Finding a CMS for your business that’s robust, customizable, secure and cost-effective may seem like a pipe dream. Yet, there are excellent options that get close to attaining your ideal solution.   

In particular, if you’re an enterprise seeking a top-ranked CMS, you may be deciding between the Oracle Content Manager vs. Adobe Experience Manager. According to Gartner, these two CMSs are identically rated at 4.4/5 stars. 

While they’re both comprehensive platforms, Oracle and Adobe each have unique strengths. Here we’ll analyze Oracle’s and Adobe’s content manager features, pros/cons and best use cases, as well as tips for choosing and implementing the right CMS for your business.

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What is a CMS and why is it important?

A Content Management System (CMS) is a platform for creating, managing and delivering digital content across all business channels. It enables you to store assets in one place and automate workflows to make content collaboration more effective. 

In the best case scenario, a CMS is highly customized to your needs, making it easy for you to deliver brand-tailored content to your current and future customers. When searching for the best platform for your requirements, keep mind that top CMSs are:

  • Robust for ever-evolving content needs
  • Omnichannel to manage content at every point
  • Well-integrated for any existing technical set-up
  • Customizable for unique business cases
  • Secure against breaches or threats
  • SEO-friendly for strong customer reach
  • Collaborative for internal staff and stakeholders
  • Efficient for complex workflows
  • Scalable for business growth
  • Cost-effective for enterprises and beyond 

Having a good fit CMS will empower your business to better engage your customers and boost growth without the pains of manual processes, siloed data and security vulnerabilities.  

About Oracle Content Management

The purple homepage of Oracle’s content manager.
(Source: Oracle)

The Oracle Content Manager is a leading omnichannel content management hub that’s known for its dependability. Currently, it’s used by 31,800+ businesses, accounting for 11% of the CMS market. 

This CMS solution runs 3,500+ internal microsites and 200+ live external sites, including 40 within the top one million brands. Some key companies that use Oracle Content Manager include Staples, Henry Schein, Cargill, Sonoco, Ernst & Young and more.

Oracle Content Management features

The Oracle Content Manager has a nice balance of features aimed at streamlining content and experience delivery. Additionally, its tools support collaborative and efficient workflows for content-related teams, including:

  • Digital asset management
  • Document collaboration
  • Content capture
  • Site building
  • Headless CMS
  • System administration
  • Integration and extensibility (i.e. with Office 365, Google Workspace, APIs and SDKs)
  • Sales Accelerator (specifically supporting content for sales)
  • Sauce Video (for video creation)
  • Oracle Architecture Center (for expert guidance on features)

While the Oracle Content Manager can be used with diverse tech stacks, it’s most commonly combined with iOS, Android, React, React Native, Vue, Gatsby, Svelte, Next.js, Flutter, Angular, Javascript and more. 

Oracle Content Management strengths

Pros:

  • Dependable performance
  • Solid third-party integrations (with Office 365 and more)
  • Great for managing large volumes of digital assets
  • Top content performance tracking via real-time analytic reports
  • Anywhere access that makes it easy to update 

Cons:

  • Not as flexible and customizable as other solutions
  • Community forums and documentation aren’t very robust

About Adobe Experience Manager

The blue editor of Adobe’s experience manager.
(Source: Adobe)

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The Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a premier content management solution that tops the charts for feature-rich tools. Today it’s the choice of 10,500+ businesses and runs more than 35,000+ live sites, including 5,200+ within the top one million brands. High-ranking companies that leverage AEM include PGA Tour, Thinkingbox, AT&T, General Motors, Coca-Cola and so on. 

Adobe Experience Manager features

AEM has an impressive breadth and depth of features for personalized content and asset management. It’s also at the cutting edge of providing AI-empowered workflows for content teams. Main features include:

  • Content management system
  • Digital asset management
  • Digital enrollment and forms
  • Learning manager (for employee training tools) 
  • Digital guides
  • Digital screens (for digital signage)
  • Website creation (including drag-and-drop directly from Word or Google Docs)
  • Built-in APIs and integrations 
  • Touch-enabled UI (for responsive design) 

Adobe is ideal for setting up personalized content for specific customer segments across all your channels. Plus, it can combine with a variety of different tech stacks depending on your business needs.  

Adobe Experience Manager strengths

Pros:

  • All-in-one suite of Adobe tools
  • High-level personalized experiences
  • Ease of use via a drag-and-drop interface, pre-built templates and a WYSIWYG editor Great for multi-site and/or multi-language content
  • Analytics tracking and reports from any digital point in the customer journey
  • Lots of out-of-the-box features

Cons:

  • A steep learning curve
  • Vendor lock-in to Adobe products 

‍Learn about our successful Adobe solutions.

‍Comparing Oracle Content Manager vs. Adobe Experience Manager

The Oracle Content Manager vs. Adobe Experience Manager are both top-rated solutions, with a ranking of 4.4/5.0 by Gartner. While Adobe slightly edges out Oracle in every category, the two are high-power, workable solutions.

Key strengths of Oracle and Adobe

  • Built-in security and compliance. Both tools utilize cloud platform security with excellent encryption and authentication features.
  • Analytics. Both have in-depth analytics dashboards and reports to measure success with your content. 
  • Omnichannel applications. Both take an end-to-end approach for customer touchpoints, so you can share content across all channels.
  • Scalable. Both are growth-friendly to allow you to ramp up new features with minimal resources. 

Best use cases for Oracle Content Manager

  • Your priority is reliable performance over shiny features. 
  • You don’t want to be locked into a single vendor (like Adobe).
  • You have a large volume of digital assets to manage. 
  • You don’t have very complex customizations in mind. 

Best use cases for Adobe Experience Manager

  • You want to leverage Adobe’s suite of digital tools.
  • You’re seeking a top solution for multi-site management.
  • You’re keen to have a user-friendly interface and WYSIWYG editor.
  • You’re an enterprise with the resources to afford Adobe. 

How to choose the best CMS for your business

A hand posed on a large white board, brainstorming CMS ideas.
(Source: Pexels)

Now that you have a clearer understanding of Oracle Content Manager vs. Adobe Experience Manager, it’s time to make a decision. If you’re not sure how to choose, start with these key steps. 

1. Audit your real business needs 

First, take the pulse on your business goals and requirements. Talk to all departments and stakeholders to get a holistic vision. This will help you understand what type of CMS customizations and integrations you’ll need. At the same time, you can pinpoint logistics, such as a realistic budget and timeframe. 

2. Analyze use scenarios and growth potential

Finding a CMS that meets all your needs can be overwhelming. Start by knowing your best use scenarios, so you can ask specifically about how the CMS can handle them. (A good way to check this is through product demos!) You should also get a sense of how the platform can change and expand as your business grows. 

3. Balance user-friendliness with feature-richness

It’s easy to get carried away by “shiny object syndrome” and seek the platform with the savviest UX. Just make sure that function is still there. It’s essential that your CMS has all the features you require, while also retaining some level of user-friendliness for you and your staff. 

4. Understand the level of support each CMS offers

If you don’t have a robust IT team, you may rely on the CMS’s support. Check that there are training sessions, technical documentation and community forums that answer your most urgent questions. Otherwise, you may be better off with a CMS that has a higher level of support. 

5. Maximize efforts with an expert CMS partner

Digital content management can be difficult to set up to your exact specifications. You may benefit from hiring an expert CMS partner who can co-pilot your product development and ensure that you’re making the right technical decisions for your business. 

Meet our Nearsure experts.

Our expert tips for CMS implementation

Content managers don’t implement themselves. Whether you’ve selected Oracle Content Manager vs. Adobe Experience Manager, you’ll need on-the-ground developers to ensure your CMS is tailored to your business scenario. Our specialists at Nearsure have put together these key tips for a smoother implementation phase. 

1. Define a strategy, not just a plan

Although a roadmap is useful, it’s best to define a strategy that integrates your broader business goals. Be sure that your CMS strategy makes your values and priorities clear, so that your technical teams know what to focus on. 

2. Don’t skip content compliance

In addition to your internal workflows and access permissions, set up protocols to stay compliant with data and security regulations. Specifically, data privacy is a major sticking point. Your CMS should guarantee that any customer data is well-protected according to the highest standards. 

3. Focus on clean data integration

Data is everything today. During your CMS implementation, pay special attention as you integrate your data streams and set up data-rich content. It’s vital for your data to be as clean, comprehensive and secure as possible. 

4. Empower your teams with training

Your CMS is only as powerful as your team’s ability to use it. Schedule early training sessions on your CMS, so that you get your staff onboard and respond to their concerns right out of the gate. The more confident your teams are with your CMS, the more productive they’ll be. 

5. Lean on expert opinions 

Customizing your CMS is critical to your business success. You’ll want a true CMS partner to handle the full cycle of development, including key areas such as QA testing and ongoing monitoring. At Nearsure, we’re a go-to CMS development partner who builds future-proof set-ups that evolve with your needs.

Build a savvy CMS with Nearsure experts

Ultimately, choosing between Oracle Content Manager vs. Adobe Experience Manager can be challenging. With our expert guide on these CMS features, pros/cons and more, you’ll be better equipped to make a strategic decision for your business.  

Ready to build a savvy CMS that elevates business outcomes? At Nearsure, we boast of a skilled pool of 20,000+ Latin American developers from 18+ countries. We have the ideal CMS experts – including our top-tier Adobe specialists – to accelerate digital content delivery and automate behind-the-scenes workflows. 

Discuss your CMS needs with us.