5 Key Steps for Migrating from Kentico to Drupal

Powering personalization at scale requires technology that can support the goal of real-time attention for every customer. Website experience plays a key role in customers’ journey and their experience with your brand. The role of efficient content management is indispensable in crafting personalized customer experiences, especially in an experience-first environment.

Migrating from one content management system (CMS) to another is no small feat, especially when transitioning from a proprietary system like Kentico to an open-source platform like Drupal. A well-planned data migration strategy can help businesses realize the complete ROI, along with ensuring a seamless data migration experience. In this blog, we will help you understand the difference between Kentico Xperience and Drupal CMS, planning your Kentico to Drupal migration journey and selecting the best Drupal migration company.

Why Migrate from Kentico to Drupal?

While Kentico and Drupal both are popular choice content management systems, digital businesses find Drupal a superior choice as it equips them to fulfill customers’ needs with its robust, scalable, API-first architecture. Let’s look at the capabilities of Kentico as well as Drupal CMS:

• Drupal is an open-source CMS, making it the preferred choice in terms of ROI
• No need for additional plugins because as Drupal CMS has a robust architecture
• Websites built on Drupal have better search rankings because of the in-built SEO module
• Drupal website have extensive firewall and a global security team to save it from hackers
• Drupal websites get a plus with Acquia’s cloud services to elevate customer experience
• With Headless Drupal, you can reduce time-to-market and operational costs

 

Discover how Headless Drupal CMS ensures better control over website

How to Plan Kentico to Drupal Migration?

As we all know, migrating from one CMS to another requires a dedicated team of experts who safeguard the existing digital entities of your brand. Website content migration requires sync between multiple teams and the CMS migration partner to make the project successful. Below are the 5 key steps for migrating from Kentico to Drupal:

Step 1 Audit Your Existing Kentico Implementation The first step is to understand each aspect of your current Kentico implementation. This involves:

• Documenting the content architecture and information architecture
• Reviewing how content editing and publishing works
• Taking stock of core Kentico components/modules in use
• Documenting any custom modules, widgets, or components
• Understanding your user roles and permissions framework
• Auditing SEO implementation and reviewing metadata mapping
• Identifying integrations with other systems

 

This content audit creates a blueprint of your Kentico setup that can be used to plan the Drupal implementation. By assessing these values, you can know exactly what content and functionality must be migrated to Drupal.

Step 2 Plan Your Drupal Information Architecture

Since you are leaving behind a CMS that you are fully aware of, you need to assess the capabilities of the new Drupal CMS and the functionalities you are looking for.

Key tasks include:

• Mapping Kentico content types, fields, and taxonomies to Drupal content types, fields, and taxonomies
• Recreating workflows for content editing, reviews, approvals, etc.
• Planning how to transition navigation menus and site IA
• Identifying modules and components needed to recreate Kentico functionality
• Determining how you will handle redirects from old Kentico URLs to new Drupal URLs
• Developing an SEO strategy to maintain rankings through the transition

 

This is an iterative process, but the Kentico audit provides a solid basis for mapping the new Drupal information architecture.

Step 3 Build Your Drupal Framework

Once the content model and IA for Kentico to Drupal migration are mapped out, development work can begin on constructing the Drupal framework.

Your developers will:

• Install Drupal and add required modules/functionality
• Configure content types, fields, views, etc.
• Implement workflows for content editing and publishing
• Develop custom modules to replicate Kentico components if needed
• Build out user roles and permissions
• Implement redirects from old Kentico URLs
• Configure metadata/SEO settings
• Integrate with other systems as needed
• Create test content, menus, etc. to match the existing site

The goal is to get a Drupal framework in place that is ready to receive all your migrated content. The key at this stage is thorough testing of the framework.

Step 4 Migrate Content to Drupal

With your new Drupal framework now ready to accept content, begin your data migration process. Uou can choose from multiple approaches for migrating from Kentico to Drupal:

Custom data migration scripts – Developing custom PHP scripts to move content via the API is a flexible option. This allows you to migrate content exactly how you need it.

Out-of-the-box connector – Modules like Kentico Connector provide an API connector and content importer for migrating from Kentico to Drupal.

CMS conversion tools – Services like CMS2CMS offer automated tools for converting data. This can accelerate migration but offers less customization.

The migration approach depends on your project scope, timeline, and technical capabilities. Kentico and Drupal have APIs that enable programmatic data migration, so with the right resources you can migrate smoothly.

Step 5 QA and Launch

With all content migrated into Drupal, it’s time to perform comprehensive testing and QA of your new Drupal implementation. Here’s what you need to do:

• Content verification – Spot check content for accuracy
• Link integrity – Validate links are not broken
• Visual verification – Compare page-by-page to old site
• Browser/device testing – Check on all browsers and devices
• Performance testing – Load test and stress test the Drupal site
• Security testing – Audit Drupal config for any vulnerabilities

 

With QA completed, you're ready to launch and redirect traffic from Kentico to Drupal! Monitor closely post-launch to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Why Choose Altudo for Your Kentico to Drupal Migration?

With over 10 years of experience, Altudo has end-to-end capabilities for transitioning websites from proprietary systems like Kentico to open-source Drupal:

Kentico expertise – Our team has delivered dozens of Kentico projects and understands the nitty-gritty of the CMS deeply. We know what to look for when auditing and migrating Kentico implementations.

Drupal expertise – As a Drupal development shop, we have migrated numerous sites from other CMSs into Drupal. We know how to properly architect Drupal and migrate content.

Proven migration process – Our migration process is optimized to minimize downtime and preserve SEO rankings when transitioning from Kentico to Drupal.

Custom or turnkey solutions – We offer customized migration development or can leverage pre-built connectors/tools. Our approach is tailored to each unique project.

End-to-end support – From auditing and planning to launch and post-launch support, we handle the entire migration process seamlessly. Our team offers 24*7 support even after the launch.

Must read: Pro tips and strategies to keep in mind during Kentico to Drupal migration.

What Next?

Now that you have a fair idea about Kentico CMS to Drupal migration essentials, we believe you are ready for the much-awaited migration of your website. Remember, the combination of right knowledge and the choice of Drupal partner determines the success of your CMS migration.

As a certified Drupal partner, we offer consultation and implementation of Drupal CMS in the best interest of your business needs. We can discuss and plan your Kentico to Drupal migration journey while you focus on tapping into prospects. Write to us at marketing@altudo.co for a no-obligation session for website migration services.