Adobe Experience Manager vs Optimizely

2021. Optimizely to acquire Welcome to help marketers drive Customer Experience outcomes



Optimizely, a leading digital experience platform (DXP) provider, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Welcome, a four-time Gartner Leader. Welcome combines the top capabilities of content marketing platforms (CMP), marketing resource management (MRM), and digital asset management (DAM) into a unified solution. This acquisition will enable the combined company to empower marketing teams worldwide to generate tangible business value by delivering improved customer experiences. In today's digital-first landscape, the internal marketer experience plays a pivotal role in shaping the external customer experience. Marketers, operating in an increasingly hybrid work environment, bear the responsibility of driving business growth and promptly adapting to the ever-evolving needs of the digital consumer. However, the complexity and fragmentation of the marketing stack hinder their ability to provide personalized and contextual experiences, as well as create relevant content at scale.


2020. Episerver to acquire Optimizely, the world’s leading Experience Optimization platform



Episerver, recognized as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms, has made an official announcement regarding its agreement to acquire Optimizely, the leading provider in experimentation and optimization solutions. This strategic union results in the formation of the most advanced digital experience platform, enabling the optimization of every customer interaction throughout the entire user journey. By combining Episerver's expertise in creating digital experiences through content and commerce with Optimizely's capabilities in experimentation and optimization across touchpoints, marketers gain the power to develop experiences that continually improve and evolve over time.


2020. Adobe Experience Manager now offered as cloud-native SaaS application



Adobe Experience Manager has introduced a cloud-native Software as a Service (SaaS) application. Previously, it was available as an on-premises solution or a managed service, but it lacked the pure cloud-native architecture. The availability of AEM as a cloud service brings significant benefits to customers, providing the same value as any other cloud service. With this new offering, customers can now utilize all the features and tools of AEM without the burden of maintenance, management, or updates. This enhances flexibility, agility, and continuous access to the latest updates for the marketing team. AEM offers a range of capabilities, including real-time customer experience management. Real-time access to data enables the delivery of products, services, and experiences tailored to the specific needs of each customer at any given moment.


2015. Website personalization service Optimizely raises $58M



Optimizely, the renowned company synonymous with A/B testing, has secured $58 million in funding. While Optimizely is widely recognized for its tools that enable customers to test different variations of their websites and determine the most effective one, it has been expanding its horizons. The company ventured into new territories by introducing Optimizely for iOS last year, followed by the recent launch of Optimizely Personalization. As a result, Optimizely has established itself as a leading service for optimizing websites (according to Alexa) and mobile apps (according to MixRank). Esteemed customers such as CNN, Microsoft, and Virgin America have entrusted Optimizely with their optimization needs. Despite the existence of numerous A/B testing tools in the market, Optimizely stands out by prioritizing the development of "best in class products" and fostering integrations with a diverse range of partners.


2015. A/B website testing service Optimizely to focuse on personalized experience



A/B website testing tool Optimizely extends its capabilities beyond testing by introducing a new product called Optimizely Personalization, enabling online publishers to deliver customized experiences to their users. The personalization features of this product can be categorized into four key areas. Firstly, there is the ability to connect data, allowing companies to utilize their customer data and integrate information from services like BlueKai, Tealium, and Lotame. Secondly, there is the functionality to discover audiences, where Optimizely suggests various audience segments that companies can target with personalized experiences. Thirdly, there is the option to optimize experiences, allowing the creation of different pages tailored to specific segments. Lastly, there is the capability to understand impact, enabling the analysis of data to determine the effectiveness of personalization in driving engagement, purchases, or any other desired outcomes.


2015. Optimizely unveiled revolutionary website statistics engine


The website optimization platform Optimizely has introduced a new feature called Stats Engine, which enhances the company's experience optimization platform. This feature provides test results that are consistently valid and unrestricted by the limitations of traditional statistical analysis. Developed in partnership with statisticians from Stanford University, Stats Engine leverages innovative statistical analysis techniques. Alongside the platform's proprietary algorithms, it enables customers to interpret and take action on data with greater speed and confidence than ever before, according to the company.


2009. Adobe LiveCycle ES goes to the Cloud



Adobe has announced the new "cloud" version of its ECM system Adobe LiveCycle ES. It can be hosted on Amazon Web Services platform. Adobe also offers own hosting service for LiveCycle ES including 24/7 maintenance and support. The new version LiveCycle ES 2 features two new modules: LiveCycle Mosaic and LiveCycle Workspace ES 2 Mobile. The first is for the building internal portals - rich personalized interfaces that provide access to the data stored in LiveCycle ES in the form of widget "mosaic". The second - provides mobile access to the system on iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. Besides, users can access the system via browser using Flash, AIR desktop client or directly from a PDF document (opened in Adobe Reader). ***


2009. Adobe's LiveCycle Powered by Amazon

There is a perception among many readers that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is not fully equipped for enterprise-level use, and Amazon needs to partner with more companies that focus on enterprise application development. On the other hand, Adobe aims to persuade developers who are fond of AWS to consider building business applications using its LiveCycle platform. In line with this objective, Adobe has announced that LiveCycle will be powered by AWS, specifically by deploying a Red Hat JBoss J2EE stack on AWS and running LiveCycle on top of it. This integration simplifies the prototyping, development, and testing process, potentially attracting more developers to the Adobe LiveCycle platform. While AWS may not be the ideal deployment platform for the write-intensive and transactional applications typically developed on LiveCycle, Adobe clarifies that the current focus is on utilizing AWS as a development and testing platform. This gradual approach aligns with typical enterprise practices. LiveCycle, which has been available for five years, offers features such as Business Process Management (BPM), leveraging Adobe AIR and Flex to provide rich internet and mobile capabilities. Adobe demonstrates the potential of LiveCycle through a demo showcasing an insurance claims process for a car accident. The integration of LiveCycle with AWS allows for faster prototyping, development, and testing cycles, enabling developers to quickly engage with the platform and generate revenue. The combination of Adobe's expertise in document management and the importance of dynamic BPM, which necessitates adaptable processes in response to real-world situations, positions LiveCycle on AWS as a compelling proposition. The article concludes by inviting readers to share their thoughts on LiveCycle and whether they would consider using it now that it is available on AWS.


2008. Adobe wants to manage enterprise content



Long ago Adobe invented PDF - the format designed for document collaboration. Then for this format Adobe created a set of auxiliary tools. One of these tools, Adobe LiveCycle, was designed for building web forms that save entered information directly to PDF-files. And now, on the basis of this product and in partnership with Alfresco, Adobe has released its own ECM solution Adobe LiveCycle ES that will compete with MS Sharepoint, Open Text and Oracle Content Management. Alfresco - is a very ambitious company that is  going to revolutionize the ECM market ruled by Microsoft, IBM, EMC, Open Text, SAP and Oracle. Alfresco is well-known for its open-source strategy. And now they are partnering with the "big brother" Adobe. Adobe LiveCycle ES is intended to automate all paper work - from form input to document approval and executions. And everything is accessible via a web browser. The system functionality includes: ***


2008. Adobe LiveCycle Update 1 Announced

In the era of Web 2.0, user-friendly applications have become the norm, with platforms like Facebook and Digg requiring little to no training. However, when dealing with real-world businesses online, the experience often reverts to cumbersome forms and unintuitive processes that make users want to abandon the task and resort to phone calls instead. This is frustrating for both users and companies who would prefer automated forms. Adobe's LiveCycle ES offers a solution for developers to create user-friendly forms for essential online tasks, such as banking or insurance applications. With the release of LiveCycle ES Update 1, Adobe expands its suite to include LiveCycle Content Services ES, a content services solution based on the open-source Alfresco ECM. This component provides content storage, collaboration, search, and other features, and competes with products like Oracle Content Management and Microsoft SharePoint. Additionally, LiveCycle PDF Generator 3D ES allows integration of 2D/3D design data into PDFs, while Solution Accelerators provide code and templates to help companies utilize LiveCycle effectively. LiveCycle aims to simplify the user experience and benefit both consumers and businesses. The update will be available on July 17th, followed by the Solution Accelerators.