Technical Day Two of Sitecore SUGCON India 2023

Details and Insights into Day two of Sitecore SUGCON India 2023. Here are the notes about the various sessions that I attended and one presented that day.

Dear All,

I hope you got a chance to read my Day 1 of Sitecore SUGCON India 2023 Article? If not, don’t worry, I have linked it here: https://blog.varunvns.in/index.php/2023/09/02/amazing-day-one-of-sitecore-sugcon-india-2023/

Day 2 as well, started at 8 AM, with Breakfast and Networking.

But today, it was mainly the technical people. There were some business, strategy and marketing folks on Day 1, but Day 2, more than 95% were developers and tech people. And so were the sessions!

Here are the sessions which I attended and notes which hopefully might help you.

Build for XM Cloud according to the Architect of XM Cloud – Andy Cohen

Andy – Technically a great guy, as an Architect of XM Cloud, delivered the session. Not only did he share the details of what is XM Cloud and what it should be considered or used for, but also what it is not and should not be considered for. The Do’s and Don’ts were quite apt! These make it to the list of Best Practices while working on Sitecore XM Cloud. This was not just a great overview for those who are starting off on XM Cloud, but very informational for those who already have hands-on experience on it.

The best part, of the session, was that he had kept a time for the audience to ask the questions, which he could answer. There were very STRONG questions thrown at him, and he answered them honestly! For some, he didn’t have the answer at that moment and he said so. But he said those pointers were insightful and will help make XM Cloud better.

What more do you want than making the product we work on better than it is today?

How to use React based External Components in Content hub 4.2.x – Gautam Bulchandani and Tushar Panchal

If you are a Developer on Content Hub, and if you missed either the SUGCON or this Session, I would recommend you to watchout for this video! A great session, with a nice demo of React Components with Content Hub, this session delivered to its promise! I was unable to attend it fully, as I was also interested in the session going on at the same time in the adjacent room – for GraphQL. So I moved to that session in the middle.

Exploring the Experience Edge GraphQL Schema – Alistair Deneys

Although I missed the initial part of it, there were a number of demos during the whole session. Well, how could I miss the session from this Sitecore Veteran? 🙂 And I felt the way the session was progressing, probably I would have missed the initial Basics part of it. I joined in when we was showing things on Experience Edge.

One of the highlights of the session, included how the Documentation of GraphQL is written, which can be utilized while creating and firing your queries. A lot of times, we simply jump into doing things, but understanding it on the go makes it so much sense!

I met a few who didn’t know, and hence I am mentioning it here, that GraphQL has many applications not just with XM Cloud, but also with Content Hub and Content Hub ONE. When we have Experience Edge, we have GraphQL and we can do a number of things with it.

This was a great ice breaking session, to some of my colleagues who were looking at GraphQL in action for the first time. Well, Alistair has that ability, to make complex things look so easy!

He also showed how to utilize the power of Sitecore Experience Edge using PowerShell Scripts and .Net Core C# Applications!

FeaaS and Furious – XM Cloud Component, A true composable offering – Daivagna Nanavati and Akshay Barve

The Session was an Eye Opener! The XM Cloud – Low-Code-NO-Code Approach, where the marketers of today can become the developers of tomorrow. Although the piece of product is not matured, based on the insights and demos from Daivagna and Akshay, the direction in which Sitecore’s vision is, is so clear.

Even with limited set of features in the Front-end-as-a-Service Components of XM Cloud, it was so seamless to create a page and get it live in minutes. Simple Drag and Drop, JSON Components and GraphQL Queries!

The presentation highlighted the seamless integration of themes within XM Cloud, emphasizing their effortless application to components. Notably, XM Cloud Components stand out due to their creation in Azure Blob, enabling independence in requests and rendering as separate HTML. This architecture guarantees rapid load times, ensuring a smooth user experience.

Integration of Generative AI within Sitecore: Enhancing Digital Experiences and Content Creation – Khushboo Sorthiya and Priyanka Gulia

The session presented a great use case, of integrating ChatGPT 4.0 with Sitecore XM Cloud, using Sitecore Connect, and utilizing the power of AI in Content Creation process. The initial concept clearance of AI was very helpful for attendees like me, who have still not stepped into the world of learning AI. Well soon enough. 🙂 But, that knowledge, proved to be a great stepping stone, while understanding how we can think about implementing AI in various other applications. This session was just an intro into how it can be done using Sitecore’s Composable Architecture and Ecosystem, and it opens a world of possibilities for us!

Providing Connected Experiences using Sitecore XM Cloud, CDP & Personalize in a Headless Application – Chirag Khanna and Varun Shringarpure

Well, I didn’t attend this session, because I presented it along with my co-speaker Chirag. 🙂 We will talk about this in my next post.

Closing Ceremony

A Nice and Interactive Round Table with the Sitecore Experts on the Stage!

The part that struck most of us was, Dharmesh Harji, was asking exactly the questions that we had as an audience, and hence I felt the audience connected so well during this session.

Andy admitted to have been asked some of the toughest questions during his session, but also was very happy with the interactions and feedback with the development community in India.

Peter, who loves coming to India, on a few occasions answered some of the questions so thoroughly, that others on the stage just had to say “I Concur”