Migrating From Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) to CrafterCMS

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is one of the most well-known digital experience platforms (DXPs). However, despite its popularity, many brands that use AEM also struggle with a ballooning total cost of ownership and a monolithic suite that can seem outdated in the current composable world.

In this blog, we’ll explore the problems with AEM, why customers seek out a platform like CrafterCMS instead, and how to get started with the migration process.  You can also watch our recorded webinar as well.

Problems with AEM

There are a number of challenges with managing AEM that force enterprises to consider other options. 

High Total Cost of Ownership

One of the biggest challenges of using AEM is that it can be an expensive solution to implement and maintain. Organizations that use AEM suffer from a high total cost of ownership, as purchase, development, security, and maintenance costs are higher than most alternatives on the market and can strain resources. 

Outdated Architectural Problems

Enterprises want a modern, lightweight architecture to manage digital experiences. However, while modular, AEM runs on outdated technologies such as OSGi. This makes the platform complex, which can be crushing for organizations. The increased complexity also increases development and deployment costs and consulting fees, which negatively impact the TCO of managing AEM. 

The Need For More Flexible Headless Support

AEM was originally a “headful” solution meant for traditional CMS use cases, and API support was added afterward. However, in the modern world, where an API-first approach is the rule rather than the exception, organizations need a CMS that prioritizes both headfull and headless use cases and offers the same level of feature sophistication.

The Suite vs. Composable Approach

AEM offers plugins to connect the CMS to other martech tools. However, the AEM plugin system is like a walled garden, and the plugins only scratch the surface of composability. Also, AEM is a suite, and this can be an advantage for enterprises that want a single platform and vendor. 

However, it doesn’t align with the idea of composability. Additionally, AEM offers versioning, but it is based on JCR technology, which is over 20 years old and no longer as widely adopted as other solutions. 

No Support For DevContentOps

AEM lacks support for DevContentOps processes, which makes it easier to move between environments. A modern repo and easier control over environments and CI/CD processes. However, the JCR used by AEM doesn’t offer this type of flexibility and requires significant effort and compromises, decreasing productivity in development and deployment cycles. 

Traditional ‘Decoupled’ Architecture

One of the challenges of working with AEM is scaling the architecture. AEM’s delivery tier is dependent on the JCR repository and NoSQL technology. Developers need to scale the application and database tiers to scale AEM. However, authoring and delivery live on the same replicated data layer.

AEM’s traditional ‘decoupled’ architecture is complex because it relies on scaling and connecting database tiers. This places authoring-related code into the delivery tier, providing a larger attack surface and a greater security risk. Additionally, as authoring and delivery will have the same content replicated across years, keeping content private and secure can be an even greater risk. 

Why CrafterCMS Instead of AEM

CrafterCMS is an enterprise-grade headless CMS that provides content authors, developers, and operations teams with the tools they need to build engaging digital experiences. Like AEM, CrafterCMS is a Java-based CMS, but the similarities end there.

With CrafterCMS, developers gain access to an open-source, API-first platform that allows them to build any website or application using their preferred front-end and server-side technologies. At the same time, content authors enjoy an intuitive visual editor with drag-and-drop functionality for a seamless, composable experience. Additionally, CrafterCMS offers a number of other capabilities.

Modern Fully Decoupled Architecture

CrafterCMS separates authoring and delivery layers with a publishing mechanism between them. Moreover there is also no database tier between them. Content authoring is built on top of a Git-based content repository, and content delivery is built on a Java/Spring based stateless and serverless high performance engine. The authoring and delivery tiers can be scaled independently and efficiently, making the platform more secure, scalable, and flexible. 

Out-of-Box APIs and GraphQL

CrafterCMS offers a range of headless APIs to handle authoring and delivery development with a rich set of REST-based content APIs. A powerful GraphQL API allows users to create, customize, and control the shape of responses without requiring code.

The Ability to Define APIs on the Server

Developers can script APIs on top of CrafterCMS and integrate custom and external services or fully control the shape of APIs. This is especially crucial for migrations and can be used to completely replicate the shape of the APIs that existing applications, sites, and other projects rely on, but in CrafterCMS. Developers won’t need to modify the end applications to port to CrafterCMS. Instead, it’s possible to migrate the content into CrafterCMS and then create the facade for the environment in this layer. 

Composable vs. Monolithic Suite-Based DXP

Plugins might claim to be composable, but AEM is a suite-based platform and monolithic. As such, composability is not inherent to the platform and won’t be a good fit for companies that want to leverage this approach. However, the CMS industry has been moving away from monolithic architectures and suites and toward microservices and composable solutions that customers demand.

Git-Based Content Repository

CrafterCMS is a Git-based CMS and uses a decentralized Git repository to manage its content. Files are stored in Git, and any changes are pushed to the repository, triggering updates on the website or app through various mechanisms. 

Using Git as its content repository, CrafterCMS provides users with powerful version control features, allowing for easy rollbacks, content auditing, and branching. This integration ensures seamless compatibility with modern Git-based workflows, DevOps practices, and tools.

DevContentOps

CrafterCMS’s development and publishing system uses Git to distribute changes approved in the authoring system to delivery servers worldwide. This allows customers to consume content. Operations using standard CI/CD tools and mechanics can move content back to lower environments to support the development and testing process and code forward to facilitate releases and deployments of new functionality. This frictionless collaboration between authors, developers, and operations is known as DevContentOps. 

Getting Started with the Migration Process

CrafterCMS offers ways to streamline the migration process away from AEM and move to a modern, composable solution. 

• Migration Package: A consulting package which helps you scope and plan the migration process. This service can be used alongside an internal migration team, for teams with the capacity, or with one of CrafterCMS’s certified partners. 
• Marketplace: Leverage the CrafterCMS marketplace to find a number of composable plugins that can extend the functionality of your CMS to meet your needs. 

Register for a free trial of CrafterCMS, and begin your migration process today.