What are our options for replacing AEM on prem

[CØK]

Hi there -

We currently have AEM Designer on prem (local installs) and love it for maintaining 1500+ forms that are mandated for use statewide. We have NO need or desire to publish thru an AEM site and will NOT need to collect customer responses in at least the medium future. We simply want to design and maintain forms that can be published on our own website for customers to download.

Our current contract is set to expire.

Is there a product that we can purchase that will allow us to maintain effort and nothing more?

EDIT:

We would not object to a SaaS solution, but I would like to emphasize that we are NOT looking for a CRM solution. There is no exchange of data whatsoever.

EDIT #2:

The end version of a form will always be in a specific prescribed layout, it will NOT be an adaptive form. In other words, if the original forms design is three pages, anything that the end user fills out will end up being three pages as well - it will not contract/expand based on input. If additional space is needed, an attachment must be filled out.

[radzmar]

Sounds like you're just need something like classic static PDF forms aka AcroForms. Those can be created and edited with Acrobat or InDesign. However, since your existing forms were created with Designer, they are XFA-forms, which are based on a template (XDP) that is wrapped in a PDF-shell. This PDF-shell is just a container. When the fom is opened the nested XDP is read by the PDF viewer which then renders it on the screen, like a website.  The problem is, that Acrobat can't edit those forms, only Designer can do this. So if you need to maintain them, you'll need it. The only way around would be to open those XFA-forms in Acrobat, print them as PDF which will flatten them to pure PDFs which then can be edited with Acrobat. Downsite of this method is, that all existing scripts get lost and have to be redone. 

[CØK]

Right, and they change at least twice a year, so that is a no-go. Does Adobe really only offer the full bells-and-whistles CRM model? If we were somehow able to get money for that, would it be possible to skip all the add-ons and simply continue to maintain our forms the way we have so far? 

[radzmar]

You can get 1-year-licences for Adobe Designer in packs of 10 form authorised dealers. This is just for Designer, so no other AEM products are included. Search for the sku 38055220FA. 

[Angele_Taylor]

TLDR:

You can still buy Designer if that may make sense

You can buy AEM Forms - it has extra features which might make sense, plus may have a cost savings depending on how many licenses you need to buy.

You may lose functionality if you go to Acrobat forms.

Details:

Depends on your licensing structure and the number of designer applications you have physically installed on different machines. Traditionally, LiveCycle Designer was sold as one time cost but because you mentioned your license is about to expire, it gives the impression that you are purchasing individual licenses of the new AEM Designer and that you weren't grandfathered in. Not many organizations can sell AEM Designer but you can still buy it.

It also depends on the complexity of your forms, the required level of accessibility compliance and how people are accessing your forms. Acrobat forms may not be the best route. If they are simple forms with minimal requirement go with the Acrobat form, you will lose some functionality but again if they are simple forms you may be able to get away with it.

The other option is to explore to renew your Designer license, yes you can still do that, or look at buying Adobe Experience Manager Forms. The AEM Forms solution contains the Designer tool along with a bunch of other enterprise tools for modernized data capture rather than the more traditional methods. If your organization won't benefit from the Forms features it still make sense from a cost perspective depending on how many Designer licenses you have to buy. - Yes you can buy AEM Forms separate form Sites or Assets.

I know that was a lot of information. Here are some links that may help!

Designer FAQ

Whitepaper exploring the features in AEM Forms