At the end of 2017, Adobe started giving access to Adobe Launch, the new tag management tool, which will replace Adobe DTM in the future. The reason is simple: While Adobe DTM (previously acquired from Search Discovery as „Satellite“) was focused on the easy implementation of tracking, Adobe Launch’s focus is more tool- and usage-agnostic by providing full control of e.g. the firing of tracking calls. However, Launch still offers the comfortable interface and configuring Adobe Analytics is as easy before.
Timings when and how Adobe DTM will go offline
Update: Adobe slightly adjust the timing and gives you 3 more months to migrate. This post already reflectes the updated timings.
July 2019
From July 2019 on, you cannot create new properties in Adobe DTM. You’ll still be able to configure, publish etc. your current ones, but every new website must use Adobe Launch. The change in your IT department shouldn’t be too big, as Adobe Launch still provides a synchronous version with a header and a footer code. You should have a look at the different header code, and inform your IT department as soon as possible: They might have set up a logic that adds „-staging“ to the JS file, which worked for DTM, but doesn’t for Adobe Launch anymore.
October 2020
Your existing DTM properties turn to read-only mode. While all your existing implementations are up and running, nothing can be changed in Adobe DTM anymore. We recommend to set up an internal policy to not change anything in Adobe DTM anymore starting March 2020. With that process, you still have 6 months to find and fix bugs. Without that policy, any misconfiguration you accidentally do short before October 2020 will remain in your code forever, if you find it some weeks after. Adobe offers a migration tool to move from Adobe DTM to Adobe Launch without changing the header and footer code. This gives you the option to migrate an old Adobe DTM property to Adobe Launch, without changing the header and footer code and thus independent of your implementation.
April 2021
In 2021, Adobe DTM will go dark. No tool access, no documentation, no support. Good news for the lazy: If you had old websites you forgot to migrate, the JS file still remains up and running.
Read more: DTM Plans for a Sunset by Ben Robinson
