The useful answer
A migration assessment produces a decision: what is suitable to move, what must be retained, what needs further investigation and whether a rebuild is worthwhile. It should end with a bounded scope and open questions, not an assumed commitment to migrate.
Reviewed · BeyondPHP
Begin with the business reason for moving
Document the problem the business is trying to solve: difficult editing, confusing navigation, inconsistent design or a specific performance issue. Record the consequences and priorities. If the real problem is incomplete product information, changing the delivery method will not fix it. The assessment should connect each proposed change to a visitor or operational need.
Build a usable evidence inventory
Combine a page list with functional walkthroughs and available ownership records. Mark access gaps rather than treating them as absence. Analytics and search data can inform priorities when authorised access exists; missing data should remain an explicit limitation. The inventory also needs downloads, enquiry destinations, language versions and services controlled by someone outside the project.
Receive options with clear boundaries
The output should distinguish a suitable public-page rebuild, retained operational functions and unresolved dependencies. Include assumptions, proposed URL treatment, content workload, update ownership and release requirements. Where the evidence is insufficient, recommend a narrower investigation. A useful assessment may conclude that improving the current site is more proportionate than replacing it.
A practical next step
What to prepare.
- Business objective
Provide the problem, desired result and any firm deadlines.
- Ownership list
Identify domain, hosting, content and integration owners without sharing secrets in a public form.
- Known workflows
Demonstrate how a real visitor enquiry or transaction reaches the business.
Questions worth asking.
Does an assessment include a rebuild?
No. Discovery and implementation are separate scopes unless the written proposal explicitly combines them.
What if access is incomplete?
We record the limitation and identify the smallest additional check needed for a responsible recommendation.
Can the recommendation be to stay?
Yes. Keeping and improving an existing system is a valid outcome when the evidence supports it.