BASF SE
Proven look with new technology
For the world's leading chemical company BASF, pro!vision, a subsidiary of diva-e, was able to successfully modernise the old Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) environment. In a joint project with other service providers, diva-e contributed its expertise. Within the project, BASF draw on pro!vision's 20 years of experience in Adobe CMS development, dating back to CQ5, an AEM predecessor version from the early days of Adobe CMS product development.
As extended vendor support for the outdated CQ5.6 version expired, BASF was faced with the challenge of implementing a new generation of the website. Instead of the originally planned API migration, BASF opted for a complete re-implementation after a thorough analysis of the legacy system. The AEM environment was upgraded to AEM 6.4. By moving the website to the Adobe Managed Services (AMS) Cloud, the system architecture is now future-proofed.
Objective
Reduce costs and increase maintainability
The goal was to redesign the existing website while maintaining much of the same functionality to save on extended vendor support costs and reduce the complexity of the AEM environment. Design and UX were to match the old website as much as possible.
Implementation
Re-implementation, standardisation and automation
The project was carried out in cooperation with BASF employees, other service providers, and a consultancy from Adobe Consulting Services. During the implementation, BASF was able to draw on the deep AEM know-how and many years of project experience of diva-e employees.
In the course of the redevelopment, the code was cleaned up and the code quality of the AEM environment was sustainably increased. The introduction of coding guidelines and static code analysis significantly improved the future maintainability of the application. A focus was placed on test automation to accelerate development and testing cycles as well as improving code quality through increased test coverage. The frontend was tested using Bobcat, a Java-based AEM-specific BDD (Behavior Driven Development) test automation framework.
As specified by BASF, the new implementation was done strictly according to Adobe vendor recommendations and rules. No company-specific libraries or frameworks were used.
Result
A new future-proof system
Due to the expiration of manufacturer support, a switch to the new AEM platform was forced. As a result, the website received a completely new, much more stable technical foundation, while retaining most of the proven design of the previous site. This significantly reduced operational risks as well as implementation and follow-up costs during day-to-day operations.
The move to the Adobe Managed Services (AMS) Cloud and the deactivation of the CQ5 legacy system not only permanently reduces operating and maintenance costs, but also helps to reduce the complexity of the BASF IT landscape. In return, the financial scope for future-oriented new investments is increased.
