Case Study: Delivering the CraftCMS to WordPress Migration for Colliers Project Leaders

"The Iceberg" adj. — The guarantee that once you get started on a migration project, it is always more complicated than originally anticipated.

Overview

As soon as we started the content export, we faced the Iceberg. In hindsight we should have known it was coming, we were switching platforms and didn’t write the code ourselves. Early on, we encountered a significant risk of scope creep, our data export method wasn’t going as we expected and competing client demands meant we weren’t putting enough priority on the project meaning we were at high risk of missing the deadline.

Challenge

Colliers Project Leaders, a renowned project management company, set the bar high for our team, and me as the project manager.

Our team was stretched thin due to competing client demands so we were behind our development schedule almost immediately.

The scope of the migration was much larger than anticipated, the number of posts and pages that needed to be exported and rebuilt in WordPress would cost us a significant time investment.

Solution

From day one, communication was crucial so I initiated weekly recap emails to the client keeping their trust in our team high and providing the extra care required. Realizing we were in trouble, we needed to recalibrate our approach. I implemented agile methodologies to streamline our workflows and focus our team's efforts where they were needed most. By introducing daily stand-ups and keeping non-essential tasks in the backlog, we honed in on immediate priorities. This agile focus allowed us to tackle the migration one step at a time.

Results

25% Increase in Team Output

Team efficiency improved due to agile focused efforts and streamlined workflows.

1 Week Ahead of Schedule

The project was delivered earlier than the required deadline, exceeding client expectations.

100% Client Satisfaction

The client was very grateful for making a stressful process seamless.

Final Thoughts

Our renewed focus and streamlined processes led to a 25% increase in team output. We delivered the project one week before their hard deadline, exceeding the client's expectations. Colliers expressed immense gratitude for how we made what could have been a stressful process seamless.