Cloud7 is gathering opinions of the important names in cloud computing, web hosting, cybersecurity, data center, Linux, and other industries for 2022 in the Cloud7 Expert Series. Alongside their evaluations of 2022, they will share their expectations for the next year, 2023.
Michal Bignitz serves as General Manager and Head of Partners at Wix. Since joining Wix over nine years ago, Bignitz has headed Wix Product Management, Wix International Growth, responsible for the company’s growth in all non-US markets, the Wix App Market – Wix’s distribution platform for web apps, as well as other strategic projects in Wix, among them Wix Blog and Wix Events. Prior to joining Wix, she worked as a software developer at several startups and leading companies including Microsoft. Bignitz is experienced in recruiting and managing large-scale teams and leading highly strategic products.
Bringing visions to life
Change is the only constant, and 2022 has proved that yet again with COVID-19 restrictions lifting, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, global supply chain issues, rising inflation, and more.
These economic headwinds impacted almost every industry. While there is still a great deal of uncertainty and volatility in the macro economy, which we expect will continue into 2023, Wix is focused on what is within our control and supporting our global users. What we’re seeing is that website building isn’t going anywhere. In fact, we’re seeing website creation stabilize with a steady incline because there will always be a use for businesses to be online, which has become quite apparent over the past few years. Whether someone is a small business owner, artist, photographer, writer, etc, a website platform can bring visions to life and will continue to do so.
Out-of-the-box solutions for a production-ready environment
The demand for building, maintaining, and growing an online presence remains healthy, and Wix continues to be the platform of choice for millions globally. We believe Wix is becoming the primary platform for every type of online presence. As a company, we are laser-focused on creating great products for all of our users, and our goal is to offer products and services that are simply the best option for any type of user and any type of business. We celebrated many new achievements and accomplishments in 2022, including expanding and improving our eCommerce platform, bringing on new payment partners, releasing new solutions for professionals to build highly-customizable reusable applications and widgets, streamlining website management, and much more. As we close out 2022 and prepare for 2023, we’re excited to build on our progress this year and continue executing our product-driven, user-first strategy. We’ll continue to open and expand the platform to accelerate more powerful digital solutions further.
Many more sites in the world are being built by professionals, and as we look to 2023, the future of the internet is in the hands of designers, developers, and agencies. At Wix, we refer to this group as Partners – those who build websites for others. The types of websites partners are building are much more mature and advanced. Wix Partners shoulders the burden for agencies building attractive websites for their clients, and we’re committed to creating products to support them, and we are focused on building a more robust platform with many solutions. We provide not only out-of-the-box solutions for a production-ready environment, including SEO capabilities and a reliable and secure infrastructure with performance metrics but also professional solutions for advanced users. Additionally, we have a huge success manager team to support our partners, utilizing whatever tool they need, to seamlessly reach their goals.
Expansion is the key goal
Expansion is going to be a big deal in 2023 for the industry. With that word in mind, here are some recommendations that can help guide agencies in the months ahead.
Agencies should prepare for expansions. This can include expanding their clientele due to increased outsourcing in 2023, or companies reducing headcount and restructuring internal resources to expand their methods and offerings to stay competitive in a demanding client landscape. To prepare for this, agencies need to work efficiently, plan ahead and have strong lines of communication with clients to understand each project individually by listening to specific needs and scoping out the digital vision. Examples include creating templates for repeatable projects like design patterns or code components, hosting post-mortems to improve and streamline processes, dedicating time for brainstorming and creative thinking, and ensuring time to complete the work.
Additionally, it’s important to have open discussions about 2023 goals and budgets with clients in order to plan correctly and better understand challenges. Agencies need to be able to set up seamless digital ecosystems with distinctive capabilities, including delivery interfaces, inventory management and the latest developments. Clients will depend on agencies to stay up-to-date with industry changes and provide recommendations to ensure they are shifting in line with current trends.
The digital sphere will continue to expand, and security, SEO, data privacy, the metaverse, and other up-and-coming focus areas will continue to be key topics. It will be important for agencies to maintain up-to-date information in these sectors to ensure their clients are ahead of the curve. With the digital world accelerating, agencies should be prepared for clients asking for a particular service they may not currently offer. 2023 is the year for agencies to expand their offerings and technology used. It’s essential to adopt advanced technologies and embrace the latest trends to stay competitive and offer clients the best services they can.
2023 will be an exciting year; one keyword agencies need to keep in mind as we enter the new year is expansion.