Presented as CM Pros Webinar on November 10, 2011. See screencast at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=emgdfR5kWuA

1. Take Control of Your
Website Migration
@jdavidhobbs
10 November 2011

2. Your migration control knobs
• Raw heft
• Distance
• Quality
• Content handling
Most organizations don’t think enough about
these controls and run into related issues as
surprises
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 2

3. Control Knob: Raw Heft
1) Migration is a perfect opportunity to better
focus your site and improve quality by
dropping content
2) Less weight is easier to migrate
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 3

4. Yeah, but how?
Main points:
• Set weight loss as a goal and track it
• Separate out what’s easy from what you want!
A couple approaches:
• Natural attrition
• Rules-based
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 4

5. Set goal and track it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrationhandbook/6289117089/
900
800
700
600
500
Remaining
400
Complete
300
200
100
0
Rewrite Moving As-is Staying in Dropping
place
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 5

6. Rules-based culling
Define
Inventory Confirm Implement
Rules
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 6

7. Rules-based culling example
Define
Inventory Confirm Implement
Rules
For more, see Rethinking the Content Inventory series at bit.ly/rethinkinventory
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 7

8. Rules-based culling example
Define
Inventory Confirm Implement
Rules
Example rules:
If business focus is high, then edit
If less than six page views in the last month, then drop
If the page is in version 2, then move as-is
If the page is in version 1 and more than 100 page views in the last month, then as-is
Otherwise, drop
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 8

9. Rules-based culling example
Define
Inventory Confirm Implement
Rules
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 9

10. Raw heft final thoughts
• Don’t yo-yo diet Also see The Web Diet at bit.ly/webdiet
• Attempt to cut based on rules
• Remember the vision for your project overall
when cutting content
Impact: More focused site and an easier
migration
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 10

11. Control Knob: Distance
If you already have a base station on the moon,
then moving to the next crater might be easy.
If you live in a cardboard box, then moving into
a condo down the street may be difficult.
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 11

12. @jdavidhobbs
hobbsontech.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrationhandbook/6289099459
12

13. Other Distance Decisions
• Other distance decisions:
– Amount of structural changes to content
– IA changes
– New content required
– New functionality
– Number of content types / templates
Impact: less planning and transformation
required
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 13

14. Control Knob: Quality
One of the most important knobs you have at
your disposal is quality level, and it isn’t just a
simple yes / no toggle switch
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 14

15. Some Quality Level Questions
• What elements that currently are unmanaged will
be managed?
• How will links within the content be handled?
How will redirects happen?
• In general, what HTML transformation needs to
occur?
• How accurate does placement and tagging need
to be?
• What backend structure should be in place?
What default values will be used?
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 15

16. Important Quality Tidbits
• Even if you go with the incumbent team / tool
capabilities, you should ask yourself what level of
quality you expect.
• Talking about quality early avoids expectation
surprises when it’s too late
• When reviewing quality expectations, consider
who is responsible for attaining that quality level
and also who will test that this is done
Impact: Better quality as well as improved QA
process
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 16

17. Control Knob: Content Handling
Don’t just consider the movement of content –
there are important steps before and after
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 17

18. Six Steps of Content Handling
• Consider what needs to happen at each step
• Look at cost of each step
Also see Content Handling Process at bit.ly/contenthandling http://www.flickr.com/photos/migrationhandbook/6289099459/
Impact: Understanding manual effort earlier,
reducing effort, and improving quality
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 18

19. Avoiding Frankenstein’s Monster
• Many orgs wind up with Frankenstein’s
monster quickly after launch
• Product manage for ongoing quality, and
consider the product management process
during migration itself
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 19

20. You Sit At The Controls!
• Raw heft
• Distance
• Quality
• Content handling
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 20

21. You Sit At The Controls!
• Raw heft
• Distance
• Quality
• Content handling
Special Offer for CM Pros: 50% off Website Migration Handbook v2.0
Go to http://migrationhandbook.com/v2 and enter the code
cm pros are cool to buy before the handbook is generally available
@jdavidhobbs hobbsontech.com 21