Episerver Community News & Articles

EPiServer (news, site) is on the way to boost its existing Web CMS and Relate+ community platform product offerings with an eCommerce integration via a partnership with Mediachase. The new “trifecta” is aimed at companies with online presence in the retail and B2B verticals.

The eCommerce integration is based on Mediachase’s eCommerce Framework (ECF), which is built in ASP.NET and complements EPiServer’s technology stack. Being able to tap into the ECF .NET API should allow EPiServer customers and developers to build online stores that also utilize integrated CMS and community features.

Mediachase calls the ECF the “No. 1 Alternative to Microsoft Commerce Server” and touts its “adaptable architecture and extensibility model.” Some of the capabilities of the ECF include catalog management, order management, customer management, merchandising and promotions.

Mediachase sells ECF under a variety of licensing models from source code to production deployment. The EPiServer deal seems to fall under the “OEM and Other Licensing” type.

One of previous integrations of ECF with a Web CMS was with Sitecore CMS, but that appears to be a single case for now. Open source DotNetNuke CMS is also in the mix of third-party plug-in/add-on ecosystem. On the community side, Mediachase also integrates with Telligent Community Server.

The EPiServer integrated eCommerce platform is expected in 1H 2010. Until then, the two products are available separately.

More often than not web content management vendors are trying to offer ways to manage social media, user-generated content and web 2.0 technologies in the context of their CMS's.

EPiServer's (news, site) Relate+ is built on top of their CMS 5 web content management system and provides a common framework for incorporating social media features, community building and e-mail marketing into websites.

The product was released just in time before the upcoming grand opening of the U.S. office.