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Digital Transformation

Adobe AEM’s Main Differentiator

Have you ever been asked about the differences between Adobe CQ5 and Sitecore? Sure, at first glance the stark difference is the platform…one is J2EE based and the other .NET, but apart from that, it is actually hard to tell the difference since they pretty much do the same thing. Sitecore has a user experience that most people are familiar with due to its Microsoft influence and ribbon interface, but adobe CQs runtime preview environment, along with its sidekick functionality is not too shabby either. When performing product selections, I normally give each the same score. So I started thinking… apart from platform and apart from the user interface, what is the biggest difference between them?

If I had to call out only one big differentiator, I’d say it was Adobe’s integration with the Adobe Creative Suite and the Digital Marketing coud. Adobe’s Digital marketers working with creative folks have a more seamless transition into managing the entire web experience because assets are created using adobe cloud based tools (photoshop, in design,  etc…) and easily referenced within CQ repositories. Adobe Creative and Digital Marketing suites are tied together offering a true all-in-one solution. Adobe has invested heavily in this area over the last two years, and the payoffs are really starting to show.  With the recent Forrester wave report, Adobe is now the leading technology in the web experience management space, and I believe this main differentiator is the reason why.

Adobe is not alone…Sitecore also has a good story here, and I am hoping my colleague @Jamie Stump will chime in and give us some insight into how Sitecore compares.

Thoughts on “Adobe AEM’s Main Differentiator”

  1. Great Post Robert. One thing that I can add on the Sitecore side of things is that their Adaptive Print Studio (http://www.sitecore.net/Products/Digital-Marketing-System/Adaptive-Print-Studio.aspx) does have integration with Adobe InDesign 5.5 and previous. The adaptive print studio is a great way for organizations to tie their marketing presence together cross channel! I would highly recommend anyone who is interested check out the brochure on the full capabilities of Adaptive Print Studio: http://www.sitecore.net/Resources/brochures/Sitecore-Adaptive-Print-Studio.aspx

  2. Sitecore analytics are weak in comparison to AEM. Even with Sitecore 8.0 the new Sitecore Analytics feel very home-made in comparison to the AEM equivalent (Omniture and the rest..).

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Robert Sumner

Robert Sumner is a tenured Adobe Digital Marketing and Experience Maker with over 20 years' experience helping Fortune 500 companies improve customer satisfaction, drive organizational efficiencies, and increase revenue using proven digital marketing/ecommerce strategies. Robert specializes in the manufacturing and automotive industries.

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