Feature Lifecycle

Simplicity and productivity guide everything we do. To stay lean and fast, we focus on the features customers actively use.

Edge Delivery Services follows a feature lifecycle, not a traditional roadmap. When our existing features don't meet a business need, we work with customers to build a solution. If it gains traction across several customers, we make it a product feature and keep watching how it is used. When a feature is no longer actively used, we replace it with a better one.

The Adoption Arc

The lifecycle is described by the Adoption Arc: seven stages that show how widely a feature is used in the real world. Adoption grows until a feature is firmly rooted in the product, and declines when it stops earning its place. Each stage has a descriptive name as well as a nickname from the gardening world, which is how you will see it written on badges and in conversation.

Pages for features that are not mainstream show their current stage as a badge at the top right of the page title. The badge links back to this page, so you can see at a glance where in the lifecycle the feature stands. Mainstream features don't show a badge unless a page asks for one.

This is not a release track

The Adoption Arc is independent of go-to-market (GTM) concepts. Terms such as alpha, beta, general availability (GA), deprecation notice period and end-of-life describe availability, eligibility and support commitments: who may get a feature, when, and under which terms. The Adoption Arc describes adoption: how many customers actually use a feature, and how well it is working for them.

That is why the stages are named differently, and why the two axes don't map one to one:

• The map of interest is not a backlog. Whether an interest advances to a repeatable solution and beyond is governed by real life usage, not a roadmap or development plan.
• A feature in increasing use can be available to everyone (GA in GTM terms) and still be lightly used. Availability doesn't make it mainstream, use does.
• A mainstream feature can still have an open-ended roadmap of improvements. The stage says nothing about how often it changes.
• A feature can move to decreasing use without any announcement. Adobe watches usage, and a feature can lose ground long before anyone decides to deprecate it.
• Discouraged and removed are the stages where Adobe's deprecation and end-of-service commitments apply.

Progress along the arc is not strictly linear. A feature can skip stages, for example moving from Repeatable straight to Decreasing use when its implementation or usage proves problematic. The arc describes where a feature stands today, not a schedule it must follow.

Stages

Interest

An interest (Seed) is a business need we have heard from customers and partners that existing product features can't meet. Nothing is built yet. Items are collected in our Map of Interest from conversations with users in Slack or Teams, and the ones that keep coming up are candidates for a repeatable solution.

What this means for you: don't plan around it. If you need it, tell us about your use case. That is how interests turn into repeatable solutions.

Repeatable

A repeatable solution (Sprout) is one Adobe built together in co-innovation with one or more customers to address a Seed from the map of interest. It works, it can be repeated for similar projects, and it is used in a few places. It is typically delivered at project level and is not yet part of the product offering.

What this means for you: talk to us before you start. Repeatable solutions are shaped by the projects that use them, so your requirements count.

Increasing use

A feature in increasing use (Sapling) is in its first product version. It is available to use, but it is young: it may still change significantly, may need more support than usual, may be behind a feature flag, and is not widely adopted yet. What puts it in this stage is that its use is growing. If it stays small, or shrinks, it moves to decreasing usage instead. Pages for these features show the Increasing usage badge.

What this means for you: you can use it, and your feedback matters most here. Expect changes, and plan for them. Features that gain traction across multiple customers become mainstream.

Mainstream

A mainstream feature (Rooted) is fully productized and proven in real-world use. Many projects rely on it, and it is part of the product offering. This is where we want every feature to end up.

What this means for you: build on it with confidence. We keep monitoring usage, because this is a position a feature has to keep earning.

Updates of Edge Delivery Services components and services roll out continuously. See the Recent Releases for a detailed change list by component.

Decreasing use

A feature in decreasing use (Wilting) has passed its peak. Fewer customers use it than before, or it is being used in ways that lead to poor results. Decreasing usage is a signal, not a decision: we look at why usage is dropping and whether a better solution exists.

What this means for you: it keeps working. If you depend on it, use it to help keep it alive. Tell us about your use case, it may change how we handle it. If you are starting a new project, check whether a different solution fits better.

Discouraged

A discouraged feature (Spent) has been abandoned by users, has not proven its usefulness, or it has been replaced by a better solution. It is no longer recommended for new projects. Where possible, we suggest a replacement.

What this means for you: don't start new work on it, and plan to migrate. Contact us if you have a legitimate use case, we will help find the best solution.

See Deprecations and Removals for the features currently in this stage.

Removed

A removed feature (Uprooted) has reached its end-of-service date. It is no longer available or supported. Where a replacement exists, the page for the removed feature points to it.

See Deprecations and Removals for the features that have been removed.