Migrating a Leading Science and Technology University from SharePoint to Sitefinity

Migrating a Leading Science and Technology University's Main Website from SharePoint to Sitefinity

How Eveliko successfully migrated a leading science and technology university's main website from a legacy on-premises SharePoint platform to Sitefinity — navigating bilingual content, complex custom integrations, limited live access, and years of accumulated legacy data.

Sitefinity CMS SharePoint

Legacy SharePoint Platform Reaching End of Support with Complex Bilingual Content and Custom Integrations

End-of-Support Legacy SharePoint Platform

The university's main website was built on an on-premises SharePoint version that Microsoft had announced for sunset, making migration urgent. As the primary digital presence for undergraduates, students, and faculty, any disruption carried significant institutional risk.

Years of Accumulated Legacy Data and Business Logic

The platform had served the university for years, accumulating a large volume of content assets, custom business logic, and complex integrations that all needed to be carefully identified, mapped, and migrated without loss.

Bilingual Content Architecture and Limited Live Access

The website operated in both English and Arabic using a content mirroring approach rather than true translation, adding significant technical complexity. Access to the live instance was also heavily restricted, limiting the team's ability to scale migration activities efficiently.

Custom Migration Framework with Bilingual Data Export, Integration Mapping, and Coordinated Go-Live

Custom Migration Framework with SharePoint Content Export

Eveliko extended their existing migration framework to read SharePoint content directly, adding a custom data export component to enable accurate mapping and migration of all content — bypassing the limitations of Sitefinity's built-in SharePoint connector.

Comprehensive Assessment and Legacy Functionality Mapping

A thorough assessment of the SharePoint site was conducted alongside stakeholders, identifying all components — images, pages, news, technology stack, and custom integrations. All key legacy functionalities were catalogued in JIRA and methodically migrated to Sitefinity.

Bilingual Content and Image Migration

A structured process was established to handle the bilingual English-Arabic content architecture and to manage the iterative import of images, resolving issues progressively to ensure all assets were successfully migrated to the new platform.

Production Server Setup and Deployment Support

Eveliko consulted on production server setup, prepared necessary packages, and coordinated with relevant teams to ensure a seamless transition — supporting go-live communication, testing, and priority-setting for the testing team throughout.

Cross-Team Coordination and Post-Migration Enhancements

Daily stand-up meetings and active participation in JIRA discussions kept all teams aligned throughout the project. Post-migration, Eveliko addressed urgent homepage changes needed for the new academic year campaign and resolved faculty profile consistency issues across departmental sites.