This site is for migrations and new platform projects.Support and maintenance → websitesupport.io
London
Design Works
Platform migration and deliveryLondon · Est. 2009

The migration partner for organisations whose platforms have outgrown their foundations

We start on site with your teams: workshops with each department, an audit of your data and systems, and a migration plan you sign off before anything is built. Then one team delivers it, usually over six to nine months.

Talk to a technical lead
020 3608 2525
A 30-minute call. If it's useful, we follow up with a scoped discovery proposal.
01
Legacy platform, endless workarounds

We replace the foundation so the next five years is additive, not another rescue.

02
Five systems that should be one

Portals, ordering, membership and content under one CMS, one login, one truth.

03
Something new with live data

Benchmarking, feeds, dashboards, assessment workflows. Built before, built again.

04
Stakeholders who can't agree

We run the workshops, keep the decision log, and get every department to sign off.

Selected migrations

All case studies →
Graduates in caps and gowns walking in a line outdoors
01Scholarships · Government-backed

Chevening

Replaced a scholarship application system handling thousands of applications a year, with design partner Webb & Webb.

How we ran it
Students with backpacks walking across a university campus courtyard
02Higher education

University of London Housing

Replaced the accommodation service's platform so students and landlords could find each other, and the team could run it themselves.

How we ran it
Schoolboy smiling at his desk in a classroom with classmates
03Local authority

Services for Schools

Ordering and reporting for schools buying services from the borough of Hounslow, simple at the front and serious behind it.

How we ran it

Five stages. Six to nine months.

Most of a migration happens before anything is built. Each stage ends with something you can hold us to.

01
Discovery →

On-site workshops with each department, stakeholder mapping, a data and systems audit, and a decision log.

Ends with a costed migration plan and a signed-off decision log.
02
Architecture

Content model, data mapping from old to new, integrations, permissions and the URL redirect plan.

Ends with a data map and a redirect plan for every old URL.
03
Build and migrate

Staged releases, repeated test migrations of real data, and reviews with your content owners.

Ends with a full test migration your team has checked.
04
Cutover

Content freeze, final migration, redirects, parallel running and a rollback plan.

Ends with the new platform live and the old one switched off.
05
Handover and support

Training, documentation, and ongoing support through WebsiteSupport.io.

Ends with your team publishing unaided.
17
years building systems for organisations that can't afford to get it wrong.
Trusted with migrations by universities, public bodies and charities

Planning
a migration?

Start with a readiness review

A free 30-minute call with a technical lead, followed by a short written summary of your options. No commitment beyond that.

020 3608 2525
Studio
WeWork Building
1 Primrose Street
Spitalfields
London EC2A 2EX

Liverpool Street station, three minutes on foot.