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I’m a big believer in data-driven decisions, but the reality is sometimes we’re less data-driven than we’d like. Other powerful factors can drive decisions. Like going with what you know vs. what the data tells you. When choosing our content management system (CMS), should we go with the known or the harder path?

We chose the harder path.

Resurface is an API-first company, changing the way APIs are monitored and optimized. So, it stands to reason that we’d make all decisions based on that mantra. But when it came to our website, we were faced with a decision on how it’s architected. WordPress was the easy choice, it’s well-known, reasonably priced to run, and offers a plethora of plug-ins and available skillsets.

But we wouldn’t be able to run Resurface on our site. And, it’s not API-first technology.

So, back to data-driven. I created a spreadsheet to weigh the varying website alternatives by different factors. Admittedly, the weighting was subjective, highlighting what we deemed critical, and what was nice-to-have. Here’s the list (we did not include what we considered table stakes):
 

![headless-table.png](https://res.cloudinary.com/dgk9bfuhq/image/upload/v1604458599/headless_table_bae4e663d3.png)


The ensuing discussion was powerful, as it really led us to evaluate all facets, and recognize the tradeoffs with each. In the end, headless won, swayed by API-first and the ability to leverage our own software. Frankly, I couldn’t fathom explaining to our users why we weren’t using our own tech. Even if it meant we were boldly going into a new world.

We were now on our own for discovery and some of the required integrations. The easy answer would have been to follow what we knew, the paved path. But that would have been in opposition to our prime directive.

We found a great partner in  <a href="https://www.webriq.com/">**WebriQ**</a>, who worked closely with our own React developer to make it all happen. Oh, and I forgot one small detail: We needed the new site revamped and live in just a few weeks to align with our planned funding announcement.

Go time.

We had our copy ready, a few ideas, and a realistic expectation of what was – and wasn’t – in scope. <a href="https://www.webriq.com/">**WebriQ**</a> to the rescue with fast response times, and an easy way to interact via a dedicated Slack channel and direct task visibility in Zoho. We iterated and partnered throughout. A dream arrangement for on-the-fly decisions and reviews that surfaced more ideas and issues.

The night before our announcement, we pushed live (owning our DNS). Now we have a fast, agile website that we can quickly evolve to take advantage of headless – publish anywhere, personalize and truly run API-first.

So, yes to headless. Stay true to what’s important, and do not fear the unknown. (And if you have tips and tricks running headless, we’re all ears. Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

I’m a big believer in data-driven decisions, but the reality is sometimes we’re less data-driven than we’d like. Other powerful factors can drive decisions. Like going with what you know vs. what the data tells you. When choosing our content management system (CMS), should we go with the known or the harder path?
We chose the harder path.
Resurface is an API-first company, changing the way APIs are monitored and optimized. So, it stands to reason that we’d make all decisions based on that mantra. But when it came to our website, we were faced with a decision on how it’s architected. WordPress was the easy choice, it’s well-known, reasonably priced to run, and offers a plethora of plug-ins and available skillsets.
But we wouldn’t be able to run Resurface on our site. And, it’s not API-first technology.
So, back to data-driven. I created a spreadsheet to weigh the varying website alternatives by different factors. Admittedly, the weighting was subjective, highlighting what we deemed critical, and what was nice-to-have. Here’s the list (we did not include what we considered table stakes):
 
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dgk9bfuhq/image/upload/v1604458599/headless_table_bae4e663d3.png" alt="headless-table.png">
The ensuing discussion was powerful, as it really led us to evaluate all facets, and recognize the tradeoffs with each. In the end, headless won, swayed by API-first and the ability to leverage our own software. Frankly, I couldn’t fathom explaining to our users why we weren’t using our own tech. Even if it meant we were boldly going into a new world.
We were now on our own for discovery and some of the required integrations. The easy answer would have been to follow what we knew, the paved path. But that would have been in opposition to our prime directive.
We found a great partner in  <a href="https://www.webriq.com/">WebriQ</a>, who worked closely with our own React developer to make it all happen. Oh, and I forgot one small detail: We needed the new site revamped and live in just a few weeks to align with our planned funding announcement.
Go time.
We had our copy ready, a few ideas, and a realistic expectation of what was – and wasn’t – in scope. <a href="https://www.webriq.com/">WebriQ</a> to the rescue with fast response times, and an easy way to interact via a dedicated Slack channel and direct task visibility in Zoho. We iterated and partnered throughout. A dream arrangement for on-the-fly decisions and reviews that surfaced more ideas and issues.
The night before our announcement, we pushed live (owning our DNS). Now we have a fast, agile website that we can quickly evolve to take advantage of headless – publish anywhere, personalize and truly run API-first.
So, yes to headless. Stay true to what’s important, and do not fear the unknown. (And if you have tips and tricks running headless, we’re all ears. Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

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