SharePoint to Sitefinity Migration for Leading Science and Technology University

THE CHALLENGE

End-of-Life Legacy System with Complex Multilingual Architecture

A leading science and technology university faced an urgent need to migrate their primary website from an on-premises SharePoint system that had reached end-of-support. The platform served as the most visible face of the institution to undergraduate students, graduate researchers, and faculty members. The system had accumulated years of legacy code and business logic, making it a critical infrastructure challenge.

University classroom with students engaged in academic learning

Academic Mission-Critical Platform

Serving students, faculty, and researchers in higher education

SharePoint End-of-Life Crisis

Microsoft announced sunset of the on-premises SharePoint version supporting the site, creating an urgent migration deadline with no option for continued operation.

Complex Multilingual Architecture

The website operated in two languages (English and Arabic) with mirrored content structure rather than traditional translations, creating unique technical complexity for data export and mapping.

Legacy Code and Business Logic

Years of accumulated custom development, hidden business logic, and specialized functionality required careful identification and preservation during migration.

Limited Access to Legacy Instance

Restricted access to the live SharePoint system prevented simple migration scalability and required development of custom extraction tools and frameworks.

THE SOLUTION

Custom Migration Framework with Technical Leadership

We developed a custom migration framework to read SharePoint content and export data for proper mapping. Using specialized tools and technical leadership, we identified all custom functionalities, established an efficient migration process, and delivered a smooth transition exceeding stakeholder expectations. The project achieved tremendous success through methodical planning, close collaboration, and continuous communication with academic leadership.

Custom Migration Framework Development

Built a specialized framework to read SharePoint content and export data with proper mapping capabilities. Implemented custom components to handle the unique multilingual architecture and mirrored content structure.

Technical Implementation: SharePoint content extraction, data mapping utilities, language-specific export handling

Assessment and Planning

Conducted comprehensive assessment of the SharePoint site to identify potential challenges and develop detailed migration plan. Evaluated all components including images, pages, news, and technology stack with extensive legacy code analysis.

Technical Implementation: Site assessment documentation, component evaluation, migration strategy development, technical specification creation

Custom Integrations Assessment and Migration

Led comprehensive assessment of custom integrations within SharePoint and planned their migration to Sitefinity. Set up migration team, created high-level specification documentation, and established the migration process for all external connections.

Technical Implementation: Integration inventory, custom connector development, API mapping, endpoint testing

Image Import and Data Migration Process

Established structured process for importing thousands of images and content assets into Sitefinity. Systematically accumulated issues, developed solutions, and planned iterations to ensure all assets successfully migrated.

Technical Implementation: Batch image processing, asset mapping, content item creation, quality verification

Production Setup and Deployment

Collaborated with stakeholders to establish production server infrastructure. Deployed fixes to test environments, provided go-live communication guidance, and conducted rigorous testing to ensure platform stability and complete functionality.

Technical Implementation: Server configuration, deployment pipeline setup, cross-environment testing, go-live coordination

Continuous Communication and Team Coordination

Participated in daily stand-up meetings, JIRA discussions, and frequent stakeholder communications. Maintained transparency on progress, challenges, and next steps while supporting faculty profile functionality enhancements and urgent content updates.

Technical Implementation: Daily progress tracking, issue prioritization, team coordination, faculty system enhancements

University students and faculty in classroom learning environment

Migration Success

Smoother execution than anticipated, exceeding stakeholder expectations

Managing a Legacy Platform Migration?

Sitefinity provides a modern, future-proof platform with superior content management capabilities. We specialize in complex migrations from legacy systems, ensuring business continuity and success.

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