Headless

There are a number of differences between Monolithic systems and a Headless system, these include:

1. Monolithic systems have lots of functionality built into them that not all customers need.
2. A headless platform gives you access to entities, examples of these are pages, menus, products, blogs, people, etc. Entities are the base objects that you can then modify and enhance to your requirements.
3. Monolithic systems are more focused on delivering solutions to the end client rather than the developer. Core dna’s platform strikes a balance between the developer environment and the admin environment.
4. Headless platforms in many cases don’t come with admin tools for end clients. Core dna continues to provide admin friendly tools inside our headless platform.
5. Access to information from a monolithic system can be difficult.
6. Monolithic systems require you to establish the infrastructure and the security tools to make them work.
7. Monolithic systems can take time to learn and understand the way they work.
8. Headless platforms allow you to create your own publishing environments.

Read this next: Headless CMS vs Decoupled CMS: The Ultimate Guide

The easiest way to determine if a headless platform is best for you is to ask yourself these questions:

1. What are your business requirements and does a headless platform solve these requirements?
2. Do you have access to qualified individuals to help with the setup and ongoing management of the platform?
3. Can you determine the content types that you will require (e.g. buttons, headers, lists, options, etc.)?
4. Do you want to design your own components using the content types you can define? You can always add components later but planning up front will help with organizing your content for distribution.
5. Determine if you want to enrich your content with templates and styling to create consistent output and not just data.
6. Do you want to test the output from the headless platform using tools that allow you to make API calls?
7. Do you want to configure the destination systems to accept the information?

In the case of Core dna, we provide an admin panel to help with the creation of the content and preview of the content. We also give you a number of tools for security and personalization. Finally, we have defined a number of entities that give you the starting point for your project to help with quick deployment.

Read this next: How to Choose The Best CMS Platform to Help Drive Your Business Growth

Core dna is a decoupled platform, meaning we have headless content management built-in, but we also give you the front-end tools you need to present your content to your end-user.

This depends on the traditional platform. With a headless CMS, the key difference is its ability to create different content types and then make that content available through an application programming interface (API). 

If a traditional CMS is able to process API requests it can be integrated with a headless platform. If it's not then programmers will need to process the API requests outside of the traditional CMS, through the use of javascript in the display of the website. 

Understanding what a traditional CMS is

A monolithic or traditional cms is a content management system that stores all of its content in a single database. This means that all of your content, including pages, posts, comments, and media, are stored in one place. A monolithic cms is best suited for small websites with relatively simple content structures. If you have a large website with complex content, you may want to consider a different type of content management system.

Understanding what a headless CMS is

A Headless Content Management System (CMS) enables users to manage and store content without the need for a graphical user interface (GUI). A headless CMS is often used in conjunction with a “front-end” website or application that provides a GUI for end users.

You can learn more about headless vs monolithic in this guide: 

• What is a headless CMS 
• The difference between headless vs traditional CMS 
• What is a decoupled CMS 
• Headless vs decoupled CMS 
• Things to consider when choosing a headless CMS 
• Headless CMS case studies

There are a number of differences between headless and decoupled platforms; these include:

1. Flexible content models that allow you to describe your data in the headless platforms.
2. Advanced APIs that can use query languages for APIs like GraphQL.
3. Headless platforms are designed to deliver content quickly and efficiently without any overhead.
4. Decoupled platforms are generally connected to a display layer templating language for building user interfaces.
5. Headless platforms may not have any display of layer templating. Hybrid platforms like Core dna do still offer templating languages and admin interfaces for the convenience of admins.
6. A high degree of customization & flexibility for developers in the headless platform.

Pros

• Flexible developer environment to create and manage content across multiple channels
• Ability to create and deploy tailored customer experiences quickly
• Ability to learn, change and iterate direction quickly
• Share content programmatically with other systems
• Create workflows and recurring processes that communicate with the platform and other systems
• Advanced security provided by simple interactions through APIs
• Improved performance, ability to create static content and have websites that are fast
• Scale, ability to handle peaks and large volumes of website content from a single source

Cons

• Have flexibility that may require developer involvement
• Manual application management
• Out-of-the-box functionality may be limited
• Flexibility in the presentation layer can be limited
• Setup maybe be more complex in terms of structuring data types, components and layouts
• Some systems are missing admin/authoring capabilities with features like preview, analytics and permissioning
• Site control can be split amongst a number of content systems
• Personalization may require more development
• Analytics capabilities can be limited

** Many of the Cons above have been solved within the Core dna platform as we continue to provide hybrid support for the traditional authoring environment.

Read this next: Hybrid CMS: A Headless CMS, But With a Front-End

To stay ahead of the curve in the fast-changing digital landscape, companies must have content management systems that are quick to adapt and scale efficiently. A headless platform separates your content backend from the frontend presentation layer opening up myriad possibilities for organizations’ digital experiences. This below we explain how adopting a headless architecture can change your digital business.

What is the technical architecture & integration

Microservices-Based Foundation

Headless platforms  rely on microservices to provide higher speed and flexibility. They break down functionality into independent services that are then combined to create a complete solution. Organizations can scale specific components as needed without affecting the entire system. For instance, during peak sales periods, an e-commerce company may increase its product catalog service while maintaining normal capacity for its blog content service.

An approach based on APIs

All platform functionality is made available through well-documented APIs. This allowes:

• Smooth integration into already existing systems
• Simple swapping of individual parts
• Unvarying data access across all channels

This is a real-life example: The Core dna platform has helped nutritional supplement giant, Standard Process, rewrite the way they engaged with their customers.  Read more about the standard process implementation

Ways of Increasing Growth

Rapid Development Cycles

Developers can use the tools and frameworks they were already using, making them a better choice than custom legacy CMS systems for:

• Faster introduction of new team members
• Less time taken to develop new features
• Increased flexibility in the solutions
• Smaller technology debt

Freedom to Personalize Interfaces

This way you can achieve:

• Same brand experience across all touchpoints;
• Workflows that are optimized for specific users;
• Rapid prototyping and iteration.

Image Management Excellence

Single Source Content Repository

It also makes sure there is no content redundancy between systems, inconsistent messaging, or version control issues:

• Copying content in multiple places with different addresses;
• Ineffective communication due to some errors in the initial versions.

Specific Content Models

Developers can include:

• Defining types’ relationships;
• Adding custom fields along with validation rules;
• Developing content hierarchies that mimic business process.

Security & Efficiency

Optimized Delivery of Content

Decoupled architecture allows for:

• Server workloads reduced by efficient API calls,
• Channel specific content delivery,
• Caching strategies improved for faster performance.

Advanced Security Measures

These include:

• Controlled API access at a granular level.
• Separation between presentation and content layers.
• Protective surfaces decreased by custom endpoints

Headless platform implementation process

1. Evaluate existing content architecture
2. Locate main integration areas
3. Select a headless solution that satisfies your requirements
4. Arrange for your content to be transferred in an orderly manner.

Important considerations for implementation are:

• Begin with one pilot project 
• Ensure the APIs  are well documented and developers are familiar with the framework
• Ensure proper governance of the content modelling
• Evaluate how this will affect the work flows of your marketing team

Further resources

• Comprehensive Overview
• Headless eCommerce Guide
• Future of CMS and eCommerce
• Headless vs Hybrid Platform Classification
• Headless CMS Fundamentals
• eCommerce: Headless vs Traditional Comparison
• Headless CMS Benefits and Use Cases

By adopting a headless platform, organizations gain the flexibility to adapt quickly to changing digital requirements while maintaining robust content management capabilities. The initial investment in restructuring your content architecture pays dividends through improved development efficiency, better performance, and enhanced security. 

Whether you're a developer seeking technical flexibility, a content manager looking for better workflows, or a business leader focused on digital transformation, headless platforms offer compelling benefits that can drive your organization forward.

Read this next: Headless CMS vs Decoupled CMS: The Ultimate Guide

Unlike a traditional CMS/eCommerce, which combines content management and front-end delivery, a headless platform has a flexible front-end system to determine how the content is created and presented to the end user. It’s front-end agnostic, meaning that your content is created raw and can be published anywhere, through any framework, thanks to built-in APIs.

Coredna is not only a headless platform but also a hybrid headless Platform. We recognized that Marketers still need the flexibility of an easy to use administration, so we created a fully functioning DXP administration panel that allows the marketer to have a dashboard and the ability to manage multiple websites. With the Headless features of the Core dna DXP you can also create a customized publishing platform, this can be useful if you want to simplify administration functions or create a custom user experience.

Learn more about headless content management.