Why You Should Plan Your AEM 6.5 Upgrade Before End of Support

With AEM 6.5 Extended Support ending soon, waiting too long to plan your upgrade can lead to security risks, rushed decisions, and expensive emergency work. Here's why you should start planning now.

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5 Extended Support is approaching its end-of-life date, and many organizations are still running this version in production. If you’re among them, now is the time to start planning your upgrade—not when support ends.

The Risks of Waiting

Security Vulnerabilities

Once Extended Support ends, Adobe will no longer provide security patches for AEM 6.5. This means:

No fixes for newly discovered vulnerabilities - Your system remains exposed to emerging threats
Compliance issues - Many industries require up-to-date security patches for regulatory compliance
Increased attack surface - Hackers specifically target software that’s no longer supported

Rushed Decision-Making

Organizations that wait until the last minute often find themselves in crisis mode:

Limited time for proper planning - No time to assess all your customizations and integrations
Higher costs - Emergency work always costs more than planned projects
Increased risk - Rushed upgrades lead to more bugs and production issues
Compromise on quality - You may have to skip best practices to meet deadlines

Resource Constraints

The closer you get to the EOL date, the harder it becomes to find help:

Consultant availability - The best AEM consultants book up months in advance
Your team’s time - Your developers are still maintaining the current system while trying to plan the upgrade
Budget cycles - Securing budget for an emergency upgrade is harder than planning ahead

The Right Timeline

Based on our experience with dozens of AEM upgrades, here’s what a realistic timeline looks like:

6-12 Months Before EOL: Discovery & Planning

Audit your current AEM environment
Catalog all custom components and integrations
Assess compatibility with newer AEM versions
Plan your upgrade path (6.5 LTS vs. AEM as a Cloud Service)
Secure budget and resources

3-6 Months Before EOL: Development & Testing

Refactor incompatible custom code
Update third-party integrations
Set up test environments
Perform thorough testing across all use cases
Train your team on any new features or changes

1-3 Months Before EOL: Deployment & Stabilization

Production deployment with rollback plan
Post-deployment monitoring
Address any issues that emerge
Validate all functionality
Build buffer time for unexpected problems

Benefits of Planning Early

Thorough Assessment

With adequate time, you can:

Review all customizations - Identify which custom code is still needed vs. technical debt
Evaluate alternatives - Consider whether some customizations can be replaced with out-of-the-box features
Optimize architecture - Use the upgrade as an opportunity to improve your setup

Better Outcomes

Early planning leads to:

Fewer surprises - You discover issues in testing, not production
Lower costs - Planned work is always cheaper than emergency work
Higher quality - You have time to do things right
Knowledge transfer - Your team learns the new system gradually

Strategic Decisions

Time allows you to make informed choices:

Cloud vs. On-Premises - Evaluate whether to move to AEM as a Cloud Service
Architecture improvements - Redesign problematic areas while you’re upgrading
Process optimization - Improve deployment processes and development workflows

What To Do Now

If you’re still on AEM 6.5 and haven’t started planning your upgrade:

Schedule an AEM Health Check - Understand your current environment and upgrade readiness
Define your timeline - Work backward from the EOL date to establish milestones
Secure resources - Get budget approval and book consultant time now
Start small - Begin with a proof of concept in a lower environment
Document everything - You’ll need this documentation throughout the upgrade

Common Objections (And Why They’re Wrong)

“We’ll upgrade when we have time”

You’ll never have time. Something else will always be more urgent. Schedule it now or risk being forced into an emergency upgrade.

“Our system is stable; we can wait”

Stable doesn’t mean secure. As soon as support ends, your stable system becomes a security liability.

“Upgrading is too expensive”

An emergency upgrade at the last minute will cost 2-3x more than a planned upgrade. Plus, the cost of a security breach far exceeds upgrade costs.

“We might move to a different platform”

Even if you’re considering alternatives, you need a plan. Evaluating and migrating to a new platform takes even longer than upgrading.

Need Help?

At Infiniumtek, we’ve guided dozens of organizations through AEM upgrades. We can help you:

Assess your current environment
Plan your upgrade path
Execute the upgrade with minimal risk
Provide ongoing support after the upgrade

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Request an AEM Health Check today to understand where you stand and what you need to do.

Planning an AEM 6.5 upgrade? We can help with assessment, planning, and execution. Get in touch to discuss your specific situation.