Strategies for Migrating to Sitecore from legacy or upgrading from older Sitecore

 

Migration

Migrating to Sitecore from legacy CMS platforms (Adobe AEM, WordPress, Drupal) or upgrading from older Sitecore versions requires a well-planned strategy.

 

How do you handle Sitecore upgrades and migrations?

  1. Assess Current Version – Identify the existing Sitecore version and compatibility requirements.
  2. Backup & Staging Setup – Create database and content backups, and deploy to a staging environment for testing.
  3. Upgrade in Phases – If migrating from older versions, use incremental upgrades instead of direct major jumps.
  4. Resolve Breaking Changes – Address deprecated APIs, custom pipelines, and config updates.
  5. Test Extensively – Perform functional testing, regression testing, and performance validation before go-live.

 Planning a Sitecore Migration

Before migration, organizations must:

  1. Assess Existing Content & Workflows – Identify outdated content and assets.
  2. Define the Target Sitecore Architecture – Choose between Sitecore XP, XM, or Sitecore Headless.
  3. Establish a Migration Timeline – Plan for staging, testing, and production rollouts.

 Example: A global bank migrates 10,000+ pages from SharePoint CMS to Sitecore with structured metadata mapping.

 Content Migration Approaches

1. Manual Content Entry

🔹 Best for small websites with limited pages.
🔹 Requires human validation of content accuracy.

2. Automated Migration Scripts

🔹 Best for large-scale migrations (10,000+ pages).
🔹 Uses PowerShell, Python, or Sitecore Content API.
🔹 Example script to migrate content from a JSON source:

 

var item = database.GetItem("/sitecore/content/Home");

item.Editing.BeginEdit();

item.Fields["Title"].Value = jsonData["title"];

item.Editing.EndEdit();

 

 Example: A university migrates thousands of articles using automated PowerShell scripts.

 

Data Migration for Personalization & Analytics

Migrating User Profiles & Engagement Data

Ø  Move customer data from old CMS to Sitecore xDB.

Ø  Use Azure Data Factory or ETL tools for large datasets.
🔹 Migrating Analytics & Campaign Data

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