Project Roles and Responsibilities

As an experienced AEM implementor, you will likely have seen the roles being referred to as Authors, Developers, and IT/Technicians.

In a typical AEM Screens project, the roles are further refined as they each serves important purpose in the project.

The diagram below shows the roles that we will refer to throughout the guide.

NOTE

Many of these roles could be either in-house or outsourced, depending on how each project is set up.

Defining Roles

The following section provides an overview on the target audience:

Adobe

Adobe includes Adobe Managed Services resources like the CSE (Customer Success Engineer) and Adobe Support.

AEM Implementors

AEM Implementors are responsible for performing development and integration tasks to develop the user experience, custom templates, and back-end integrations for AEM.

Custom features required to address end-customer UX (User Experience) parameters are also captured and delivered through this process.

AEM Implementors will typically deploy custom functionality in phases over time to locations. For example, they might first establish support for playback of basic looped video or static graphic content. The next phase might include enabling the ability to support playback of localized content through dynamic templates and metadata tags, with additional phases incorporating support for interactive elements via touch screens, sensors, dynamic triggers, and so on.

AV Integrators

The A/V Integrator is the Hardware Vendor/Partner. This is the party that deals with retail design and site preparation, including hardware acquisition, configuration, and deployment. It is typically a contracted 3rd party who has access to a Network Operations Center (NOC). In many cases the A/V Integrator is the project owner due to its continuous involvement post-launch.

An AV Integrator is responsible for conducting discovery with end-customers to define requirements determining project scope to design, build and effectively manage deployments around digital signage hardware.

Considering Hardware Partner

It is crucial to select the right Hardware Partner. The following questions must be considered:

  1. What are the terms of Service level agreement?

  2. What is Global coverage?

  3. Is it 24 hour support?

  4. How will the devices be managed?

  5. What are the active monitoring and warning systems?

Business Strategists

The Business Strategists represent the decision makers at the company. This role is heavily involved in the discovery and requirements stages and is the main driver of the project.

They are the ones defining requirements and setting up KPI metrics. Business Strategy could be the following:

  • Marketing or,
  • Sales Manager Digital Strategy Manager Creatives / Content Management.

The Creatives and Content Management team work closely with the Strategy team and turn requirements into client experiences. They drive the overall UX design and curate contents that complements the brand.

The Creatives and Content Management could be the following:

  • Creative Agency or,
  • Brand Manager

Project Managers

Project Managers typically manage the entire deployment for your AEM Screens deployment. A project manager is the point person for the entire implementation of the designated project and performs major responsibilities such as setting timelines, handling team needs and communications, addressing challenges, and ensuring that goals are met.

NOTE

To learn in detail about different roles and responsibilities and the target audience for a digital signage project, visit Project Roles and Responsibilities.

Project Stages

To support a successful Digital Signage deployment, it is customary to segment the project into 3 stages.  These stages are commonly referred to as Days. These are not literal days but designations for each major stage of the project.

  1. The first stage is referred to as Day Zero. This stage includes all pre-sales and discovery efforts required to fully define project scope.
  2. The second stage, Day One, refers to all activities included in the deployment effort.
  3. The third and final stage Day Two refers to all ongoing operations and support elements as part of the total solution.
NOTE

While this guide puts emphasis primarily on Day One and Day Two, attention to all three stages is necessary to execute a successful digital signage project.

Follow an additional video on Project Management and Deployment to learn about project pre-production, project initiation, and project progression.

RACI Chart

The following is a sample RACI chart using the role definitions.

NOTE

This chart is not intended to be followed exactly but to provide an example of common tasks and considerations in an AEM Screens projects.

RACI definitions

  • Responsible: Does the work to complete the task.

  • Accountable: Delegates work and is the last party to review the task before it is complete.

  • Consulted: Reviews the task or deliverable to provide input.

  • Informed: Kept informed of progress on the task but is not involved in the details of the deliverable.

The following is a sample RACI chart using the role definitions and provides an example of common tasks and considerations in an AEM Screens project.

The following table summarizes the Day Zero: Pre-sales Considerations:

Phase A/V Integrator AEM Implementor Business Strategy Content Management
Team Formation and Vendor Selection I I RA RA
Agreement on Roles and Responsibilities RA RA RA RA
Alignment on Strategic Goals CI I RA RA
Reporting Needs and ROI Identification I C RA C
Site Visit and Hardware Requirements RA I C C
Support Process Definition C I RA I
Define Scope of Work and Project Plan RA RA C C

The following table summarizes the Day One: Project Implementation (Application Design):

Phase A/V Integrator AEM Implementor Business Strategy Content Management
Agreement on Roles an Responsibilities RA RA RA RA
Alignment on Project Plan and Schedule RA RA C C
Evaluate Current Server Environments I RA I I
UX Design Requirements I RA C RA
Technical Requirements Validation I RA RA C
Architecture Design I RA I I
Validate Data Structure with UI Design I RA C C
Application Development RA RA RA RA
AEM Screens Project Set Up I RA C I
Analytics Implementation I RA C -
Testing and Deployment RA C RA I
Server Configuration I RA I I
Content Update Plan I RA C C
Plan for pilot to production transition RA RA I I
Knowledge Transfer RA RA I I

The following table summarizes the Day One: Project Implementation (Retail Readiness):

Phase A/V Integrator AEM Implementor Business Strategy Content Management
Hardware Ordering and Storage RA I I I
Retail Onboarding Schedule I I C RA
Staging User Acceptance Testing I C RA
Hardware Bulk Configuration RA I C I
Agreement on Post Launch Support RA C RA C

The following table summarizes the Day One: Day One: Project Implementation (Hardware):

Phase A/V Integrator AEM Implementor Business Strategy Content Management
Agreement on Roles and Responsibilities RA RA RA RA
Retail Design includes wiring operations - - - -
Player Hardware Selection RAC - - -
Device Management of master RA I - -
Device Ordering & Storing & Configuring RA CI I -
Support Process Definition RA I RA C
NOTE

Roles change during Day Two (Post Launch Support).

  • Author: Content Management + Strategy

  • Developer: Typically a member of the AEM Screens implementation team, or handoff to internal development team

  • Technician: Either contracted by the AV integrator or is part of the same company.

The following table summarizes the Day Two: Post Launch Support RACI Chart:

Phase Author Developer Technician
Day Two: Post Launch Support
Agreement on Roles and Responsibilities RA RA RA
Tier 1 Support I I RA
Tier 2 Support I C RA
Tier 3 Support I RA C
Content Update RA I I
Evaluate UX success and identify areas of improvements RA C I

Business.Adobe.com resources

Docs links
Multichannel Communication Automated Onboarding Asset Collections Document Generation Content As A Service Digital Asset Management

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