Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Services

How does Gartner define the Digital Experience Services market in 2024?

Gartner defines digital experience (DX) services as those services that design, deliver and optimize digital experiences across customer, employee and citizen journeys using technology solutions. The services involve design, solution implementation, content management services, marketing services and ongoing operations. The digital experience solution is delivered through a combination of technologies and services working together to deliver the desired experience outcomes. Digital experience services are focused on creating the optimal user experience, to better sell to, market to, inform and manage the target user (customer, partner, citizen or employee). The services include advisory on what the experience should be, implementation services to create the experience, and operational services to evolve and manage the ongoing experience. These services are not just technical services, but also include creative, content and marketing operations, historically served by digital marketing agencies but now offered by a range of providers, including consulting firms, systems integrators (SIs) and agencies.

Key Facts for Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Services in 2024

Publication Date: 26 November 2024

Document ID: G00809003

Coverage: Global

Authors: Brett Sparks, Sundar Viswanathan, and 2 more

Core Purpose: Digital experience services providers use technology solutions to design, build and optimize digital experiences. This Magic Quadrant evaluates 15 providers in the digital experience services market that compete to meet organizations' advisory, implementation and operational needs.

How was the Digital Experience Services market evolved in 2024?

15 digital experience service providers evaluated

Collective revenue of $62 billion in 2023 from DX services

Overall revenue of $350 billion across all 15 providers

Average of 26% of provider business focused on DX market

Over 500,000 FTEs across the 15 vendors provide DX services

40% of FTEs engaged in technical implementation

27% of FTEs in design, creative and marketing

33% of FTEs in ongoing services supporting martech platforms

Estimated 5% year-over-year growth in DX services revenue

Market convergence between digital agencies, business consultancies and technology systems integrators

What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?

Digital transformation consulting: The provider's ability to understand the client's experience transformation needs and priorities, and to articulate their desired experience and business outcomes. Some of the core capabilities include expertise in: design; brand, product and services strategy; technology roadmap creation; and platform/product selection (if able to be technology-independent).

Technology platform implementation: The provider's ability to compose a digital experience solution using best-of-breed platforms and products, and/or build integrations or custom solutions.

Experience evolution: The provider's ability to deliver evolution and support services that not only keep the overall digital experience solution (technology and creative and marketing services) current, but also keep pace with changing business demand. In digital experience, the implementation never ends.

Content creation and management expertise: The provider's ability to support clients with creation and management of digital content.

Marketing execution expertise: The provider's ability to run marketing operations and execute marketing campaigns.

What are the common features of top products in the Digital Experience Services space?

Ecosystem orchestration: The service provider's ability to engage an ecosystem of software/platform vendors and other service providers. This enables the provider to prioritize their clients' use cases with software and platform vendors, drive co-investments and co-create solutions with other service providers.

AI & generative AI (GenAI) capabilities: The provider's ability to embed AI technologies (including GenAI) as part of a digital experience service. For example, digital experience services could involve realizing AI capabilities offered by the platform, building AI-based extensions and customizations, or leveraging GenAI for content generation and campaign automation.

Business outcome commitment: The service provider's ability to offer business-outcome-based engagement models. In such models, a percentage of the deal revenue is contingent upon achieving the client's business objectives.

Customer insight analytics: The ability of the service provider to adopt a data-driven approach for advisory, design, creative and content, and digital marketing services.

Industry expertise: The provider's ability to understand the client's business issues and operations specific to the client's industry, and to articulate desired business outcomes. An understanding of the client's particular industry is important in ensuring that the content and creative services, as well as the marketing services, are contextual and incorporate industry best practices.

Functional expertise: The ability of the service provider to give advice and guidance related to the marketing, sales and digital commerce functions. It will require deep knowledge of digital experience practices across functional areas in a wide range of industries.

Inclusion Criteria

Vendors must, among other requirements:

A minimum revenue of $500 million for calendar year 2023 from DX services consulting, implementation and ongoing support

Have no more than 75% of its DX services revenue generated from within a single region

Providers must have clients headquartered within at least three of the five major regions: North America, Latin America (LATAM), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Asia/Pacific (APAC)

Have capabilities across at least three of the five DX segments: experience design, experience solution implementation, experience solution operations, creative services and marketing services. One of these segments must be either creative and/or marketing services

Have design and delivery services within at least three of the seven major DX platforms: Adobe, Optimizely, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, Shopify and Sitecore

Ability to Execute — Relative Weighting

Product or Service - High

Overall Viability - Low

Sales Execution/Pricing - Medium

Market Responsiveness/Record - Medium

Marketing Execution - Medium

Customer Experience - High

Operations - High

Completeness of Vision — Relative Weighting

Market Understanding - High

Marketing Strategy - Low

Sales Strategy - Low

Offering (Product) Strategy - High

Business Model - Medium

Vertical/Industry Strategy - Medium

Innovation - High

Geographic Strategy - Medium

FAQs

Q: What does this research cover?

A: This research covers digital experience (DX) services that design, deliver and optimize digital experiences across customer, employee and citizen journeys using technology solutions. The services involve design, solution implementation, content management services, marketing services and ongoing operations. The research evaluates 15 providers across five use cases: experience design, experience solution implementation, experience solution operation and evolution, content and creative services, and marketing services.

Q: Who should use this research?

A: This research should be used by organizations seeking service providers for digital experience initiatives, including: CIOs and IT leaders evaluating implementation and technology partners; CMOs and marketing leaders seeking creative, content and marketing services; digital transformation leaders planning comprehensive DX strategies; procurement teams conducting vendor selection for DX projects; and organizations requiring advisory, implementation and operational support for their digital experience platforms and solutions.

Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?

A: Vendors included in this market must have: (1) Digital transformation consulting capabilities to understand client needs and articulate desired outcomes; (2) Technology platform implementation skills to compose DX solutions using platforms and products; (3) Experience evolution services to keep solutions current and adapt to changing business demands; (4) Content creation and management expertise; and (5) Marketing execution expertise to run marketing operations and campaigns.

Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?

DX services revenue below $500 million for calendar year 2023
More than 75% of DX services revenue from a single region
Presence in fewer than three of five major global regions
Capabilities in fewer than three of five DX segments (with at least one being creative or marketing)
Design and delivery services in fewer than three of seven major DX platforms

Q: What differentiates Ability to Execute vs. Completeness of Vision?

A: Ability to Execute focuses on current performance and delivery capabilities, including the quality of products/services offered, customer experience, operational efficiency, sales effectiveness, and market responsiveness. It measures how well vendors are executing today. Completeness of Vision evaluates forward-looking strategy and innovation, including market understanding, product strategy, innovation investments, business model soundness, and industry/geographic strategies. It measures how well vendors understand where the market is going and their strategic positioning for the future.

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