How Migrating 650+ Sites Saved Princeton Time, Money, and Effort

The Challenge

Princeton University needed to migrate 650+ websites from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 before the D7 end-of-life deadline. The sites spanned three distinct types and codebases, each requiring a tailored approach while maintaining functionality throughout the migration.

• 252 Template Sites requiring migration
• 382 Scholar Sites requiring migration
• 17 Custom Sites requiring migration
• Maintain functionality during the entire migration process
• Meet the Drupal 7 end-of-life deadline

The Solution

JAKALA conducted a thorough technical audit and discovery phase, then developed tailored migration scripts for each site type. The team leveraged Acquia Site Factory for multi-site management with a shared codebase, using templatized site formats and phased batch migrations followed by post-migration QA.

• Technical audit and discovery
• Tailored migration scripts for each site type
• Acquia Site Factory for multi-site with shared codebase
• Templatized site formats
• Phased batch migrations
• Post-migration QA

The Results

The migration was completed efficiently across all site types, with an emergency sprint demonstrating the team's ability to accelerate when needed.

• 252 Template Sites migrated in 6 months
• 382 Scholar Sites migrated in 3.5 months
• 17 Custom Sites migrated in 3.5 months
• Nearly doubled support capacity (from 58 to 110 sites per staff member)
• Consolidated 3 D7 platforms into 1 D9 platform
• Emergency sprint: 30 Template + 100 Scholar sites in 2 weeks

"Jakala's partnership made it possible to upgrade hundreds of websites while a majority of my team continued to do their routine work. We could only have completed this complex project in the short timeframe that we did with Jakala's expertise."

— Jill Moraca, Senior Director, Web Development Services, Princeton University

Technologies