Migrating to Sitecore 10.4: Your complete step-by-step guide

With the release of Sitecore 10.4, many organizations are looking to take advantage of over 200 enhancements to their existing digital platforms through migration to Sitecore from other platforms. These platforms can be from legacy systems, competition, and custom solutions. The most significant of these enhancements are improved functionality, better security, and stronger personalization. Hence, it enables additional growth opportunities. This guide will assist you with everything you need to know about migrating to Sitecore’s latest version regardless of which platform you may currently be using.

Why organizations are upgrading to Sitecore 10.4

The newest version of the Sitecore Experience Platform (Version 10.4) includes enhancements that help enterprises provide better digital experience offerings.

1. Enhanced security and compliance

Sitecore 10.4 offers stronger security and compliance through updated JavaScript libraries across all components. It also comes with increased security hardening that helps organizations manage risk. Security hardening adds additional protection against unauthorized access to sensitive data. The latest version has been enhanced to support SQL Server 2022. This improves encryption and compliance capabilities to protect customers’ confidential information.

2. Improved integration capabilities

Another key reason to migrate to Sitecore 10.4 is stronger integration between systems through enhanced Sitecore Connect capabilities. These improvements allow xConnect data to move easily from Sitecore to other systems without custom development. As a result of these enhancements, enterprises can access data from a much greater range of environments. In addition, marketing automation capabilities have been enhanced through tighter integration with Sitecore Analytics and third-party platforms, including Salesforce and Snowflake.

3. Migration-ready tools

Sitecore 10.4 includes purpose-built migration tools that simplify transitions:

• XM to XM Cloud Migration Tool for transferring content, media, and users
• xDB to CDP Migration Tool for moving visitor contact data to Sitecore’s CDP and Personalize products
• Codeless Schema Extensions module allowing new data capture without developer involvement

4. Accessibility and user experience

Enhanced keyboard navigation and a media solution that enhances the use of screen readers for the blind. Changes were made to improve contrast for the visually impaired and make your website compliant to accessibility standards.

5. Performance optimizations

Solr indexing improvements with “soft commit” functionality ensure faster search indexing and quicker data availability. The platform has been optimized for enhanced stability and performance across all core functions.

Key steps in Sitecore migration

To successfully upgrade to Sitecore 10.4, you need to plan thoroughly and execute effectively. This step-by-step roadmap will help you navigate your Sitecore upgrade:

Phase 1: Discovery and assessment

A successful Sitecore migration begins with a clear understanding of your current digital ecosystem along with your future business requirements. Depending on how complicated your environment is, the discovery phase can last anywhere between two and four weeks. During the assessment phase, all relevant business leadership, technical teams, and content owners will collaborate closely to define all the necessary components needed to complete the upgrading to Sitecore process.

1.1 Current state analysis
Document all assets including:

• Websites, applications, and digital properties
• Content inventory (pages, assets, documents, and media files)
• Custom functionalities and integrations
• User roles, permissions, and workflows
• Third-party plugins, modules, and extensions
• Analytics and tracking implementations

1.2 Business requirements gathering

You can gather business requirements that are aligned with operational and strategic goals from stakeholders in various departments, like marketing, IT, product management, etc. Work with content teams to identify key features or functionalities of current projects that will be retained after the migration. Collaborate with business leaders to define additional or new capabilities that will be available in the “Target” system. Create documentation of the content authoring workflows and approval processes for corporate governance and efficiency. Identify any marketing technology capabilities related to personalization, marketing automation, multilingual, and multisite to inform architecture, performance, and scalability decisions for future versions of Sitecore.

1.3 Technical compatibility review

The technical compatibility review examines your current technology stack against Sitecore 10.4 specifications and guidelines. It helps you determine compatibility or performance of databases, as well as the availability of SQL Server 2022 support by Sitecore. Additionally, evaluate the server infrastructure and hosting environment for sufficient capacity, stability, and upgrade readiness.

Evaluate the use of search technology (e.g., Solr and/or Azure Search) to confirm their compatibility with features and scalability. Create documentation for all integration points to and from your current Customer Relationship Management System (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP), and other marketing platforms. The documentation supports continuity across migration transitions and post-implementation activities.

Finally, prioritize migration elements based on business criticality:

• Mission-critical content and functionality
• High-traffic pages and conversion paths
• Analytics and reporting configurations
• Marketing campaigns and personalization rules
• Nice-to-have features and legacy content for archival

Phase 2: Strategy and planning

The strategy phase takes the information collected during discovery and creates an actionable roadmap for migrating to your new system. In this phase, you will identify how you are going to migrate and the layout of your target architecture. And how the actual migration will take place within your organization.

2.1 Choose your migration strategy

There are different approaches to migration. Each has its benefits depending on the specific scenario.

1. Lift and Shift (Rehosting)
The goal of this type of migration is to transfer the existing functionality with as little change as possible. It is ideal for organizations that have well-structured current solutions and require a quick migration with minimal risk.

2. Replatforming
This method involves implementing optimizations during migration. It includes updating underlying databases or modernizing application components without a complete redesign.

3. Refactoring
The refactoring approach requires a complete redesign and rebuild using Sitecore’s latest architectural patterns. It leverages headless capabilities through Sitecore JavaScript Services (JSS) or Sitecore Experience Accelerator (SXA).

4. Hybrid approach
A hybrid strategy is utilized when the workload of a particular component dictates the best approach to take with that workload. The implementation of a hybrid approach involves rehosting stable systems while refactoring customer-facing applications to improve the end user experience.

2.2 Create your migration architecture

Your target Sitecore architecture requires careful consideration across multiple dimensions. Decide between Sitecore topology options such as XM versus XP, and whether to deploy on-premises, in managed cloud, or on Azure PaaS. Plan Content Delivery Network (CDN) integration for optimal performance. Configure search using either Solr or Azure Search based on your scaling requirements. And design your xConnect and analytics database setup to support personalization and marketing automation requirements. Also, consider how external systems will integrate with Sitecore through APIs, Sitecore Connect, or custom middleware.

2.3 Develop a detailed project plan

Your migration plan should include:

• Phased migration timeline with clear milestones
• Resource allocation across internal teams, partners, and vendors
• Content freeze periods and deployment windows
• Testing phases spanning development, staging, UAT, and production environments
• Rollback procedures and contingency plans for unexpected issues
• Training schedules for content authors and administrators
• Post-migration optimization periods to fine-tune performance and address feedback.

Phase 3: Content migration strategy

Content migration represents one of the most critical aspects of your Sitecore implementation. When transferring to Sitecore’s Template-Based Architecture, users should intentionally design their information architecture before migrating to Sitecore. To keep your existing content types connected with Sitecore, first identify all content types used across your organization. Second, create corresponding Sitecore templates to preserve the same structure used before migration.

Also, create an inheritance hierarchy of Sitecore templates that will allow for reuse of templates at multiple levels. Provide consistent standards for template values and default settings so that authors can produce content with minimal preparation prior to content being published. Create a separate level of template-offered components to give your authors maximum flexibility when creating and publishing content.

Finally, consider utilizing the SXA to develop reusable components, templates, and layout types to expedite the development process.

For the content migration, you can opt from automated or manual migration.

Automated migration uses tools and custom scripts for bulk content transfer:

• Leverage Sitecore’s Migration Tool for supported source platforms
• Develop custom PowerShell scripts for complex migrations
• Use Sitecore Content Serialization (SCS) for item synchronization
• Consider third-party migration tools like Siteport for enterprise-scale migrations

While manual migration becomes necessary for:

• Strategic content requiring optimization during transfer
• Complex personalization rules and targeting conditions
• Custom workflows and approval processes
• Media library organization and taxonomy

Many organizations adopt a hybrid approach and combine automated bulk transfer with manual refinement for optimal results.

Phase 4: Data and analytics migration

Beyond content, your Sitecore migration must preserve critical customer data and analytics configurations that power personalization and marketing effectiveness. This phase ensures continuity in customer understanding and engagement capabilities.

4.1 xDB data migration

If migrating from an existing Sitecore version or implementing xDB for the first time:

• Use the xDB to CDP Migration Tool (available in 10.4) to transfer contact data
• Plan data retention policies and archival strategies
• Map existing analytics events to Sitecore goals and events
• Configure contact facets and profile patterns
• Set up custom contact attributes using the Codeless Schema Extensions module

4.2 Analytics and tracking configuration

Ensure continuity in analytics:

• Map existing analytics events to Sitecore engagement plans
• Configure goals, campaigns, and conversion funnels
• Set up integration with Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or other platforms
• Implement tracking codes and tagging strategies
• Configure marketing automation workflows in Marketing Automation

A comprehensive Sitecore migration consultation addresses planning requirements, technical decisions, and content strategy elements as you see in the image.

Here is the detailed breakdown of each consideration.

Sitecore migration planning

Planning considerations

Timeline realism

• Complexity
• Content volume
• Customization requirements

Resource requirements

• Sitecore developers (backend, frontend, full-stack)
• Content migration specialists
• Quality assurance testers
• UX/UI designers
• Project managers
• Business analysts
• Infrastructure/DevOps engineers

Budget planning

• Sitecore licensing (choose between XM or XP, on-premises or managed cloud)
• Professional services and consulting fees
• Infrastructure costs (hosting, CDN, search)
• Third-party tools and accelerators
• Training and change management
• Ongoing support and maintenance

Change management

• Communicate benefits clearly to all stakeholders
• Address concerns proactively
• Involve key users in design and testing
• Plan for post-launch support and adoption
• Celebrate milestones and successes

Technical considerations

Infrastructure decisions

• Sitecore Experience Manager (XM)
• Sitecore Experience Platform (XP)
• Managed Cloud vs. On-Premises
• Azure PaaS Deployment

Architecture patterns

• Traditional ASP.NET MVC
• Sitecore Experience Accelerator (SXA)
• Headless/JSS
• Hybrid Architecture

Content strategy considerations

Multi-language support

• Plan language strategy upfront (shared vs. independent content)
• Design language fallback logic
• Configure regional variations (e.g., en-US, en-GB, en-EU)
• Plan for translation workflows and management

Personalization strategy

• Define audience segments and personas
• Map customer journey touchpoints
• Create personalization rules based on behavior, demographics, and context
• Implement progressive profiling strategies
• Plan for AI-driven personalization with Sitecore CDP

SEO preservation

• Map all URLs and implement 301 redirects
• Preserve or improve URL structures
• Maintain or enhance metadata (titles, descriptions, schema markup)
• Optimize page speed and Core Web Vitals
• Submit updated sitemaps to search engines
• Monitor rankings and traffic post-migration

Migrating to Sitecore from different platforms

Different source platforms require specific migration approaches based on their architecture, data structures, and capabilities. Understanding these nuances ensures appropriate planning for your specific scenario. The following sections outline key considerations and approaches for common migration paths to Sitecore.

1. WordPress to Sitecore migration

A website built on WordPress may have many limitations when it comes to implementing advanced personalization strategies and marketing automation tools. When it comes to migrating content from WordPress to Sitecore, there are two main approaches.

In the first approach, you can export content from WordPress to Sitecore using the WordPress export function to generate XML files. Alternatively, access the WordPress database directly to create XML files for migration.

Map your WordPress custom post types to Sitecore templates as part of your second approach. This preserves the custom post type structure during content migration and keeps content relationships intact.

A well-planned WordPress to Sitecore migration prevents content loss during the transition. It modernizes the underlying architecture to support richer digital experiences. It also enables full use of Sitecore’s personalization capabilities.

2. SharePoint to Sitecore migration

Organizations often move from SharePoint to Sitecore when public websites and customer experiences become a priority. The migration leverages SharePoint’s APIs for content extraction. Document libraries move into Sitecore’s media library or integrate with Content Hub for asset management. SharePoint workflows can be recreated using Sitecore’s workflow engine. This step requires careful mapping to keep approval and governance processes intact.

3 .NET custom site to Sitecore migration

Customers benefit from working with a Microsoft Gold Partner when upgrading to Sitecore 10.4 from custom .NET solutions. Microsoft Gold Partners help you make full use of Azure for scalability, automation, and AI. They bring access to Azure credits, priority support, and ongoing platform updates. The process starts by reviewing existing code to identify reusable components. The architecture follows Sitecore best practices and Helix principles. Data access layers shift to Sitecore’s content APIs. Much of the business logic can remain unchanged, which reduces migration time and risk.

4 .NET MVC to Sitecore migration

.NET MVC applications align closely with Sitecore’s architecture. Existing MVC patterns integrate naturally within Sitecore’s architecture, requiring minimal structural changes. This makes the migration process faster and more predictable. Controllers convert to Sitecore renderings with minimal changes. Views adapt easily to Sitecore’s component-based model. This is one of the smoothest migration paths available.

5. Drupal to Sitecore migration

The migration from Drupal to Sitecore occurs when enterprise-grade personalization, marketing automation, and .NET ecosystem integration become priorities. Content is exported using Drupal tools or database queries. Content types map to Sitecore templates while keeping relationships and taxonomy intact. PHP-based customizations require conversion to .NET, which involves recreating business logic within Sitecore’s architecture. This migration gives an opportunity to simplify content models and improve workflows.

6. Legacy system modernization

Migrations from legacy or unsupported platforms require deeper discovery and planning phases. The process begins with thorough content inventory, cleanup, and rationalization to ensure only valuable content transfers to Sitecore. Custom features are documented and evaluated for future use. Required functionality is rebuilt using Sitecore’s native tools or modern development methods. These migrations represent complete digital transformation initiatives rather than simple technical platform changes.

6. Azure cloud migration considerations

Many Sitecore migrations coincide with Azure cloud adoption strategies. This allows teams to modernize the platform and infrastructure simultaneously. Azure PaaS offers better scalability, security, and performance when properly architected. Infrastructure design should account for CDN setup, search services, and integration points with other enterprise systems. Whether deploying to Azure PaaS or managed cloud environments, proper planning ensures optimal performance and cost efficiency.

Data migration excellence

Successful migrations extend beyond content to complex data transformations. Historical analytics data, customer interaction records, and behavioral profiles must be carefully migrated to preserve personalization capabilities. Integration with CRMs, ERPs, marketing platforms, and other enterprise systems requires mapping data flows and ensuring business continuity throughout the transition. Proper data migration planning protects the investment in customer understanding, engagement history, and business continuity.

Here are the next steps for your Sitecore migration

Begin with an assessment of your current digital ecosystem, business requirements, and technical architecture. The given checklist in this blog can help you make the assessment faster. Next, move into the discovery phase to identify migration complexity, resource needs, and risks. This clarity supports more accurate timelines and budgets.

Migrating to Sitecore 10.4 represents an opportunity to transform your digital experience platform. With proper planning and a structured methodology, you can execute migrations with minimal risk. Attention to the considerations outlined in this blog can help you maximize the value of Sitecore’s capabilities.

You can also contact our Sitecore migration specialists for a migration assessment and learn how we can help you achieve a seamless transition to Sitecore 10.4.