing the freedom to create custom user experiences.
  • Omnichannel Publishing — Enables content to be published across multiple platforms and devices from a single content repository.
  • Scalability — Easier to scale and maintain due to the separation of content management and content presentation.
  • Security — Reduced security risks as the CMS does not dictate the front end, limiting exposure to attacks.
  • Flexibility — Developers can implement any design and use any front-end framework or technology they prefer.
  • Future-Proof — Easily adapt to new technologies and trends without overhauling the entire CMS.
  • Improved Performance — Front-end developers can optimize the website or application for performance without CMS constraints.
  • Better Content Management — Content creators can focus on content creation and management without worrying about presentation details.

Websites Using It

References, Sources & Citations

Meet the Author

Kevin Leary, WordPress Consultant

I'm a custom WordPress web developer and analytics consultant in Boston, MA with 16 years of experience building websites and applications. View a portfolio of my work or request an estimate for your next project.