Tracking the Pulse of Enterprise WordPress 

Since its launch in 2003, WordPress has evolved from a popular blogging tool to a premier Content Management System (CMS) used by businesses of all sizes. 

While WordPress adoption has surged across various verticals (the CMS now powers 43% of the web), its application among global enterprises has been particularly noteworthy as these organizations find new and innovative ways to reap its benefits.

To explore these unfolding trends more deeply, WP Engine Agency Partner Big Bite, a leading enterprise WordPress agency, is conducting a survey to gather insights for its upcoming State of Enterprise WordPress 2023 report.

You can take the survey here if you’re an enterprise WordPress user. 

The survey explores WordPress adoption and usage across large organizations, covering aspects such as budgets, publishing processes, and custom functionality. 

The report promises to provide a thorough understanding of both the advantages and challenges of using WordPress from the perspective of its extensive global brand community, influencing the future of WordPress in enterprise settings. 

To learn more about the survey and the current state of WordPress use in the enterprise, we sat down with Big Bite CEO Iain McPherson for a closer look at what his team hopes to find. 

Hi Iain, before we dive in, tell us a little more about Big Bite, what you specialize in, and why enterprise is a focus for your team.

Set up in 2010, Big Bite is a UK-based enterprise WordPress agency that specializes in working with multi-faceted enterprise organizations that have lots of contributors, lots of content, and lots of challenges.

By building scalable digital solutions and plugins exclusively on WordPress, we help organizations across the globe achieve their publishing goals, including media outlets and high-profile brands such as The Times, New York Post, and Amnesty International.

For us, focusing on enterprise gives us the opportunity to really push the boundaries of the platform, as our clients often task us with developing new and innovative functionality. Creating cutting-edge plugins and features has always been a high priority for us, which is why we were the first agency in the world to build an enterprise-level project using Gutenberg.

How have you seen enterprise needs and demands change? 

Many of the fundamental needs of large-scale organizations are mostly the same as when we first

started out, however, the tech continues to evolve, so how we meet those requirements has shifted significantly, particularly over the last few years. 

For example, many businesses want a publishing solution that can cut production times, and we’ve often achieved that by creating custom templates and streamlined workflows, whereas now we’d also look to leverage the efficiency of AI.

How does an agency like Big Bite track evolving enterprise needs and demands? 

Actively listening to the enterprises we work with is a major part of what we do, and that keeps us on top of changing needs and helps us to identify requirements early on. 

For almost every project we deliver, we also carry out discovery sessions with brands to gather authentic insights into how end-users create content, collaborate across departments, and actually interact with their CMS on a day-to-day basis. 

That process alone gives us a great deal of data, which then informs development decisions as well as longer-term roadmaps. However, by introducing the State of WordPress survey, we’re looking to expand that knowledge much further and share our findings with the wider industry.

Why is it important for agencies to keep their finger on the pulse of enterprise needs, demands, and trends? 

Knowing your customer and understanding their needs, wants, and motivations is crucial for any business in any sector, but it’s particularly important when working with world-class brands.

Enterprises tend to be market leaders, which means they’re not just following trends, they’re setting benchmarks, so regardless of which CMS platform they choose, they need to partner with an agency that has the knowledge and expertise to keep them at the forefront of their industry.

Are there any additional points about the survey that readers should know about? 

While the survey will predominantly provide insights into how enterprises are utilizing WordPress, we hope the resulting report will also showcase the platform’s value to other major brands, highlighting its significant evolution, flexibility, and extensibility.

Thank you, Iain!

The State of Enterprise WordPress 

If you’re an enterprise WordPress user, we encourage you to join the State of Enterprise WordPress 2023 survey and help shape the future of WordPress for enterprises. 

If you’d like to learn more about WP Engine’s enterprise WordPress hosting solutions, trusted by the world’s top agencies and Fortune 500 companies, visit wpengine.com.