Ensuring access to 180+ central gov websites, offering essential citizen services

The challenge: Dispersed digital assets on an end-of-life system

Picture this: A central government department with responsibility for over 180 different websites, many running on an end-of-life platform that would soon incur a huge increase in support costs.

As the "mothership" agency responsible for critical citizen services and all-of-government capabilities, they faced a perfect storm of digital challenges:

• Platform obsolescence: Their existing CMS was due for end-of-life in April 2025
• Developer dependency: The technical complexity of their existing system meant even simple content updates required technical resources
• Fragmented governance: After years of decentralized management, they struggled to identify who owned certain sites that fell under the department's banner
• Limited accessibility: Many sites didn't meet the government's own accessibility standards, potentially creating real barriers for thousands of citizens struggling to access essential services
• Time pressure: Remaining on outdated systems would cost around $40,000 in extended support fees per site

With dozens of different business units managing their own digital properties across multiple platforms, including Silverstripe and WordPress, they faced what one team member called "a spaghetti mess" of technologies.

The Silverstripe platform was particularly problematic because it required developer intervention for even basic content changes. Unlike modern DXP solutions, it was purely a CMS with limited functionality beyond content management.

The platform was also reaching end-of-life status with servers being decommissioned, forcing customers to maintain outdated software versions that would soon require costly extended support.

The solution: An enterprise approach

After an extensive search and competitive RFP process, the customer chose Squiz as its digital partner.

Their strategy included:

• Moving to the Squiz Digital Experience Platform (DXP) to unify their digital services
• Leveraging Squiz Content Management and Squiz Search capabilities to help users discover information
• Creating a standardized structure across departmental sites to improve ease of use for both the client and citizens accessing the sites
• Using components at edge for superior site performance with the Squiz Component Service
• Using Squiz developed automated migration tools to accelerate migrating multiple sites

The team took a strategic approach, prioritizing the migration of critical informational sites with minimal complexity from the end-of-life platform. This allowed them to quickly save the significant out-of-support costs these sites would incur, while giving DIA the capacity to evaluate their remaining web and digital footprint more strategically before proceeding with additional migrations to the new platform.

One of the key components of the solution was the implementation of Squiz Search, which would enable users to find relevant information much more quickly. Unlike their old system, which only searched one website at a time, Squiz Search works like a powerful search engine across all their sites at once.

Teams can now easily add search filters and improve SEO without calling developers for help. This means citizens can find government services and information faster, and when new content is published, it appears in search results right away.

Dig into the full details in the 5-step process below.

The outcomes: Speed, savings, and foundation for growth

The transformation is already delivering impressive results:

• Rapid migrations: Successfully migrated eight websites to the new platform in just 12 weeks – three sites in the first six weeks, followed by five more in the next six weeks.
• Massive time savings: Squiz saved the organization "hundreds if not thousands of hours" of manual content migration work
• Cost avoidance: Prevented huge support cost increases of approximately $40,000 per site for those on the end-of-life platform
• Enhanced capabilities: Introduced more powerful search and improved content management capabilities
• Self-service enablement: Content team gained the ability to make updates without developer support
• Immediate public value: Ready for the busy holiday period, one of the migrated sites handled huge traffic – with over 3,000 forms and documents being processed via the site
• Enhanced discoverability: citizens can find information and complete essential processes quicker than ever

Most critically, the organization has established a platform that will serve as the foundation for its broader digital transformation, solving immediate problems while setting it up for long-term success.

How did they make it happen? The 5-step process

STEP 1: Prioritizing sites with minimal complexity

Instead of migrating all 180+ websites simultaneously – an approach that could overwhelm the client and their resources – the team implemented a strategic, phased migration plan. The team began selecting critical informational sites with minimal complexity that offered the perfect testing ground for their broader transformation.

These initial sites were chosen specifically because the sites:

• Were smaller in size and complexity
• Supported less critical services
• Required infrequent content updates
• Could be migrated with minimal disruption to users
• Could be migrated at speed, saving the client significant support costs

This measured approach delivered multiple advantages. By starting with simpler sites, the team could identify and resolve potential issues. Each migration provided valuable insights that streamlined subsequent transfers, creating a continuously improving process.

Most importantly, these early successes generated tangible evidence of the transformation's value, building crucial internal support and momentum for the larger initiative – which can be particularly helpful when organizations face internal resistance to change.

The migration process followed four key phases:

1. Identify and select critical informational sites with minimal complexity for initial migration
2. Apply learnings to refine and optimize the migration approach
3. Scale up to migrate additional sites with increasing efficiency
4. Showcase successful migrations to secure organizational buy-in

STEP 2: Leveraging automated migration tools

Faced with migrating hundreds of content pages across multiple sites, the Squiz team used an automated migration tool – developed by our very own Squiz team.

This tool extracts content from the existing CMS, including web pages and files (PDFs, Word Docs, Images, Video files, etc.), into properly formatted pages in the new system efficiently and cost-effectively. It also preserves metadata and structural elements during migration.

This removes the mundane task of copying & pasting content into a new CMS, leaving content editors free to concentrate on more value-added tasks. Also, it reduces the risk of errors that commonly occur during manual content migration.

This approach reduced what would have been manual content loading by "hundreds if not thousands of hours" and freed up both internal and external teams for higher-value work.

STEP 3: Building pages easily with components at edge

In terms of the actual page structure and build, this project used Squiz's Component Service, which allows for easy page building using core components like carousels, hero banners and quick links – providing a foundation of reusable elements to accelerate development.

This helped the team:

• Create consistently branded elements across the site
• Establish elements that could be reused across future projects
• Improve performance through edge component hosting
• Lay groundwork for faster iterations and updates

The Component Service was delivered with components at edge using edge computing. Edge computing allows data to be processed closer to its source, on devices or local servers rather than a back-end data center.

This enhances the performance of page components and allows organizations to deliver highly personalized experiences without sacrificing speed or security. More benefits include:

• Greater security – your information stays closer to you instead of traveling across the internet where it could be intercepted
• Faster page loading – content comes from nearby servers rather than from far away
• Quicker system updates – parts of the website can be updated one by one without shutting down the whole site
• Greater reliability – if one server stops working, others automatically take over
• Enhanced scalability – work is shared among many computers in different places

For citizens, these technical improvements translate to immediate benefits - government services that load in seconds rather than minutes, forms that respond instantly to input, and a dramatically reduced waiting time when accessing critical services, particularly during high-demand periods.

STEP 4: Building and learning in parallel

Instead of the typical "build and handover" model, Squiz and the customer embraced a true partnership approach to build internal capability from day one. By providing 24/7 on-demand learning via Squiz Academy, the customer could upskill at their own pace while working on actual project deliverables.

What made this approach particularly effective was completing platform onboarding at the start of the process rather than at the end. This allowed department staff to ask questions, learn by doing, and actively participate throughout the migration journey.

Clear roles and responsibilities were also established between teams while ensuring comprehensive knowledge transfer across both platforms. This collaborative focus meant that when sites were migrated, content owners were already prepared to use the new system – virtually eliminating the typical disruption that comes with platform transitions.

STEP 5: An incremental approach to long-term transformation

While delivering immediate value through migrating sites with minimal complexity, the team maintained a focus on the bigger picture:

• Initiated a strategic assessment of the entire digital estate, questioning whether all existing sites needed to remain standalone or could be consolidated
• Planned for the redevelopment of the main departmental website which is a key public service
• Began developing a national design system that would first be applied to the main site, then offered as a standard for other government websites to adopt, ensuring consistent user experience across government services
• Identified opportunities for shared services across different business units
• Created a roadmap for continuous improvement beyond immediate migrations

This dual focus on immediate needs and long-term transformation has positioned the organization to maximize the value of its enterprise platform investment while addressing urgent migration requirements.

From digital sprawl to strategic asset

This project demonstrates how a large, complex organization can tackle digital sprawl through an iterative approach. Rather than attempting a "big bang" transformation, they focused on immediate pain points while laying the groundwork for longer-term improvements.

The focus on migration automation, building with components, and implementing Squiz Search, has not only addressed their immediate need to move off end-of-life systems but established a foundation for a more cohesive digital estate that will better serve citizens while reducing costs and technical debt.

For its citizens, this transformation means government services are not just faster and more reliable but more accessible to everyone – fulfilling the client's core mission of serving all citizens effectively.

Want to see how other organizations are tackling similar challenges?

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