When it comes to managing an Optimizely DXP site, many companies face a pivotal choice: train their internal teams or outsource to external agencies or contractors. At first glance, outsourcing can seem faster, easier, and even cheaper. But if you’re playing the long game — and you should be when it comes to your digital experience — Optimizely training and enablement wins every time.

Here’s why internal training and enablement deliver better value than outsourcing, especially when it comes to your Optimizely investment.

1. You Build Long-Term Knowledge (That Doesn’t Walk Away)

When you outsource work, you’re essentially renting knowledge. Once the contract ends, so does the expertise. By contrast, investing in your internal team means you own the knowledge. Trained employees stay connected to your brand, your goals and your specific Optimizely configuration. They build a nuanced understanding that external teams will never fully grasp.

An empowered internal team becomes institutional memory, a priceless asset you won’t find on an invoice.

2. It’s More Cost-Effective Over Time

Outsourcing agencies typically charge premium rates, and those rates compound as your needs grow. Every new campaign, feature enhancement, or support request becomes another billable line item.

Training your team once (and updating their skills periodically) means you pay once but benefit indefinitely. Enablement programs — like ours — are designed to give your team the skills to solve problems independently, dramatically reducing your ongoing operational costs.

3. Faster Turnaround and Greater Agility

Outsourcing often comes with built-in delays: onboarding, briefings, scheduling, and approval layers can slow progress to a crawl.

When your in-house team is trained on Optimizely DXP, they can pivot fast, fix issues immediately, and launch updates on their own timeline. No waiting for a vendor’s project queue. No lag time. Just action.

4. Customization That Actually Fits You

External partners usually deliver “best practices”, which often means cookie-cutter solutions that may or may not suit your unique business model.

An internally enabled team, however, can customize your Optimizely platform around your real-world needs, business goals, and brand identity. They know what you need because they live it every day.

The result? Tighter alignment, better UX, and greater ROI.

5. Stronger Cross-Functional Collaboration

A team that understands both the technical side (Optimizely DXP) and the business side (your goals) becomes a powerful connector across departments. Marketing, IT, Sales, and Customer Experience teams can collaborate faster and smarter when there’s a shared language and knowledge base internally.

Outsourced teams often operate in silos. Enabled teams break those barriers down.

6. Future-Proofing Your Organization

The pace of change in digital experience is only accelerating. Companies that rely heavily on outsourcing risk being perpetually behind, always dependent, always reactive.

When you invest in enablement, you invest in resilience. You create a team that can adapt, innovate, and grow with the platform as it evolves.

Training today isn’t just solving today’s problems. It’s building tomorrow’s leaders.

Empower Your Team. Empower Your Future.

At XLNC, we believe that enablement is the ultimate ROI strategy. Our Optimizely DXP training programs are built to turn your internal teams into confident, capable experts; so you can take control of your platform, your timelines, and your future.

If you’re ready to stop renting expertise and start owning your digital success, let’s talk.