8 things to consider before you replatform your website CMS
If you decide to replatform onto another CMS, there are some considerations that you need to take on board. And essentially, it boils down to these 8 things:
- Business impact
- True cost
- Ongoing tasks and requirements
- Integrations
- Skill sets
- Features
- Future needs
- Support
[Replatforming checklist #1] Business impact
When deciding to replatform, you must consider how the replatforming procedure will impact your overall business.
At a high level, CMS platforms come in two categories: On-Premise and SaaS (Software as a Service) — also known as hosted solutions.
Each option holds different challenges for your business — and we’ll delve into more detail on all these solutions later in this guide.
[Replatforming checklist #2] True cost
Have you thought about the actual cost of replatforming? From the initial development, migration of data from the old platform to the new platform to ongoing maintenance of the new site, the costs can add up. And let’s not forget about the resources required to train everyone on how to use the new system.
We recently wrote a post that takes a detailed look at the true costs of managing a website.
[Replatforming checklist #3] Ongoing tasks and requirements
Replatforming a website can be a challenging time for your business. Besides overseeing the replatforming procedure, you also have to manage stakeholders, deliver business requirements and not to mention to overcome any possible issues that could arise from the replatforming process.
But once your replatforming phase has been completed, it does not stop there. When you’ve launched your new site, you need to make sure your site is performing to its expected requirements by regularly reviewing analytical data.
[Replatforming checklist #4] Integrations
Your original website would have utilized and integrated a variety of extensions, plugins and other tools to serve initiatives in marketing, sales, communication and project management.
You need to check if these tools will work on your new platform. The best thing to do is conduct a full technology audit of all the tools, extensions and plugins your current website uses and check their compatibility against the new platform.
If you find that some of your tools are incompatible, then you need to look at alternatives.
[Replatforming checklist #5] Skill sets
When selecting a new CMS, you need to take your team’s technical (and non-technical) expertise into consideration. Sure, your developers will almost certainly learn to adapt, but for your content creators, you need a CMS that approachable and easy to use. Sounds simple, but this crucial point is often sidelined for the sake of price — which is a major pitfall when it comes to choosing a CMS.
Your main users can be split into two categories:
Technical users
Here are a few factors you need to consider for your IT team
- Security: Can your IT team secure your website against attacks, keep your data policy inline with international laws like GDPR?
- Maintenance: Can your IT team handle ongoing maintenance work?
- Existing infrastructure: Can the new platform be supported on the existing infrastructure?
- Ease of development: Can the new platform allow developers to roll out updates and make changes as when required.
Non-technical users
Besides keeping the technical folks happy, can the new platform cater to marketers and salespeople? To ensure that it does, check your new CMS for:
- Easy Navigation: All staff, regardless of their level of technical knowledge, should find it relatively easy to find pages, documents, and other information in the back-end.
- A Great Author experience (AX): AX determines how easy it is to create, edit, manage and publish content. If your platform has poor AX, (for example, it lacks a WYSIWYG editor), then it will negatively impact productivity, efficiency and
- A Strong User experience (UX): UX determines the overall experience of the new platform, from navigation, to design, to speed. The better the UX, the faster your team members can carry out their tasks.
[Replatforming checklist #6] Features
Assessing the features of different platforms can determine whether or not a particular platform can help meet your business objectives.
Take the time to consider what features you want your new platform to have. Here are some features to consider:
General features
- Ease of installation
- Ease of use
- Security
- Asset management
- Documentation and support
- Flexibility and adaptability
Marketing
- Integration with sales and marketing stack
- Easy to use content editor
- Mobile support
- Responsive design
- Personalization
- Multi-site support
- Multilingual support
- Training support
Developers
- Scalability
- Ease of development
- Upgradeability
- 24×7 support
- Deployment
- Versioning
- Headless content management
[Replatforming checklist #7] Future needs
Deciding on which platform you want to migrate to should be seen as an investment. You need to consider if your new platform will adapt and adjust to changes in the market, like any disruptive technologies, for example.
You might want to query with your vendor about how often their product is updated, particularly when it comes to complying with international laws like GDPR, keeping the software safe from new threats through security and bug fixes. You should also familiarize yourself with the cost involved in running maintenance and rolling out updates.
[Replatforming checklist #8] Support
If you opt for the development platform, your IT team — or a hired, third-party service — will be responsible for providing support. With a solution platform, it is an end-to-end system with all aspects being supported by the provider.
Support is often neglected, but it is crucial in ensuring your site performs at an optimum level. Having the right support can benefit training and resolve any issues that arise. For instance, you’re going to need support for different dimensions of your digital presence, from authoring development to server-side troubleshooting.