What I’ve Learned from Tags (formerly Adobe Launch) So Far vs. The Top 7 Reasons Adobe Says to Migrate

As companies migrate to the next-gen TMS platform and Tags (formerly Adobe Launch) becomes more pervasive, I wanted to take a step back and reflect on the 7 reasons to upgrade Adobe has on their landing page. As I do this, I want to compare them with learnings gained from on-the-field experience of having both 1) migrated clients from DTM to Launch, and 2) standing up an Experience Cloud (AA + AAM + AT) from scratch.

1. Faster deployments

Value: Extension marketplace with all the marketing technology you need at your disposal.

I believe the perceived value here is with the Extension Marketplace all you have to do is find an Extension in the catalog, install, create a Rule, build, and deploy. While true, you must also get familiar with the Extensions themselves, and what if there are multiple Extension doing the same thing? It’s already happening:

Decisions, decisions…Which one do you choose? You either test them all, delaying your deployment, go with the vendor you are familiar with, or take advice from others in the industry. So, while I do love the marketplace for other reasons, I think faster deployment may not necessarily be top of my value list.

2. Extremely straightforward migration path

Value: Flip a switch to enable ‘Adaptors’ in Launch that allow DTM libraries to simply upgrade into Launch.

Despite this being 100% true, everybody who knows a thing, or two, about best practice implementations will recommend against simply flipping the switch. Migration is not a box to check, it is an opportunity to look for improvements in the way things are done. Even a minimal improvement is better than no improvement. Yes, you can use the same DTM embed for Launch, but you’ll be missing out on deploying Launch via an asynchronous tag (improved page load performance anyone?). There’s also a catch, not every DTM function works in the new Tags framework, and some have changed names. Meaning, this will break your tracking if you simply click on the Upgrade to Launch button from DTM and pray for the best.

Fingers crossed!I strongly recommend to go through the upgrade preparation guide to fully understand potential issues, and why it could sometimes fail. After much research and learning, we at Softcrylic developed an 8-step process to migrate that has proven to be effective at migrating our clients. If you’re looking into this shoot me a message from the form below and we can talk – even better, if you will be at Adobe Summit this year schedule a time slot with our team and we can talk in-person.

3. 3rd Party Extension Marketplace

Value: Launch APIs lets developers create Extensions that natively connect their technology with Adobe’s.

I love this concept and have high expectations for it. I specifically like it because I personally saw how some of the smartest product managers I’ve ever met turned down using DTM simply because 3rd party tags were implemented using ‘Custom JavaScript’. Those days aren’t completely over with Launch (yet) but having an equivalent to an ‘App Store’ does make things easier. Case in point, I implemented TrustArc’s Cookie Consent Manager with a simple extension rather than having to resort to complicated multi-line custom JS code that I had to use in DTM (in part because of the Extension, in part because Launch lets you sequence tags much easier!). So long as Extension developers follow the principle of using technology to reduce coding, I believe in this marketplace.

Praise be the Catalog!We at Softcrylic believe in it is so much that our very own Andrew Johns & Nirmal Kumar are developing an Extension to make it easier for business users to configure Adobe Analytics Activity Map. Catch us in the Launch Extension Idol competition at Adobe Summit 2019 for the preview.

4. Centralized and unified marketing technology

Value: extend technology by fusing capabilities across tools. For ex: use data from Adobe Analytics and Google Pixel to trigger a YouTube video

I’m yet to use this feature, but I can see it being powerful. I’m not even sure it’s a real feature though… From Adobe’s Launch landing page, you can see screenshots of what seems to show a rule using data from Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics as conditions. Meaning functionality from two separate tools are fused into a single rule used to trigger a third tool. Incredible:

Fuuu-sionThere’s only a small problema with this. I can’t select neither Google Analytics nor Adobe Analytics as conditions in a property that has both Extensions installed.

Maybe this one is too good to be true, or maybe I’m missing the detail on how to use properly. What I do know is I would love to see it in action and learn how to use. Adobe Summit 2019, will you show us?

5. Automated deployment

Value: The ability to create a script that will automate deployments of any 3rd party technology to a new property in seconds

This does sound promising and am excited to see come to fruition. It may still be early days, but I have yet to see any company actually deliver on this promise. Maybe there are some superstars out there doing incredible things, but I believe it is one of those things that is a lot easier said than done. When Adobe itself showcased this capability in Summit 2018, it was with a very bare bones demonstration; albeit super exciting. I think Adobe should follow in the steps of the DARPA Grand Challenge, who we have to thank for sparking the self-driving car revolution.

He really wants to install your eVars

6. Enterprise, component-based, publishing

Value: Multiple people can work on different implementations without stepping over each other’s feet. Infinite development environments if desired.

One of my favorite features, but I think this is a double-edged sword. While yes this will allow you to have flexibility of experimenting with implementations approaches, I’ve learned that with great power does indeed come great responsibility. For example, the ability to have multiple ‘development libraries’ in tandem and separate from each other is mouthwatering to say the least. However, if I’m working on a Rule that has multiple Actions or tags, and someone else starts working on that same Rule but on a different tag than the one I’m tinkering with, that person inherits my latest version of the rule… AND you can’t edit an older version of it. There’s also little visibility into what change a new revision has compared to a previous one.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯The only way I’m aware to understand changes is by selecting the revision and clicking into it, doing that for each revision, and finding out what the difference is. Not very fast, but my hope is Adobe is building some sort of comparison UI that can help spot changes.

7. Centralized rights management

Value: vastly greater control over user management

I don’t see this so much a Launch feature as much as an Experience Cloud Admin Console feature, but to be fair, DTM user management is handled within DTM rather than Admin Console. Adobe decided to skip bringing DTM user management into Admin Console because they knew Launch was coming. Smart. Issue is you must get used to Admin Console in the first place, which by itself comes with a steep learning curve; and I mean… who has time for that when you have so many other interesting features to master?

Launch Admin Console is not Launch’s Admin Console, but you Admin Launch in the Console

8. A not-so-secret reason to migrate

Bonus! There is actually one more reason Adobe does not have in its landing page to migrate though and is probably the most important one. DTM will be sunset by April 13, 2021; with initial steps towards that being taken this July. But don’t worry, although migration may sound tricky, with the right partner you can get there quickly.

All in all, I like Tags, and I think you should too. Can’t wait to see what is in store for it at Summit.