As one of the most experienced agencies in the world when it comes to Ektron to Episerver migrations, we have definitely seen it all when it comes to pricing the migration between these two sophisticated CMS platforms. More often than not, we are approached by an organization looking for us to perform the migration and we walk through our process to ensure partnered success on the project.
However, we often see the other side of the equation, the one where we are asked to help pick up the pieces of a poorly budgeted and equally poorly implemented project. These projects usually fall into two main categories:
Bad Scoping
In this scenario, the potential client received an unrealistically low cost to migrate from Ektron to Episerver. This is accompanied by a scope of work with no real detail as to what is being delivered and equally showcasing little to no understanding as to how the client's Ektron website actually works. This, 99% of the time, results in a variety of change orders that the client was not expecting. Thus causing budget overages and massive amounts of frustrations which boil over to the point where the client says enough and accepts what they are given only to have to go search for a new partner to complete the project. ← This is the point we usually get called in.
The Never Ending Project
In this scenario, the potential client's project seems to never end. What was once a 6-month project is now a 1.5-year project with no real end in sight. The client's vendor keeps promising that there is light at the end of the tunnel but week after week, the deliverable dates slip and eventually, the client stakeholders can no longer continue to blame the vendor as their management team starts to look at them for a solution. This scenario is always the most frustrating for us because it is almost always related to bad scoping and broken promises. Both of which are preventable and mark the death of a partnership.
When it comes to determining the cost of an Episerver migration, you cannot treat the implementation cost like a multiplier or SKU alongside the software licensing costs. You cannot make broad assumptions about the implementation based on how your Ektron website works today and you cannot use automated tools to come up with a price to migrate. If you want to have your migration project done within budget and on time, you must do the upfront work to make that happen. This includes the following steps:
- Understand when your corporate fiscal years start and stop. This is important so you know when you need to submit your budget for the migration project.
- Understand when you want the migration project to take place e.g. if you want it to take place in 2019, you should probably be submitting your budget request now.
- From the budget submission date, work backward to determine when you need to start the migration blueprinting process. For example, if you are submitting budgets for January 2019, you should probably have done the migration blueprinting process in July of this year.
- Understand what a realistic budget and timeframe for your migration project really are. That way, when you receive estimates for the migration work, you can confidently know whether the firm quoting on your project really understands what needs to occur to make your project successful.
Lastly, don't be scared of the process, even if you aren't technical. Think of it this way, if you were in the market for new a home and you were touring a house you knew was a $500,000 home, but the asking price was $180,000, you'd immediately want to know what was wrong with the house. Don't hesitate to go with your gut, if it seems to be too good to be true, it usually is.
Want to read more about migrating?
Here are four things that are critical for you to know when migrating to Episerver.
