How Moriyama Moved The Access Group's Sites to Umbraco 8

The Access Group grows fast through acquisitions. Its main site ran on Umbraco 7 and many acquired companies used WordPress. Moriyama moved them onto one Umbraco 8 platform, built to scale.

Moriyama for The Access Group

The Access Group

Client: The Access Group
Agency: Moriyama, part of Cohaesus
Type of work: Websites & CMS
Sector: Technology & Telecoms

The Access Group provides business management software to organisations of all sizes, in sectors including healthcare, education, hospitality and finance. It has expanded rapidly through organic growth and acquisitions, and serves more than 47,000 customers across the UK, Europe and Asia. That growth called for a more flexible, secure and scalable website estate, consistent across the group.

The Challenge

Two content management systems. The main Access Group site ran on Umbraco, but many of the companies it had acquired used WordPress. Access wanted to upgrade its own site from Umbraco 7 to 8 and, at the same time, migrate the WordPress sites to Umbraco 8.

Slow editing. With many page types and styles across the site, the team struggled to edit and adapt content quickly, which didn't suit a business that moves fast.

The Approach

Access had already worked with Moriyama on a number of projects, and the two had been discussing the right time to upgrade to Umbraco 8. As an Umbraco Platinum Partner, Moriyama has experience of upgrades and development on large Umbraco sites.

A baseline platform. Moriyama built a baseline platform following best practice for Umbraco websites, with a simplified design and a block-based architecture that makes sites easier to replicate and adapt.

A phased rollout. To deliver value early, Moriyama launched the platform in phases, starting with theaccessgroup.com. The new site ran alongside the Umbraco 7 site, allowing thorough testing and bug reporting before it went live.

A content migration tool. Moriyama built a tool that transformed content from Umbraco 7 and imported it into Umbraco 8, keeping the content tree structure and URLs so users saw no disruption.

Testing and monitoring. Moriyama worked closely with The Access Group's IT team, monitoring site rankings and performance to prevent dips during the migration.

We’re not the same as other enterprise businesses, where things take months to turn around. Here we make decisions quickly, we make it happen quickly and we’re all about pace. This consistency across our sites will make our lives easier, future proof us, and make sure we can scale at pace.

Jenni Stacey, Head of Web Experience, The Access Group

The Outcome

Running Umbraco 7 and 8 side by side through a phased rollout kept disruption for users to a minimum. The platform now has a cleaner database, a consistent design and faster content management, so The Access Group can respond more quickly to business needs. It also gives the group a foundation for future growth, including .NET Core integration and easy scaling for new acquisitions.