Senate
Approved

House
Approved

SCORE BREAKDOWN

User Interface

22/25

Cost

20/25

Differentiation

25/25

Effectiveness

23/25

Considered one of the most impactful software suites available, Adobe Creative Cloud and its constituent applications can augment the workflows and staff capabilities of any congressional office.    

Creative Cloud’s Software

Adobe’s Creative Cloud is a software suite that includes graphic design, visual content creation, and document management platforms. Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom, InDesign, After Effects, Illustrator, Audition, Dreamweaver, and Edge Reflow and several other platforms round out the creative software included in the suite. Creative Cloud also integrates with Adobe Document Cloud suite through Acrobat Pro and the company’s PDF ecosystem. The software suite is available for PCs and Macs  while most Creative Cloud apps are supported on Android and Apple mobile devices.

Beginners & UX

New Adobe users may be intimidated by the cumbersome nature of the applications at first, but this experience is remedied with long-term use. New users are given a support network and knowledge base, and enterprise clients, including congressional offices, receive 24/7 support. As a result, users are typically satisfied with Adobe products.

Integrations

Creative Cloud software works with developer add-ons, third-party platforms, and other Adobe native software. Creative Cloud fully integrates with Adobe Experience Manager–the company’s proprietary customer and content management system. Experience Manager, and its Experience Cloud infrastructure, integrates with various CRM platforms and marketing stacks.  

Deployment in Congress

Adobe has a FedRAMP certification for the entire Creative Cloud software suite. The General Services Administration offers FedRAMP certifications to cloud providers for high-achieving security infrastructure. House CAO’s Information Resources (HIR) branch certified the entire Adobe Creative Cloud for unclassified information assets, permitting the subsequent sale of the platform to all members of the House of Representatives. Senate authorities have also authorized Adobe Creative Cloud with the same parameters.

Pricing and Distribution

Adobe Creative Cloud is sold to congressional offices under a flexible Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreement customizable to the needs of large private organizations or governmental entities. This form of software distribution allows for cost-effective deployment, and each agreement lasts for three years.

HIR maintains the agreements in the House. Adobe Document Cloud, an Acrobat-focused software suite, is also sold to House offices under a similar arrangement. Senate agreements are unknown, despite the approval of Adobe cloud products for use among members. Hill offices can forgo the Enterprise Term License Agreements and instead choose a subscription plan, which starts at $79.99 per user per month.

What we think

Every office should use Creative Cloud. The capabilities granted by this software  to an office are plentiful. From industry-standard graphic design to top-of-the-line document and task management solutions, Adobe’s powerful cloud products are excellent options for any congressional office’s long-term technology investment.