Kentico Xperience with an MVP - Jake Kula

We sat down with our very own Jake Kula, DXP Lead at Revium, to discuss the recent announcement from Kentico that he had been appointed as one of only two Kentico Xperience MVPs in Australia. We also thought it would be a great opportunity to get his perspective on what he sees in store for Kentico over the coming years.

Kentico’s Xperience MVP community comprises a select group of dedicated technical professionals, with just ten individuals across the globe holding the accreditation. Earlier this year, Jake was identified as an MVP, or expert and ambassador if you will, for Kentico Xperience - a digital experience platform recognised in 2021 by Gartner in the Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms.

At Revium we are really proud of Jake’s achievement, and as he explains he has had to work hard to get there, “to become an MVP, it’s about what we do to share information on the product, promote the Kentico brand and help the community as well. Over the course of the last two or more years I’ve been writing articles, posting a lot of information on social channels and directly helping the community by answering questions and queries – in effect acting as a go to expert on Kentico Xperience. While all these things that count towards being an eligible MVP, you also need to be passionate about, and believe in, the product and brand - which I very much do”.

There are extensive criteria that Kentico takes into consideration in order to be selected for the MVP award. Outside of the community support and article contributions Jake touched on, requirements include being a certified developer for the current version of Kentico, a highly skilled problem solver, attend industry events, and an active user of social media. The outcome of his considerable efforts to achieve this status is a range of benefits for Jake, as well as Revium and our clients.

“For myself, Revium and our clients, being an MVP means I’m able to ensure we are always following best practices, which is extremely important to ensure quality outcomes. We’ve completed a lot of rescue projects where the previous agency hasn’t followed best practice, and we have essentially had to fix and refactor things to ensure the solution is stable and everything works as it should. I've also gained deeper knowledge about the product that helps influence how we go about projects, for example, by having earlier knowledge about potential changes to the product, I can guide clients in choosing the most appropriate technology which will provide them with long term benefits. Being an MVP also gives us a voice and influence with the Kentico product development team, who regularly share ideas and innovations with us and genuinely seek our opinions and suggestions.”

The support Kentico provides is also a key reason Jake is a so passionate about promoting Kentico Xperience. Alongside the support MVPs provide to the community, the Kentico support team are on deck 24/7.

“Regularly I will email the support team and ask them for guidance on a challenging problem or advice on a custom web development piece. Kentico commits to responding within 24 hours, but in practice it is usually a lot sooner. As an MVP, I can also reach out to other MVPs who are experts and get additional expert support from them if we ever need it”.

Kentico Xperience is an established platform that has been around for 15 years and is currently on version 13 of its platform, having matured from an all-in-one CMS into a powerful enterprise-level DXP. It begs the question, what else is in store for Kentico? And what makes them stand out from the other platforms available?

Jake explained, “The Kentico Xperience platform is constantly evolving. They’re continually improving their set of features, functionality and frameworks through regular, seamless updates and upgrades which is really exciting. A large part of the evolution is driven by customer feedback, the ever-evolving digital landscape, and collaborative discussions with the MVP team”.

To read further Kentico content from Jake, check out his blog on Medium, and read through his three-part guide to getting started with Kentico Xperience.