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<hr /> Well, it happened. I’ve been predicting a move like this for a while, although I thought it might be an up-and-comer like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.conductor.com/">Conductor</a> or even a niche startup like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://otterly.ai/">Otterly.ai</a> elsewhere in the stack.  But then again, it’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe</a>. And when they go, they go big.And that’s what they’re doing with the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://news.adobe.com/news/2025/11/adobe-to-acquire-semrush">acquisition of Semrush,</a> a stalwart of modern martech and one of the “must-have” tools for search engine optimization over the last decade. Adobe just announced that it will purchase Semrush for the tidy sum of $1.9 billion in an all-cash transaction for $12 per share.The deal is said to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. It should be “smoother” sailing, despite the pothole in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/whats-under-the-fig-leaf-the-naked-truth-about-the-figma-ipo-and-the-markets-appetite-for-tech">rearview that is Figma</a>. Semrush is, comparatively, a tame acquisition that’s almost 20 times less breathtaking than that debacle. No doubt, Adobe is posturing to expand its leadership in the realm of marketing intelligence and the concentration on Generative Search Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). As competitors like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/optimizely">Optimizely</a> position themselves as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/welcome-to-the-geo-ready-cms-optimizely-adds-new-features-to-enhance-ai-powered-search">“GEO-ready” platforms</a>, the race is on to give brands more comprehensive tools that address the shift towards AI search discovery.Despite this focus on marketing-centric tools that address the pressures of AI, Adobe lives beyond a single category like DXP or CMP, evolving its value to that of customer experience orchestration in the agentic AI era – and pointing its collective powers at the complete content supply chain, customer engagement, and brand visibility.It's doing all of this with its suite of industry-leading products like the ubiquitous <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe Experience Manager (AEM),</a> its unified <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://business.adobe.com/products/adobe-analytics.html">Adobe Analytics</a> suite, and the recently launched <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://business.adobe.com/products/brand-concierge.html">Adobe Brand Concierge</a> for creating interactive, AI-powered conversational journeys.Adding Semrush to this puzzle brings the picture into sharp relief, giving marketers a holistic view of how their brands appear across the new frontier of LLMs, as well as owned channels, legacy search, and the broader web. It also gives them more control over managing their visibility across the entire ecosystem. “Brand visibility is being reshaped by generative AI, and brands that don’t embrace this new opportunity risk losing relevance and revenue,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/achakravarthy/">Anil Chakravarthy,</a> president of Adobe’s Digital Experience Business. “With Semrush, we’re unlocking GEO for marketers as a new growth channel alongside their SEO, driving more visibility, customer engagement and conversions across the ecosystem.”<h3 id="cmos-need-better-tools-to-master-ai-search">CMOs need better tools to master AI search</h3>The Chief Marketing Officer’s job has always been a little cursed. Often a revolving door of talent that lives and dies by the numbers, it has recently grown a bigger backbone when it comes to strategic performance. What's at stake? Pretty much everything. Enterprises are relying on marketing to deliver the goods at a breakneck pace. Meanwhile, CMOs are expected to make sense out of metric tons of data from a wide range of sources and tools – and make actionable decisions that drive growth. It's a tough racket, and forget the fact that a CMO's marketing team is also being challenged by cognitive overload. While brand equity and visibility are key, CMOs face a reckoning with results. According to a report from NIQ, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251118947080/en/CMOs-Face-a-Reputation-and-Results-Reckoning-According-to-NIQs-2026-Outlook">84% of CMOs now prioritize ROI</a> as their primary metric for budget allocation, signaling pressure to drive short-term conversion over long-term brand growth.And driving those conversions is search. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google</a> still crushes AI answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.perplexity.ai/">Perplexity</a>, maintaining roughly 90% of the global search market share. Google’s traffic has continued to increase into 2025 due in part to its new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gemini.google/overview/">Gemini-powered AI Overviews</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://search.google/ways-to-search/ai-mode/">AI Mode</a> features.But the landscape is starting to shift. ChatGPT’s adoption has been downright mindboggling, reaching 100 million users within two months of launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer app ever. By late 2024, it was reportedly logging around 1 billion interactions per day. By one account, it could <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ttms.com/llm-powered-search-vs-traditional-search-2025-2030-forecast/">surpass Google by 2028,</a> and new data from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://business.adobe.com/blog/adi-october-2025-holiday-shopping-actuals">Adobe Analytics</a> showed that traffic from generative AI sources to U.S. retail sites increased by 1,200% year-over-year in October.As consumers increasingly turn to answer engines for information, recommendations, and purchase decisions, CMOs need tools that address generative AI platforms so they can enhance their visibility across these new customer interfaces and drive conversions. Organizations that invest in GEO – alongside their SEO capabilities – are poised to keep their brands well-represented, more easily discovered, and trusted across owned and earned channels.<h3 id="a-legacy-of-seo-innovation-with-a-new-focus-on-geo">A legacy of SEO innovation with a new focus on GEO</h3>Semrush is the gold standard in SEO. It provides a deep cache of rich information, from competitive insights to keyword research to campaign planning. It’s also incredibly intuitive and accessible, with many third-party platforms surfacing Semrush data in their analytics dashboards. For more than ten years, Semrush has armed marketers with “traditional” search engine optimization capabilities. But its recent gains in the development of GEO capabilities – specifically with its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.semrush.com/ai-seo/">AI Visibility Toolkit</a> – are helping brands enhance visibility, expand audience reach, and remain discoverable in AI search. The good news for marketers is that the core principles of SEO also apply to GEO. Translation: They work together, and you don’t need to abandon your SEO strategy to build your presence across the AI engines. AI assistants provide helpful and (hopefully) accurate information to users, and they pull that information from the same internet your SEO-focused content lives on. Generally speaking, the more your brand is associated with the topics you want to focus on, the more likely it is to be referenced in an AI-generated answer.The combination of Adobe and Semrush could be a catalyst for even greater insight across both the SEO and GEO channels. Marketers need both, and Adobe's consolidation will likely benefit both competencies. “Adobe is an industry leader in helping marketers create personalized customer experiences at scale. With the advent of LLMs and AI-driven search, brands need to understand where and how their customers are engaging in these new channels,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamrwagner/">Bill Wagner,</a> chief executive officer of Semrush. “This combination provides marketers more insights and capabilities to increase their discoverability across today’s evolving digital landscape.”From a performance standpoint, Semrush has been bringing the rain. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://increv.co/academy/semrush-users/">As of last year,</a> it boasted nearly 1.2 million users with annual revenue of over $300 million. In its most recent quarter, it drove 33% year-over-year ARR growth in its enterprise customer segment, earning the trust of industry leaders like Amazon, JPMorganChase, and TikTok.It’s worth noting that Semrush does have a large cohort of free-tier users (by one estimate, it represents as much as 90% of its base). This speaks to the company’s commitment to deliver value while building a strong SaaS pipeline to future paid users. Will Adobe maintain that? Only time will tell, but it’s a great example of a “Big Give” that works.<h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>GEO is becoming a crucial objective for brands and their marketing teams. This is a non-negotiable requirement of their modern tooling, and will inform the decision-making as they assess technologies to light these dark alleyways in their marketing intelligence.  Semrush and its peers might be innovating on the edge, but we’re still in catch-up mode. Every day could be another <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://greylock.com/greymatter/the-deepseek-moment/">DeepSeek moment</a> of change, threatening to send practitioners back into a well of shadows when it comes to LLM behaviors. As such, having the scale and skunkworks that Adobe provides could inject more value into the GEO roadmap, giving enterprises greater confidence around the futureproofing.This isn't “guesttimation” for me. I’ve personally relied on Semrush for years to analyze competitors, test longtail keywords, identify and root out toxic backlinks, and more. It’s a fantastic tool, and that’s why I think this is a smart move. Semrush is a solid, long-standing brand that’s built deep trust with its community, and that brand loyalty could benefit the transition to Adobe – a shift that hasn’t always been easy on cultures or communities.Is it worth the bucks? As far as the tendered deal is concerned, the math around multiples appears sound and reflects what we’re seeing elsewhere (early to say if it’s a steal or a deal). While the numbers aren’t as mammoth, 2025 has been a solid year for M&amp;A, tracking a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/global-ma-activity-up-10-first-nine-months-2025-study-shows-2025-10-28/">10% increase in overall activity</a> in the first nine months of the year. A lot of that has been led by tech and specifically AI-related acquisitions, but the martech realm has been active, starting with the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contentstack-just-acquired-lytics-a-real-time-customer-data-platform-heres-why-it-matters">purchase of the Lytics CDP</a> by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a> in January of this year.Competitive pressure is a clear driver. As players like Optimizely and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sitecore">Sitecore</a> expand their agentic AI features and evolve what a complete martech stack looks like, GEO capabilities are becoming front and center. And as the research indicates, conversions are going to be the key metric for ROI – and AI search is becoming a bigger piece of the integrated pie. What’s next? A lot. With the introduction of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://openai.com/index/buy-it-in-chatgpt/">ChatGPT’s Agentic Commerce Protocol,</a> we’re now seeing the potential for more retail transactions shifting to LLMs – creating even greater urgency for brands to elevate their presence across these channels. As we look ahead to the agent-to-agent frontier powered by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro">MCP,</a> it’s fair to predict that these buying motions will be faster and increasingly automated.Look, there’s more here than just broadening the scope of Adobe’s marketing intelligence. It’s a signal that the race is on to shape the customer experience within the generative AI horizon – and giving marketers the best tools to meet the moment.Enterprises want composable solutions that offer adjacent integrations but include purpose-built features to help them address the immediate challenges of the AI era. And they can’t wait for tomorrow – they have to act today. That’s what Adobe is delivering: the promise of speed and scale for an agentic world.Can you feel the rush? <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761136749603.png" /><h4 id="live-webinar:-can-we-ever-get-composable-without-complexity?"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Live Webinar: Can We Ever Get Composable Without Complexity?</a></h4>November 20, 2025 – 6 PM (CET) / 5 PM (GMT) / 12 PM (EST)Composable architecture promised to simplify digital experience creation by giving organizations the flexibility to combine the technologies that met their needs. But for many enterprises, it’s done the opposite, which has led to complex integrations, spiraling costs, and what some are now referring to as composable regret. In this live conversation, Umbraco CEO Mats Persson joins Matt Garrepy, Chief Content Officer at CMS Critic, for a candid exploration of what went wrong in the first wave of composable and what needs to change. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Register for the webinar.</a> <img style="width:29.08%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761594434824.png" /><h4 id="typo3-conference-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/">TYPO3 Conference 2025</a></h4>November 25–27, 2025 – Düsseldorf, GermanyT3CON is the premier annual event for web professionals, developers, marketers, and decision-makers. Much more than just a TYPO3-focused conference, T3CON spotlights the latest trends, innovations, and leaders shaping the future of content management, covering everything from grassroots initiatives to new technologies, strategies, and success stories. The event is designed to empower businesses and organizations with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the evolving digital landscape. The conference culminates in an awards ceremony celebrating the best TYPO3 projects across various industries. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/">Get your ticket.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Feel the GEO Rush: Adobe to Acquire Semrush for $1.9B to Enhance AI Search

matt-garrepy

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/tom-cranstoun">Tom Cranstoun</a>, “The AEM Guy,” is the principal consultant at Digital Domain Technologies Limited and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe Experience Manager's</a> transformation from its open source foundations to today's composable enterprise platform reveals compelling insights into where digital experience platforms are heading. Having observed AEM implementations across global brands for thirteen years, including Nissan-Renault, Twitter, Ford, and Jaguar Land Rover, the platform's trajectory points toward a fundamental shift in how enterprises approach content management.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:84.25%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/06/image-1750016427416.png" /></figure>Graph source: builtwith.com<h3 id="beyond-traditional-cms-thinking">Beyond Traditional CMS Thinking</h3>AEM's unique architecture – built on open-source foundations including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://jackrabbit.apache.org/jcr/index.html">Apache Jackrabbit</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://felix.apache.org/documentation/index.html">Felix</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sling.apache.org/">Sling</a> – has always enabled modular deployment. Today's 35,000 active implementations demonstrate this composability in practice, but Adobe's strategic direction suggests something far more transformative: an ecosystem approach that transcends traditional platform boundaries.<h3 id="the-ecosystem-revolution">The Ecosystem Revolution</h3>Adobe has introduced three innovations that signal this transformation: Franklin (Edge Delivery Services), the Universal Editor, and AEM Document Authoring. These aren't incremental CMS features – they represent a complete rethinking of content workflows.<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-manager-evolves-franklin-launches-next-gen-composability-feature">Franklin </a>represents perhaps the most radical departure from conventional approaches. Content creators can write in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, then publish directly to Adobe's edge network as fully rendered web pages. The entire frontend becomes open source – downloadable, modifiable, and customizable without backend dependencies. This acknowledges that content creation often happens outside traditional CMS interfaces. Quick fact: Named after <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin">Rosalind Franklin, </a>who helped discover the helix structure of DNA, the initiative aligns with Adobe's tagline of “Creativity is in our DNA.” </li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/implementing/developing/universal-editor/getting-started">The Universal Editor</a> takes a complementary approach, enabling in-browser editing of live websites regardless of the underlying CMS. While proprietary, it can connect to any content system with appropriate markup, creating intriguing cross-platform integration possibilities.</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.aem.live/developer/da-tutorial">AEM Document Authoring (DA)</a> bridges the gap between document-based editing simplicity and full CMS capabilities. Recent implementations demonstrate its viability – Cognizant Netcentric launched the first client website using DA for <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.netcentric.biz/insights/2025/04/edge-delivery-services-aem-document-authoring">Bimota</a> motorcycle brand in just three weeks from concept to DNS switch. DA functions as "the rocket engine accelerating Edge Delivery Services," providing enterprise-grade features like versioning, localization, and workflow management while maintaining streamlined content creation.</li></ul>More significantly, Adobe positions these tools as part of a broader digital experience ecosystem rather than CMS features. The AI-powered Firefly system integrates across Photoshop, Lightroom, AEM, and Franklin through Adobe I/O – itself built on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/adobe-apiplatform/incubator-openwhisk">Apache OpenWhisk,</a> an open source serverless platform. Creative professionals can save directly from Photoshop into AEM, while developers compose workflows across multiple Adobe services through standardized APIs.<h3 id="industry-transformation">Industry Transformation</h3>This revolution carries profound implications beyond Adobe's product roadmap. Traditional boundaries between content management, digital asset management, and creative tools are dissolving. Organizations increasingly need flexible integration points rather than comprehensive suites.The Bimota implementation exemplifies this shift. Rather than requiring months of traditional CMS setup, the motorcycle brand achieved complete digital presence in three weeks by combining document-based content creation with enterprise-grade delivery infrastructure. This speed-to-market advantage becomes particularly valuable for brands launching new products or entering new markets.AEM's trajectory illustrates a broader industry pattern: success in enterprise software now requires balancing proprietary innovation with open standards and community contributions. Adobe maintains core differentiators while contributing to shared infrastructure that benefits the entire ecosystem.Document Authoring's positioning between simple document editing and full CMS complexity addresses a persistent industry challenge. Many organizations struggle with tools that are either too simple for enterprise needs or too complex for content teams. DA's approach – combining familiar editing interfaces with backend enterprise features – suggests a middle path that could influence how other vendors design content creation tools.<h3 id="the-path-forward">The Path Forward</h3>Enterprise content management appears headed toward greater modularity and specialization. Organizations will likely assemble solutions from best-of-breed components rather than selecting monolithic platforms. This creates opportunities for both established players like Adobe and emerging specialists focusing on specific workflow elements.Adobe's investment in open-source infrastructure suggests the company understands this dynamic. By providing solid foundational technologies while competing on higher-level integration and user experience, Adobe positions itself as an ecosystem orchestrator rather than a platform vendor.The Universal Editor's cross-platform capabilities hint at even more interesting possibilities. If content editing becomes platform-agnostic, the competitive landscape shifts from CMS features toward content workflow optimization and delivery performance.Looking ahead, successful digital experience platforms will likely share certain characteristics: API-first architecture, headless capabilities, strong integration ecosystems, and the flexibility to work alongside rather than replace existing tools. AEM's journey provides a template for this transformation.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it Matters</h3>The future belongs not to platforms that try to do everything, but to those that do specific things exceptionally well while enabling seamless integration with complementary tools. Adobe's current direction – rearchitecting while maintaining operational continuity – suggests they understand this principle and are building accordingly.The shift from monolithic platforms to composable ecosystems represents more than a technical evolution; it's a fundamental reimagining of how enterprises create, manage, and deliver digital experiences. Adobe Experience Manager's transformation offers a glimpse into this future, where success comes from orchestrating ecosystems rather than controlling platforms. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-adobe?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Adobe? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

What's ahead for Adobe Experience Manager? An ecosystem revolution. Here's why

tom-cranstoun

<hr /> The digital experience landscape wouldn’t exist without <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/adobe-acquia-optimizely-top-latest-forrester-wave-for-content-management-systems">Adobe</a> – and more precisely, its <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe Experience Manager</a> (AEM) platform. AEM has long held the crown in the kingdom of DXPs (<a target="_blank" href="https://business.adobe.com/resources/reports/gartner-mq-digital-experience-platforms-2024.html">just as Gartner</a>), and leading global enterprises depend on its scale of features to power the most complex and demanding digital strategies.While ubiquitous, the Adobe name also conjures that oft-demonized word: monolith. It is an epic ecosystem of interconnected, often Frankensteined solutions that can feel overwhelming and unwieldy – and its AEM platform is no exception. Amidst the publishing and marketing automation suites snuggling under the Adobe umbrella, AEM has always enjoyed an elite (if not pricey) reputation, making it the domain of serious enterprises. However, it can also be incredibly challenging and time-consuming, requiring curated expertise from certified practitioners. All of this can impact the velocity of getting digital projects to market. And in an era where real-time responsiveness is key, any delay can translate into lost revenue or even market share. Given these pain points, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vshift.com/">VShift</a> – a customer engagement and digital experience agency and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/jp-morgan-joins-mach-alliance-reinforcing-growth-of-composability-in-the-digital-financial-services">MACH Alliance</a> member – has developed a new <a target="_blank" href="http://vshift.com/ideas/vshift-introduces-the-aem-digital-experience-accelerator">AEM Digital Experience Accelerator</a>. The proprietary program is targeted at AEM users, helping them deliver more engaging digital experiences with Adobe and do it all faster, easier, and more cost-effectively.“In our experience with complex organizations, we kept hearing the same pain points – cost, time-to-market, internal friction,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/al-collins-255a371/">Al Collins</a>, Founder &amp; CEO of VShift. “We developed the VShift AEM Digital Experience Accelerator to make our clients’ experience with AEM better and help them get the most out of their Adobe investments. Our new program offers a streamlined process, an easier way of launching customer experiences, and an increased capacity to innovate at a fraction of the time and costs usually involved.” The accelerator program was announced at last week’s <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/clarks-kraft-heinz-take-top-honors-in-mach-impact-awards-at-mach-three">MACH THREE Conference</a> in New York City, this year's venue for the world’s leading composable technology conference. As a MACH-certified agency, VShift has cultivated deep expertise with enterprise-scale organizations in highly regulated industries like financial services, insurance, and healthcare – focusing its solutions through a composable lens. The company also has a proven track record of crafting and delivering digital platforms for companies like Freddie Mac and Prudential.<h3 id="accelerating-the-value-of-aem-with-composability">Accelerating the value of AEM with composability</h3>Accelerators are aptly named, but there are numerous benefits beyond speed. Such is the case with VShift’s AEM Digital Experience Accelerator. First and foremost, it expedites digital product or website development-to-launch programs – and according to VShift, this can effectively reduce the timeline to weeks. It can also be customized to an organization’s specific needs, helping them meet their explicit business goals.With increased velocity and less internal friction between content owners and tech teams, brands can move faster. The accelerator also provides great flexibility for changes, allowing teams to swap out components or switch directions in a snap (composable thinking at work). <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/F-1e6DPT7CE"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F-1e6DPT7CE" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> That “swapability” is what helps make VShift’s Digital Experience Accelerator a MACH-worthy solution. It also reflects those attributes by minimizing vendor lock-in and decreasing the oppressive need for specialized AEM-certified resources to execute. This is a persistent drag for many organizations when it comes to managing their AEM footprint and properly staffing for new projects and digital initiatives.  All these benefits add up to enhanced productivity and cost-effectiveness, enabling organizations to maximize their AEM investments and cut costs by supporting customer experiences with more affordable, composable solutions. Marketing and content teams can also realize huge benefits by harnessing more control while navigating within their organization’s security policies. <h3 id="a-complete-market-ready-solution-for-aem-success">A complete market-ready solution for AEM success</h3>VShift’s accelerator is now available as a complete package that includes a ready-to-deploy cloud-hosted environment with orchestration and integration tools. Users will have the ability to rapidly design and prototype their projects via <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/figma">Figma</a> and AEM’s headless platform and connectors. For any organization developing a website, app, or digital product, customizability is a key part of the experience. To that end, VShift’s accelerator promises a customizable prebuilt core UI component library. There’s also an AI-enhanced starter kit for a content model, complete with tags and an automated builder/loader for speeding up the content modeling and deployment process. From a connective integration perspective, VShift delivers some slick capabilities via its accelerator. This includes its own “universal” <a target="_blank" href="https://graphql.org/">GraphQL-based</a> connector. They also provide a web app structure that includes a baseline for pages and functionality. On the visual editing front, VShift provides composable choices. Organizations can leverage AEM’s <a target="_blank" href="https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/implementing/developing/universal-editor/introduction">Universal Editor </a>or use a non-Adobe visual editor to handle digital composition in a composable framework. VShift also offers value-added composable modules and services like authentication-as-a-service or search-as-a-service.To realize the full value and potential, VShift’s accelerator is accompanied by intuitive guides and documentation, as well as an expert team with deep AEM experience and composable tech.“We spend about two to three months customizing the VShift AEM Digital Experience Accelerator to a company’s needs," Collins added. "Then we turn over the reins, leaving our clients with thorough reference documentation and allowing content creators and tech teams to launch engaging customer experiences faster, easier, and cost-effectively.” <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Accelerators have become a vital panacea for monolithic software. This new breed of pre-built frameworks provides a mature foundation and progressive architectures for building complex websites and applications faster and more efficiently. While the landscape varies, accelerators are proving invaluable as enterprises and agencies look to maximize value from platforms like AEM in an increasingly composable world. Despite its monolithic posture, Adobe continues to be an industry-leading staple across a multitude of market segments. Even with its less-than-rosy <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/cut-paste-delete-why-adobes-canceled-merger-with-figma-is-good-for-innovation">attempt to acquire Figma</a> and rule over the entire digital experience journey, the tech mammoth remains ever-relevant and persistently innovative. In fact, its skunkworks around <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-manager-evolves-franklin-launches-next-gen-composability-feature">AEM Franklin</a> (also known as Project Helix or Composability) is showing real promise by enabling AEM pages using <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/google-cloud-platform">Google Drive</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-azure">Microsoft Office</a> via <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-sharepoint">Sharepoint</a>. Instead of components, Franklin uses “blocks” like text, images, and buttons to generate new pages quickly and even create reusable templates. Cool stuff. As a MACH-certified DX agency, VShift is reinforcing the value of Adobe for its customers and the market at large. Its new AEM Digital Experience Accelerator is bridging the best of all worlds by providing a pathway to greater composability and flexibility. The big benefits are clear: faster time to market and lower costs. But it’s also addressing the challenge of legacy software, and helping organizations continue to mine value from their AEM investments. We’ve written at length about the constant challenge of defining “composable” in a market of conflicting ideologies. In my recent coverage of the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/clarks-kraft-heinz-take-top-honors-in-mach-impact-awards-at-mach-three">MACH THREE Impact Awards</a> – of which I participated as a judge for the second year – I go into deeper detail on this reality and how the MACH Alliance continues to maintain tacit guardrails for the industry. Regardless of how any headless CMS or enterprise DXP projects its unique flavor of “composable,” the only measure that matters is how it impacts the customer. VShift’s accelerator – and other offerings like it – focus on the most challenging layers of a digital stack, where legacy systems are still mandated or represent a significant investment. It strives to address key pain points and deliver a complete solution with a clear set of composable principles baked in. Maybe that's the “shift” in VShift. To learn more about its accelerator, <a target="_blank" href="http://vshift.com/ideas/vshift-introduces-the-aem-digital-experience-accelerator">click here. </a> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

VShift Introduces AEM Digital Experience Accelerator to Help Launch Faster on Adobe

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin">Rosalind Franklin</a> was a pioneering British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was crucial to understanding the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite. However, she is best known for her pivotal role in the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA – even though her contributions were not fully recognized during her lifetime. As she once famously observed, “Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.” Given her astounding role in uncovering the component structure of life, it's apropos that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-experience-cloud-adds-new-headless-cms-capabilities-updates-to-commerce-integration/">Adobe</a> – the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://business.adobe.com/blog/the-latest/adobe-named-a-leader-in-2023-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms#:~:text=The%20Latest-,Adobe%20named%20a%20Leader%20in%202023%20Gartner%C2%AE,%E2%84%A2%20for%20Digital%20Experience%20Platforms&amp;text=Gartner%20published%20the%20latest%20Magic,has%20been%20named%20a%20Leader.">Gartner MQ Leader</a> for DXPs – decided to refer to a new feature in its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.adobe.com/?clickref=1101lwIXbvhb&amp;mv=affiliate&amp;mv2=pz&amp;as_camptype=277929&amp;as_channel=affiliate&amp;as_source=partnerize&amp;as_campaign=chelen">AEM</a> suite called <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/experience-manager-cloud-service/content/forms/forms-overview/latest-innovations.html?lang=en">Next-Gen Composability</a> as "<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hlx.live/home">The Project Franklin</a>" initiative.A bit of background on the skunkworks: Franklin was introduced in January as a lightweight CMS architecture designed to launch new sites faster and accelerate page performance. It also provided a more intuitive way to create and publish content using simple tools like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.google.com/docs/about/">Google Docs</a> or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word">Microsoft Word</a> for authoring. The news was officially announced last month at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://business.adobe.com/summit/adobe-summit.html">Adobe Summit 2023</a>, but Adobe is already experiencing success with a pilot customer (keep reading for more details). <h2 id="what-is-next-gen-composability?">What is Next-Gen Composability?</h2>Content management jargon can take on many forms, with enough variations to make any head spin. With Next-Gen Composability, Adobe is attempting to make things simple. Really simple.When implementing Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) in the past, developers and marketers would be tasked with learning new publishing tools, workflows, and more – often requiring several different learned processes across multiple channels. With Next-Gen Composability, AEM can now leverage commonly used tools like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace and implement content built from those tools directly into the experience manager.Producing and editing content in channels that marketers are already familiar with can reduce the back and forth that plagues many enterprise CMSes. With these hurdles now removed from the equation, building websites and producing content should become faster and more reliable – and further reduce dependence on technical support teams. It should also reduce the overall friction with implementing AEM. <h2 id="lightning-fast-pages-with-high-google-lighthouse-scores">Lightning-fast pages with high Google Lighthouse scores</h2>The cloud-native infrastructure behind Next-Gen Composability is designed for speed. The tools built into the program require each web page to render a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://developer.chrome.com/docs/lighthouse/overview/">Google Lighthouse</a> score of 100 on live pages – made possible by fast caching and an edge delivery engine.Along with enhanced page performance, content can be built quickly with Next-Gen composability because teams can use tools they already know – and all with a few clicks. For content creators, this should eliminate many obstacles throughout the publishing workflow, giving them greater speed and agility. <h2 id="supercharged-forms">Supercharged forms</h2>Forms continue to be one of a website's most important engagement tools. They're also a huge pain for content creators.According to Adobe's website, with Next Gen Composability, users across an enterprise can create forms using their preferred tools, such as Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets – without extensive training on new UI workflows.What’s more, Next Gen Composability is designed to load forms with unmatched speed, achieving a near-perfect Google Lighthouse score on live pages, practically guaranteeing top performance and user experience.<h2 id="tried,-tested,-and-approved">Tried, Tested, and Approved</h2>The first to implement Next-Gen Composability within AEM was Adobe partner <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.netcentric.biz/insights/2023/04/next-gen-composability-reimagines-content-management">Cognizant Netcentric</a>. They used the new feature to produce <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.netcentric.biz/">cognizantnetcentric.com</a> – drafting their content in Google Workspace.In a blog article reflecting the project’s success, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrin-weissenborn/">Katrin Weissenborn</a>, a commercial marketing manager at Cognizant Netcentric, commented on the ease of use and overall satisfaction with Next-Gen Composability:“Next-Gen Composability has completely transformed the way we work, our web publishing has never been that fast and easy before. Whenever I spot something on the website that I want to change, I just do it myself in record time, no need to brief content editors. As soon as the change is live, I just tag my content editing colleagues directly in the content repository so the change will also be done in other languages to ensure a consistent user experience throughout.”<h2 id="about-adobe">About Adobe</h2>Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adobe.com&amp;esheet=52479752&amp;newsitemid=20210819005739&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=www.adobe.com&amp;index=3&amp;md5=16bfbb09ccdd811085bcdfd56783339b">www.adobe.com</a>.

Adobe Experience Manager Evolves Franklin, Launches Next-Gen Composability Feature

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VShift Introduces AEM Digital Experience Accelerator to Help Launch Faster on Adobe

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