Magnolia CMS
Magnolia CMS Enables Rapid Innovation for j2 Global
j2 Global is an ecommerce pioneer. For more than ten years, the company has used the internet to sign up customers for its cloud-based communication services. Now with dozens of brands and millions of customers around the world, the company must continuously optimize of its sales and signup pages to drive maximum performance. j2 Global simplified this process with Magnolia CMS, driving additional innovation and saving time and money.
About j2 Global
Founded in 1995, j2 Global provides cloud-based, value-added messaging and communications services to individuals and businesses around the world. The company’s brands include eFax®, Onebox®, eVoice®, Campaigner®, FuseMail®, and KeepItSafe™. j2 Global’s websites appear in numerous languages, including Dutch, French, German, Spanish, English and more. The company’s range of cloud-based services for business can be found at www.j2.com.
Magnolia CMS helps us to separate backend functionality from front-end experience, enabling us to release new functionality faster with less cost. The faster and more efficiently we can optimize our site content, the better we can run our business.
Vince Niedzielski, Vice President of Engineering, j2 Global.
Statistics
| Client | j2 Global Communications, Inc |
| Infrastructure | 2 production servers, integrates closely with J2EE applications via JavaScript, APIs and standards. |
| Number of sites using Magnolia CMS | 6, and used for internal email system as well |
| Number of users | Millions customers/users |
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The Problem: Supporting an Increasing Rate of Content Changes
Prior to adopting the Magnolia CMS platform, j2 Global's branded web applications were built using a traditional JSP-centric J2EE archive. Content and dynamic backend functionality were combined into a single release, and relied upon the traditional software development life cycle. In order to drive incremental innovation and growth within its ecommerce and marketing programs, the company’s business teams were striving for faster and faster turnaround times for site tests and optimizations.
The Solution: Implementing Magnolia CMS
The solution for j2 Global was to use a CMS system to separate content management from functionality. j2 Global needed a CMS that could fit well into its J2EE infrastructure; one that wouldn't lock it into a specific solution. The company chose Magnolia CMS. An important factor in the decision was Magnolia’s open source model. j2 Global's engineers were able to download the application and build a prototype without any commitments. This allowed the team to rapidly develop a prototype and choose a CMS in less than 30 days.
We had already used Jackrabbit repositories, and we utilize Open Source whenever possible, so we were relieved to discover Magnolia while searching for a CMS.
Vince Niedzielski, Vice President of Engineering, j2 Global.
The Results: Dramatically Increased Conversion of Visitors to Paying Users
- Zoom
- eFax, a j2 Global service
Marketing benefits
As a result of implementing Magnolia CMS, j2 Global's marketing staff is able to more rapidly test and optimize web-based campaigns. Because of the ease of extending Magnolia CMS, j2 Global can more easily implement functionality, including A/B testing, pixel tracking, campaign-based content management, and scalable localization.
j2 Global's websites also run faster, as the company’s web developers were able to migrate the JavaScript they were using to gather marketing data into modules that run on Magnolia CMS's host. j2 Global's websites sped up significantly, as they were able to migrate the JavaScript they were using to gather marketing data into modules that run on Magnolia CMS's host.
Engineering benefits
Now that the backend functionality is separated from the content and presentation, engineering and QA for each release is faster, more focused and cheaper. In addition, much of the functionality has been moving to JavaScript within the Magnolia CMS, allowing for updates and bug fixes in between releases.
Conclusion: Magnolia CMS Integrates Well with Large Scale Internet-based Services
With Magnolia CMS, j2 Global is able to focus engineering and QA on building new functionality with new value; all the while improving performance and lowering costs. At the same time, marketing has the tools it needs to optimize campaigns at a rapid pace.