AEMs

AEMs, commonly referring to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), are enterprise-grade content management systems used to create, manage, and optimize digital experiences across websites, mobile apps, forms, and digital assets. The term AEMs is sometimes used to denote multiple installations or instances of the platform within an organization.

AEMs are built on Java and are centered on the Adobe Experience Manager stack, which includes Sites for web content management, Assets for digital asset management, Forms for data collection, and Communities for user-generated content and collaboration. The underlying runtime relies on Apache Sling for request handling, a Java Content Repository (JCR) such as Oak/JCR for content storage, and OSGi for modular services. Deployments can be on-premises, as managed services, or via Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service.

Key capabilities include authoring with a rich editor, versioning, and workflow-based publishing; templating and component-based page assembly; multilingual and multi-site management; robust digital asset management and metadata governance; forms with data capture and routing; and integration with other Adobe Marketing Cloud products as well as external systems via APIs and connectors.

History and market position: AEM originated from Day Software as CQ5, was acquired by Adobe in 2010, and rebranded as AEM. It is now a central component of the Adobe Experience Cloud and is used by large organizations to deliver personalized, scalable digital experiences at scale, especially where complex asset management and multi-site governance are required.

Considerations: the platform typically requires specialized development and administration resources, with substantial licensing and operational costs. Implementation, migration, and ongoing maintenance can be complex and resource-intensive.