‘When I started using ACS, I had these beginner questions:
- What is ACS? (Really, I wasn’t aware that there is something other than ACC)
- How much does it differ to ACC?
- What are those key areas of difference?
- How much time will be required to learn ?
- Is it user friendly ?
So, here is a quick one.
ACS is the Cloud version of Adobe Campaign. Adobe Campaign Classic can be deployed on on-premise or hybrid but ACS is the cloud based version.
Once you start using it you will get a feel that it extends the same thought process of other Adobe Products which is – “build an end to end Marketing Suite accessible on cloud”.
Since, ACS is cloud based, and it is intended to address the typical core use cases – it has comparatively lesser features than ACC. ACC is a full blown campaign solution. If you want to do anything which can be done in the world of campaigns use ACC.
You can go into any of the activities and compare them and you will get the difference. Also, there are lesser number of activities in ACS. The API calls in ACS are REST based while in ACC those are SOAP based – so that’s a key difference.
Honestly, I am still getting my head around most of the stuff there is – in ACS.
If you are well versed with ACC, you will find ACS much simpler and cleaner. It will just take a few months time to understand the terminology related nuances.
Some terminology related nuances in ACS
- In ACS, schemas are called resources (database resources to be precise), seeds are called Traps etc.
- Some activity names are different as well (I will do a detailed post on this later)
Rest of the things are pretty same. The concepts are the same – typologies, deliveries, etc.
Key Limitations
However, there are limitations in ACS. I am highlighting few of these below:
- Firstly, the UI is way different. Though the concept of Program -> Campaign -> Workflow remains the same but thins are structure a bit differently in ACS. This may take some time to understand but it is not very difficult.
- Secondly, there are only a limited set of activities in ACS. This doesn’t mean you cant do things , it only means you have to do them in a certain way and you have to be really creative in how you use those activities.
- You can’t really query a schema/resource directly from an explorer kind of a view. You have to drag a query activity and do it. You also can’t do any type of filtering on data in-transit in the workflow.
- You can’t use JS in a workflow. You can use JS in content blocks though. Again a big limitation
They say and even I have realized – whatever you can do in ACC you can do in ACS.
Official documentation link.
P.S : Let me know, if you have noticed any other points of disparity between the two. I know there are many 🙂 Cheers, Have a great time with ACS.
It helped me to start with basics. Thanks
I heard Adobe campaign classic is more complex. Anythoughts?
Adobe Campaign Classic is a full blown campaign product, ACS has only a limited functionality. Everything which you can do in ACS can be done in ACC but the reverse is not the case. So, ACC might look complex when you start with
I use ACC at the company I currently work at, in a few weeks I am starting a job at a different company that uses ACS. How quickly do you think I will be able to pick up ACS? Should I warn my new manager that it may take some time before I am an expert and able to problem solve?
I believe you would have got the answer till now. But if not, you should be able to ramp up on ACS quickly. You just need to be able to find your way in ACS as there are very limited features.