How long does a typical DXP migration take?
Big Bang: 4-8 months. Strangler Fig: 12-24 months (but lower risk). In-place upgrade: 6-18 months. The checklist timeline assumes a 6-month Big Bang with 4-person team. Adjust phases based on your pattern.
What's Included
5 Phases, 80+ Tasks
Phase 1: Discovery & Planning (Weeks 1-4)
- Stakeholder alignment & success criteria
- Content inventory & audit (R.O.T. analysis)
- Technical architecture review
- Team formation & skill gap analysis
- Vendor contract finalization
- Risk register & mitigation planning
- Migration pattern selection (Big Bang/Strangler/Upgrade)
- Baseline performance benchmarks
Phase 2: Build & Configure (Weeks 5-16)
- Content model mapping & transformation rules
- Custom component/component library build
- Headless API implementation & testing
- Search configuration & relevance tuning
- Personalization rules engine setup
- DAM migration & rendition pipeline
- Integration connectors (CRM, CDP, Analytics)
- CI/CD pipeline & environment strategy
Phase 3: Validate & Test (Weeks 17-22)
- Automated content migration dry runs
- UAT scripts & stakeholder sign-off
- Performance & load testing
- Security penetration testing
- Accessibility audit (WCAG 2.2 AA)
- SEO parity validation (redirects, meta, sitemaps)
- Editor training & documentation
- Rollback procedure validation
Phase 4: Cutover (Week 23)
- Content freeze communication & enforcement
- Final delta migration execution
- DNS/Load balancer switch
- CDN cache purge & warm-up
- Smoke tests & synthetic monitoring
- Stakeholder launch communication
- Hypercare team activation
- Rollback trigger criteria definition
Phase 5: Stabilize & Optimize (Weeks 24-30)
- Post-launch bug triage (daily standups)
- Performance optimization sprint
- Editor efficiency improvements
- Search relevance iteration
- Personalization rule refinement
- Knowledge transfer to operations
- Legacy system decommission plan
- Retrospective & lessons learned
Platform-Specific Supplements
The base checklist includes platform-specific addenda for each major DXP:
- AEM: Dispatcher config, Oak index migration, Content Fragment transformation, Cloud Manager pipeline setup
- Sitecore: Content Serialization, xConnect migration, Layout Service config, Edge token strategy
- Optimizely: Content type mapping, Deployment API sync, Find index rebuild, Visual Builder setup
- Acquia: Drupal module audit, Config sync (CMI), BLT pipeline, Site Factory provisioning
- Liferay: LAR export/import, OSGi module rewrite, Search index rebuild, Fragment migration
- Kentico: Page type mapping, Form migration, Marketing automation rebuild, SaaS vs on-prem config
Format & Tooling
- Excel (.xlsx) — Filterable, sortable, with status columns, owner assignment, due dates, dependencies
- Notion Template — Duplicate to workspace, Kanban view by phase, @mentions, progress rollups
- CSV — Import into Jira, Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet, or your PM tool of choice
⚡ Pro Tip: The Strangler Fig Decision Matrix
Not sure which migration pattern? The checklist includes a decision matrix scoring 8 factors (risk tolerance, team size, legacy complexity, downtime window, budget, regulatory, talent, timeline). Score >60 → Strangler Fig. Score <40 → Big Bang. Between → Hybrid.