We've worked with teams of 20+ people and a team of two. In many ways we prefer the small team approach as there are fewer stakeholders to have opinions and slow down decisions. Small teams can effectively manage a migration with planning and communication. A good place to start with planning is the NISO Recommended Practices Around Content Platform Migrations. Silverchair participated on the committee that developed the recommendations and we provide publishers who are migrating with a checklist based on these best practices.
We recognize that most publisher teams are not focused solely on the migration — you have other duties and responsibilities to keep your current site updated and running smoothly while the work happens to build the new sites. That's why we have structured our process to minimize the day-to-day demands during the majority of the migration. There are two phases where more dedicated time is needed: discovery and build scope at the beginning and the site and content review about two-thirds of the way through. Typically, those periods are about a month each. However, we will work with a publisher to plan a schedule that works for them. Need more time for discovery? Let's build that in up front. The site and content review period is too close to your annual meeting? Let's adjust and plan for a time with fewer conflicts.
Guiding you through the build phases
Our build scope process for documenting configuration decisions guides publishers through all areas of platform functionality. It's structured for you to easily divide and conquer, working through at your own pace. Our team is here to answer questions and provide recommendations as needed. We'll also provide design mockups using your organizational style guide for your team to review and approve. At the same time, whoever manages your content production will be consulted on any questions regarding backfile conversion. If your backfile is already in JATS- and/or BITS-compliant XML, we may handle the conversion in house. If you're taking this opportunity to improve metadata or convert PDF-only content to full text, you'll want to engage a conversion partner such as DCL to handle the migration.Once the initial discovery phase is complete, the next several months are less demanding. Our team is configuring sites, writing and testing code for any new features that we're adding for you, and the content conversion and loading is rolling along. The publisher team will need to assist with any integrations with a single-sign on or customer management system and respond to any questions we have as work progresses. You'll also attend regular status meetings — usually 30 minutes either weekly or every two weeks, where we'll update you on progress and discuss any questions you may have along the way. During this stretch, you will want to spend some time organizing and exporting data for your products, accounts, entitlements, etc. This work can span several weeks. It's more important to have well-organized data than when in the timeline the loading occurs. Our team provides template csv files with instructions so you can easily format and deliver the necessary data.
The site and content review period is your opportunity to test features and functionality, confirm the user interface appears as expected, and to ensure that the backfile conversion is complete and accurate. Again, we provide documentation and a checklist to guide your team through the review. This four- to six-week period is when you will want your team to have time available to dedicate to this activity. With programmatic conversion processes there's no need to check every piece of content. We recommend spot-checking across eras of content for any conversion issues.
Prepare for launch: your expert partners
In the final weeks between site review and launch, our team will work with you on data loading and populating ancillary pages and self-serve areas on the sites so they will be ready for launch. You'll also be communicating with users, members, and librarians about the upcoming changes. When we get to launch day, our technical team will coordinate with your IT person to make the updates that will send traffic to the new sites. Then our Client Services team steps in to provide support for any questions or issues that may arise as users explore the new sites. No question too small or issue too large — they can handle it all.Although a migration sounds like a daunting project, breaking it into phases and understanding when your team needs to be more engaged makes it completely manageable by teams of any size. That said, a few publishers have opted to bring in a consultant to provide project management assistance during the migration. We're happy to make a recommendation if you want to explore that option.
Do, Don't, & other resources
Finally, we've compiled a short list of key do's and don'ts to help make your migration journey as smooth as possible.DO: Ask all the questions you want to make sure you understand how the Silverchair Platform works.
DON'T: Assume a feature works the same way as it does on your current platform.
DO: Be specific with requirements and expected behavior to reduce risk of misunderstandings.
DON'T: Assume we will figure out how you expect features to work from your current platform.
DO: Point out the areas in your content that require special handling or display treatments during the conversion/requirements phase.
DON'T: Wait until site review and complain about things that don't look like you expected when you didn't communicate the need up front.
DO: Tell us early about annual meetings, vacations, or other conflicts that could affect the schedule.
DON'T: Miss the deadlines we agree to for deliverables so that the project stays on track.
DO: Plan to have your user/account/subscription data cleaned up and well organized for loading.
DON'T: Give us a jumble of data with missing fields or duplications and hope we'll sort it all out for you.
DO: Have confidence that your team can manage a migration!
DON'T: Be afraid to ask how Silverchair can support your team — we're beside you every step of the way!
Ready to dive deeper? Visit our Migration Resources page for a comprehensive guide, useful links, and more.