Recently I was discussing with one of my sales
colleagues who look after Digital transformation projects in the IT world.
While we were discussing, an interesting topic came around is “Migration” and
none of the Digital transformation projects end without performing a migration.
Migration can be of different scale, platform, life span…etc but all agreed
that we need to have a clear vision and roadmap on migration for a successful
transformation project. Since I am from MS technology background and on the content
side, an interesting question thrown on me asking “What are the possible
migration tracks” that we consider when we go and look for potential
opportunities on “Sitecore”.
Based on my experience and strategy of
Sitecore product, I could call out 3 tracks that we can consider for Sitecore
Migrations –
- Standard
Sitecore Migration – legacy version to Sitecore 9.x, either be a standard
version upgrade or complete digital experience transformation to Sitecore
9.x
- Legacy
CMS to Sitecore – outdated CMS platforms like SharePoint, OpenText, HP
TeamSite, WordPress to Sitecore 9.x
- Non-CMS
to Sitecore – of course still some customers are not leveraging the
benefits of CMS but trying to build their CMS focused products on
.NET/Java/Php…etc
Areas to focus and consider
Standard Sitecore Migration – Enterprises who already have
Sitecore as a platform for Web/Portals focusing on both B2C and B2B but on
legacy versions like 6.x, 7.x, and 8.x who does not leverage the latest benefits
available in Sitecore 9.x version (like Marketing Automation, Headless CMS,
SXA, Machine Learning…etc).
Of course, as-is upgrades are now possible and
can be done rapidly using Express Migration tools (check the version
compatibility at first sight 😊), Sitecore documented upgrade approach (this
is bit manual and need concentration while performing the activities). But
nowadays, most of the service providers have a decent level of experience
performing this kind of migration/upgrades with their in-house tools as well.
Also have a quick check on modules like ExM,
FxM, xDB, WFFM, Workflows (if any), Custom Reports through MongoDB, legacy
connectors..etc
Legacy CMS to Sitecore – As we all know the strategy of
SharePoint Onprem (& O365) is more towards the collaboration and digital
workplace. I see a good chunk of opportunity for the legacy CMS’s to move
towards Sitecore because of the Analytics, Integration frameworks (like
Salesforce, Dynamics, DAM.etc), Integrated Marketing automation and blended
Commerce (in CMS) which we don’t get in SharePoint kind of platform. The list
does not end with SharePoint, it is something relatable to every other legacy
CMS deployed at enterprises focusing on B2B/B2C & as revenue generators.
Definitely, we need to consider and plan the
migration path for such stack in detail which includes the multi-site,
multi-lingual, forms, data items, permissions (both authentication &
authorization), Analytics, the publishing process, global
deployments/rollouts…etc. Also consider the reusability aspects like
customizations, integration service points, connectors(if any), infrastructure,
software licenses like SQL..etc which will play a crucial role in the overall
implementation cost.
Lastly, validate the benefits & ROI for
business by doing this CMS migration at the enterprise level.
Non-CMS to Sitecore – I see this as quite an easy way
of doing only when customer understand the importance of CMS and benefits
he/she is going to get at an enterprise level through COT CMS products like
Sitecore, till then it is one of the toughest jobs in the world 😊. Firstly, we need to educate the
customer on CMS and then make understands how Sitecore can help to fulfill the
requirement. Moving away from .NET based systems to Sitecore can be quite
straight forward as compared to java/php..etc because of the core framework.
Nevertheless, we should consider Sitecore PaaS
(Cloud) is one of the possible destinations as compared to On-premises Sitecore
(IaaS on Cloud) while performing the Sitecore Migrations in the overall digital
transformation.
I hope this gives an insight into the Sitecore
opportunities we can think of. Please comment below the various other aspects
to consider for the benefit of everyone.
Note: The opinions expressed are solely my own
and not the views of my employer.