Keys to a Successful AEM Deployment: Communication, Workflows, and Standards

Deploying an Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) project can feel like orchestrating a symphony. There are so many moving parts—content authors, developers, marketers, and stakeholders all working toward a common goal. Without clear communication, streamlined workflows, and consistent standards, it’s easy for the music to fall out of tune.

Let’s dive into how these three pillars—communication, workflows, and standards—can make or break your AEM project and explore some real-life examples of how they’ve helped me deliver success.

Communication: Keeping Everyone on the Same Page

Think of communication as the glue that holds your project together. When everyone is aligned, the project flows smoothly. When communication breaks down, even the smallest misstep can lead to big headaches.

Example: During an AEM migration project for a healthcare client, the marketing team forgot to mention a campaign launch deadline until halfway through the project. By introducing weekly cross-team meetings and a shared project dashboard in Miro, we caught these late-breaking requests early and avoided any costly surprises. These quick, informal check-ins made sure everyone was on the same page.

How to Improve Communication:

• Regular Touchpoints: Daily standups or weekly syncs help uncover blockers and surface last-minute needs.
• Centralized Tools: Collaboration tools like Slack or Miro make updates and documents accessible to the entire team.
• Clear Escalation Paths: Everyone should know who to contact when issues arise to avoid confusion.

Workflows: The Secret to Efficiency

A well-defined workflow is like having a road map—it ensures everyone knows the next step and eliminates unnecessary back-and-forth.

Example: In a retail AEM project, the team used AEM’s built-in workflows to automate content approval. When an author created a product page, it would automatically route to the marketing lead for review, then to the compliance team for final approval. This streamlined process saved hours of emails and helped the team hit tight seasonal deadlines.

How to Create Effective Workflows:

1. Define Roles Early: Make it clear who drafts, reviews, and approves content.
2. Use Automation: AEM workflows can automate repetitive tasks like tagging or metadata validation.
3. Plan for Edits: Build revision cycles into your process to avoid last-minute chaos.

One of my favorite lessons learned is to always test workflows on a small scale first. It’s much easier to tweak them before rolling them out project-wide.

Standards: The North Star of Consistency

Standards may not be the most glamorous part of a project, but they’re absolutely essential for long-term success. They keep your AEM instance clean, organized, and scalable.

Example: On a recent project for an insurance company, inconsistent naming conventions created confusion when teams searched for assets. A file named “IMG_1234.jpg” doesn’t mean much to anyone! We introduced clear standards, like naming assets descriptively (e.g., “auto-insurance-hero-image.jpg”) and tagging them by campaign and audience. Suddenly, everyone could find exactly what they needed in seconds.

Tips for Setting Standards:

• Create a Style Guide: Include naming conventions, tagging frameworks, and design rules.
• Train Your Team: Host workshops to ensure everyone understands and follows the standards.
• Keep It Flexible: Standards should guide your team, not overwhelm them. Leave room for adjustments as the project evolves.

Pulling It All Together

When communication is open, workflows are efficient, and standards are clear, AEM projects become much easier to manage—and more enjoyable for everyone involved.

For example, on a multi-region AEM project, we combined all three pillars. Weekly syncs kept global teams aligned. Automated workflows ensured timely content delivery across different languages. And a shared tagging framework made personalization a breeze. The result? A seamless deployment that exceeded client expectations.