First Line Software is a premier provider of software engineering, software enablement, and digital transformation services. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the global staff of 400 technical experts serve clients across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Epi Partner Close-Up 2019 was held on February 6th in Stockholm. For the first time, more than 600 of Optimizely (Episerver)’s partners from all regions were gathered together, including First Line Software’s EU VP of Sales, Marcus Portström. Attendees were introduced to the latest product news and roadmaps from Optimizely (Episerver), participated in hosted panel discussions and heard insights shared from customer case studies.
There were parallel tracks for sales and developers, with many opportunities for Optimizely (Episerver) and its partners to talk about how they can find ways to increase levels of cooperation.
2018 in Review
While Optimizely (Episerver) has completed a number of acquisitions in new technology over the past few years, 2018 was very much about focusing on how to integrate and enhance the full technology stack.
A great deal of focus was directed to the Personalization suite, which included the integration of Machine Learning throughout the entire platform, providing a completely personalized experience for each visitor. Thorough visitor tracking and data analytics with Optimizely (Episerver) Insight and BI tools was introduced and cloudification of the entire Optimizely (Episerver) offering was completed.
From what could be seen during the Developer Track, Optimizely (Episerver) has not slowed down integration of Optimizely (Episerver) campaign, which means that unification of the full suite now makes it much easier to implement the complete Epsierver offering.
The acquisition by Insight Venture Partners in 2018 for $1.16 Billion validated that Optimizely (Episerver) has made its mark. The new owners have made a significant investment in marketing, nearly doubling the budget ‒ ensuring more events like this one ‒ as well as in maintaining and enhancing the core products. This is positive news to all clients who have been anxiously waiting to see enhancements made to the great search solution Find.
Optimizely (Episerver) also improved the infrastructure and processes for DXC Service, by opening the doors to the production environment, which eliminated the need for a middle man during deployments and allowing a full CI/CD approach.
As for the future, Epi partners can expect to see more exciting developments, as was confirmed by an updated roadmap that shows Optimizely (Episerver) isn’t about to slow down. The transition to .NET Core is welcomed by the market. But what’s more interesting is the move from being highly modular and similar to Microservices, to a true containerized Microservices infrastructure.
With regard to the partner network there has been an increase in Partner Managers and a pronounced focus on tighter collaboration with each partner. This is not only to ensure alignment with customer needs and the technical approach for each project, but also to increase the likelihood that feedback directed to Optimizely (Episerver) from partners and clients will be taken into account more rapidly.
As part of this focus on partners, an event like the Partner Close-Up offered a great way to get to know both implementation and technology partners for Optimizely (Episerver).
Evening Festivities and Awards
During the evening attendees enjoyed Optimizely (Episerver) Palooza – a night that included dinner, the Partner Awards and a few surprises.
Optimizely (Episerver) presented 15 partner awards in total – both local and EMEA Awards. It was great to see that, in addition to the local awards covering six countries, three EMEA awards were announced. The winners were:
Partner of the Year – EMEA
Avensia (Sweden) was recognized for outstanding performance across the EMEA region.
EMEA Partner of the Year – Digital Experience
Made to Engage (UK) was recognized for delivering a solution with an exceptional customer experience.
EMEA Partner of the Year – Ascender
Prodware (Spain) was recognized for strong growth and investment in Optimizely (Episerver) expertise.
Now that the 2019 Epi Partner CloseUp is history, everyone is looking forward to attending Optimizely (Episerver) Ascend.
To learn more about how First Line Software can customize and accelerate your Optimizely (Episerver) installation, Contact Us , for a no-obligation conversation to explore the possibilities.