Sitecore replatforming and upgrades

Upgrading and replatforming in Sitecore are critical to keeping your project current and avoiding future complications. Deprecated frameworks and libraries can lead to security and compatibility risks. Moreover, the absence of product support necessitates extra time for resolving platform issues and implementing fixes.  An outdated technology stack often proves challenging to support and to find specialists capable of working efficiently with it. That’s why we strongly advise regular Sitecore platform upgrades.

5 reasons to upgrade:

1. New features - each Sitecore release introduces new features and enhancements to meet market demands, including marketing tools and products, content editing and performance improvements, integration tools, and more.
2. Bug fixes - Sitecore major and minor updates consistently address and resolve previously identified bugs and issues.
3. Continued support - staying up-to-date with Sitecore versions ensures  l full support benefits, including . security updates and hotfixes, assistance with production issues and platform product version upgrades, compatibility fixes, and addressing product defects.
4. Developer acceleration tools -recent Sitecore versions focuses on enhancing developer experience and efficiency, featuring container deployment, content serialisation, and command-line tools.
5. Modern technology stack -the latest Sitecore versions support the newest frameworks and development methodologies.

How we perform a Sitecore platform upgrade:

1. Assess the current solution and Sitecore version to determine the optimal upgrade path.
2. Upgrade the codebase.
3. Upgrade the database. 
4. Follow additional steps outlined in the Sitecore upgrade guide.
5. Resolve errors and compatibility issues, addressing deprecated functions, and configure new features.
6. Test in a local development environment.
7. Prepare hosting resources for the new version.
8. Deploy to non-production environments.
9.  Conduct testing in non-production environments.
10.  Complete the final database migration with the latest content and proceed with production rollout.

Replatforming to Sitecore:

When a project necessitates not just an upgrade but a full replatforming to Sitecore, we undertake the following steps:

1. Gather requirements and create a project backlog.
2. Prioritise work and plan the project.
3. Design the Sitecore architecture and define the technical approach.
4. Execute development sprints.
5. Migrate content (if applicable).
6. Set up hosting.
7. Deploy and test in the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment.
8. Migrate final content (if applicable).
9. 9. Rollout to production.

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