BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client wanted to modernise its digital experience by upgrading from Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.4 to AEM 6.5+ on Adobe Cloud. The goal was to leverage new AEM features to enhance user experience, boost website performance, and ultimately increase ticket sales and customer engagement at one of Australia’s most iconic cultural landmarks.

However, the existing client website relied heavily on custom-built components and legacy dialogs that were incompatible with AEM 6.5. Many of these were built using older versions of AEM libraries, including deprecated Classic UI and non-standard APIs. The upgrade demanded a complete rewrite of these elements to AEM Commons version 4.x and migration of dialogs to Coral 3 UI.

In addition to the development challenges, the client’s team faced testing limitations, their current performance testing scripts were unreliable, and the testing processes lacked automation, leading to slow feedback cycles and inconsistent results.

STRATEGIC SOLUTION

Adactin partnered with the client to deliver both technical and quality assurance expertise, working closely with the client’s internal development and business-as-usual teams to ensure a seamless upgrade.

Technical Upgrade

• Conducted a full audit of existing AEM 6.4 components and identified those requiring rewrites for AEM 6.5 compliance.
• Re-engineered custom components and dialogs to align with AEM Commons v4.x and Coral 3 UI, ensuring compatibility with Adobe Cloud standards.
• Streamlined source control and CI/CD processes using Git and Bitbucket for version management.

Testing & Quality Enablement

• Introduced structured testing methodologies to replace ad hoc manual processes.
• Recommended and implemented improved functional and performance testing strategies, including script optimisation and result validation.
• Enhanced collaboration between developers, testers, and business users through JIRA-based defect management and continuous feedback loops.

Technology Stack

AEM 6.5+, Java 8, HTML, CSS, jQuery, Git, Bitbucket, JIRA

BUSINESS OUTCOMES

• Seamless upgrade to AEM 6.5+ with minimal disruption and downtime.
• Improved website usability through updated dialogs and modernised UI components.
• Enhanced performance and reliability, with Adactin validating improvements via comprehensive performance testing.
• Higher quality, maintainable codebase, simplifying future upgrades and integrations.
• Faster turnaround time for deployments due to streamlined testing and release processes.
• Consistent and scalable testing framework, empowering the client’s internal team to maintain quality going forward

Results

• Primary Source: Adactin Case Study – AEM Upgrade (Adactin Group Pty Ltd, 2019).
• Tools & Technologies: AEM 6.5+, Java 8, HTML, CSS, jQuery, Git, Bitbucket, JIRA.
• Business Area: Digital Experience Enhancement for a key client.