Sitecore Experience Platform 10.4 Official Release

Sitecore 10.4 brings significant changes in personalization, a key feature of modern digital experience platforms. This update enhances the ability to customize visitor data tracking and targeting, empowering marketers to craft highly personalized experiences based on user behavior, preferences, and demographics, all without the need for developer involvement.

Performance Improvements

One of the traditional challenges in fully implementing Sitecore XP with xDB-based personalization has been performance. Version 10.4 addresses this by introducing several performance enhancements, ensuring that personalization scales efficiently with your digital demands.

Campaign Triggering Based on Goals

The new capability to trigger campaigns based on specific goals simplifies the process of displaying targeted content when certain pages are visited. This feature makes it easier for marketers to engage users with relevant content at the right moment in their journey.

Enhanced Marketing User Experience

Sitecore 10.4 improves the marketing user experience by streamlining the process of assigning marketing definitions to multiple content items. This enhancement boosts usability and efficiency, making it simpler than ever to establish appropriate content across various touchpoints.

New Codeless Schema Extension Module

The introduction of the Codeless Schema Extension allows business users to extend the xConnect schema without any coding. This feature empowers marketers to tailor data structures to their specific needs, enhancing the personalization capabilities of their marketing efforts.

Open-Source Data Extraction Module

A new open-source module has been added to extract data from xDB, enabling feeds into analytics tools. With prebuilt templates to create reports in Power BI, this feature allows for the utilization of data well beyond the Sitecore context, providing deeper insights and supporting data-driven decision-making.

AgencyQ has specialized in providing robust Sitecore solutions to customers that operate in high compliance environments.  We are excited to see this release introduce a range of security enhancements designed to fortify the platform against vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with the latest standards. These improvements reflect Sitecore's commitment to providing a secure and reliable platform for digital experience management.

Enhanced Security Hardening

Sitecore 10.4 has undergone extensive security hardening across all SXP components to decrease risks associated with vulnerabilities. This ensures that the platform remains secure against emerging security threats, providing peace of mind for enterprises concerned about digital security.

Updated Third-Party Compatibility

Keeping pace with the latest technology platform revisions, Sitecore 10.4 now fully supports SQL Server 2022 and the latest Azure Kubernetes Service. This update not only enhances the platform's stability and performance but also ensures the ability to deploy future-proof solutions in compliance with modern IT standards.

Updated JavaScript Libraries

To further secure the platform, Sitecore 10.4 includes updates to all JavaScript libraries used within the XP components. These updates address potential security vulnerabilities in older versions and ensure smoother, safer user interactions across the Sitecore experience.

New Sitecore Client Content Reader Role

A new user role, the Sitecore Client Content Reader, has been added, granting read-only access to items in the content editor and media library. This role enhances security by limiting write access while still allowing broad visibility, ideal for roles requiring oversight without direct content modification capabilities.

Accessibility Enhancements

In line with global accessibility standards, Sitecore 10.4 has improved features to support content authors with visual impairments. Enhancements include:

• Navigation and Interactions: Authors can navigate the ribbon, manage items (create, rename, move, delete), and expand or select items in the content tree using keyboard actions alone.
• Assistive Technology Compatibility: The platform now supports third-party assistive technologies that can read aloud UI elements, making it easier for those with limited vision to interact with the system.

These accessibility improvements not only comply with legal requirements like the ADA but also ensure that all users can efficiently manage and produce content, regardless of their physical abilities.

There is no doubt that the industry as a whole, and Sitecore in specific, is migrating to a cloud-native SaaS model.  As this model matures there is near-universal appeal in migrating to a platform version that reduces operating costs while simultaneously increasing performance and reliability.  However, making the transition has been a struggle for much of the Sitecore community.  This challenge is what prompted AgencyQ to create our AI supported code conversion tools and with the latest release of Sitecore there are now available toolsets for migrating data as well.

XM to XM Cloud Migration Tool

This release introduces the XM to XM Cloud Migration Tool. This tool is designed to facilitate the migration of content, media, and user profiles from existing XM instances to the XM Cloud environment. By simplifying the backend migration process, this tool allows teams to focus their efforts on developing new front-end sites without the effort typically associated with such migrations.

xDB to CDP Migration Tool

To further support the integration of Sitecore environments with cloud-based services, there is a new xDB to CDP Migration Tool. This tool enables the transfer of site visitor contact facets to Sitecore's Customer Data Platform (CDP) and Personalize products. Additionally, it facilitates the integration of this data with external systems through Sitecore Connect. The data captured in these tools is often some of the most valuable insights into visitor behavior and intent. Being able to migrate those insights to modern platforms with robust, scalable, and flexible data architectures is a game changer. 

Enhancing SaaS Compatibility

This update significantly enhances the ability of Sitecore's platform to interwork with new SaaS products across Sitecore's portfolio and the broader community ecosystem. This flexibility ensures that teams can innovate at their own pace, adopting new cloud-based technologies while maintaining their existing Sitecore deployments both in the short and long term.  This also makes it easier to adopt roadmaps that enable a piece-by-piece migration based on ROI calculations rather than having to make a big jump, and investment, all at once.

No Sitecore release would be complete without significant enhancements to the development experience. Sitecore 10.4 brings numerous improvements that touch on everything from the default configurations of the ASP.NET environment to simplified API methods. Together with the robust integration features and self-service enhancements for personalization, these updates significantly improve the quality of life for the Sitecore developer community, making it easier and more efficient to deliver high-quality digital experiences.

Sitecore 10.4 is a significant evolution of the digital experience platform, most importantly underscoring Sitecore's commitment to its foundational XP platform while paving the way for innovative hybrid and full SaaS solutions. This release not only represents over two decades of Sitecore's leadership in content management but also showcases over 200 customer-driven enhancements that cater to both marketers and developers. 

With substantial upgrades in personalization capabilities, security measures, and cloud integrations, this release ensures that organizations can deliver personalized, secure, and efficient digital experiences. As digital experience technology continues to evolve, Sitecore equips organizations with the tools to adapt swiftly and effectively, maintaining its position as a cornerstone for future-proof digital strategies.