How Contensis supports a flexible and future-proof headless CMS migration

A headless CMS migration isn’t just about moving your content from one platform to another. It’s about getting the structure right, simplifying your workflows, and making sure your new CMS fits how your organisation actually works. In the first two blogs of this series, we covered what a headless CMS migration involves and how to prepare for it. Now, we’ll look at how Contensis can help you make that migration smoother and set you up for the long term.

A headless CMS migration isn’t something you can rush. It’s a process of restructuring how your content is managed, how it’s delivered, and how your teams work together. Contensis is designed to support every part of that process – without forcing you to work in ways that don’t make sense for your organisation.

At the heart of this is content modelling and domain modelling. Contensis gives you the flexibility to design content types that actually reflect your organisation – whether that’s courses, services, events, or staff profiles. You can define the fields and metadata that matter to you, and set up relationships that make content easier to find, reuse, and govern. Instead of forcing you to bend your content around a rigid template, Contensis gives you the freedom to shape your CMS around your real-world content.

From there, the platform’s API-first approach means your developers can use the tools and frameworks they’re already comfortable with – like React, Vue, or other modern front-end technologies. No more fighting against locked-down templates or trying to hack around old systems. With Contensis, your teams can build fast, accessible front-ends that do justice to the content your editors create.

Migration tools like the Contensis CLI make it easier to move large volumes of content quickly and accurately. And because everything is exposed via APIs, you’re not tied to one way of doing things. Whether you’re migrating thousands of pages or just a handful of critical services, Contensis can adapt to your needs.

Throughout this process, Contensis doesn’t force you to throw away the work you’ve already done. It gives you the tools to incrementally improve and iterate, so you’re not stuck in an all-or-nothing rebuild. For example, Contensis’ reverse proxy capability means you can keep parts of your old site live while you gradually migrate new sections – giving you more control and flexibility over your go-live. That kind of flexibility is critical when you’re working with large digital estates and multiple teams.

Let’s take a look at each of these features in more detail.

One of the biggest challenges in any migration is figuring out how to structure your content for the future. Contensis’ content modelling and domain modelling tools help you do just that – without forcing you into someone else’s idea of how content “should” work.

You can create content types that actually reflect what you’re managing – like services, courses, or events – and define exactly what fields and metadata they need. That means no more cramming the wrong content into the wrong fields or duplicating effort across different parts of your site.

Because Contensis is built around modular content, it’s easier to reuse and repurpose information across your digital estate. Editors don’t need to recreate the same content for every page or channel – once it’s structured, it can be used wherever you need it. That saves time, reduces errors, and makes it easier to maintain a consistent experience across your website, apps, and other platforms.

The domain modelling tools also help you map the relationships between different content types. For example, linking an event to an organising department or connecting a course to its parent faculty. This isn’t just about making things neat in the back end – it’s about giving your users better ways to discover and navigate what matters to them.

Contensis doesn’t lock you into a single template or way of working. Its API-first approach means your content can be delivered wherever you need it – whether that’s a main website, a campaign microsite, a mobile app, or even digital signage in your buildings.

For developers, this is a breath of fresh air. You can use whatever front-end frameworks or tools you’re most comfortable with – React, Vue, or something entirely different. Because Contensis doesn’t impose design or theming constraints, your teams can build fast, accessible, and user-friendly front ends without workarounds or compromises.

For organisations, this means you’re not boxed in. You’re free to evolve and expand your digital estate without having to re-architect everything from scratch each time.

The process of moving content from an old CMS to a headless one can be daunting – especially if you’re dealing with years of accumulated content. Fortunately, Contensis has built-in tools to make this easier and more efficient.

Using the Contensis CLI and our robust APIs, you can automate large parts of the migration process. Instead of manual copy-pasting, you can script your content migration to move thousands of pages accurately and consistently.

This is more than a time-saver. Automating content migration in this way helps you avoid the errors and inconsistencies that manual migration can introduce. And because our tools are designed to work with the structured content models you’ve already defined, you’re not just moving content – you’re turning it into something that’s easier to manage and reuse in the future.

Big-bang migrations look good on paper, but they’re usually a nightmare in reality. Contensis’ built-in reverse proxy support means you don’t have to switch everything over at once. You can keep parts of your old site live while you migrate new sections in phases.

A reverse proxy acts as a gateway, routing traffic for any pages that haven’t yet been migrated to your new Contensis site back to your old CMS. This means you can launch new sections in Contensis incrementally.

This phased approach supports agile migration in several ways:

• Phased delivery: Rather than waiting until every page is migrated, you can go live with your new Contensis site in stages. This makes it easier to build momentum and see benefits early, instead of holding everything back for a ‘big bang’ launch.
• Iterative testing and improvement: An agile approach is all about learning and adapting. The reverse proxy lets you release sections incrementally, gather user feedback, and refine your site as you go.
• Reduced risk: Blending old and new content with the reverse proxy means you avoid the risk and downtime of a full switchover. Your users will always see a complete site, even while you’re still migrating behind the scenes.
• Less pressure on your teams: You can prioritise moving your most important or frequently updated content first. This helps your teams focus on quality without feeling overwhelmed by an all-at-once deadline.

Using reverse proxies reduces risk, gives you more control, and provides room to fix the things that aren’t working before you flip the switch completely. This is especially important for large organisations or those with strict governance requirements. It means you can prove value early, reduce risk, and build confidence in your new system one step at a time.

For many teams, finding the time and resources to plan and deliver a complex migration alongside day-to-day work can be a challenge. If you’d rather outsource all or parts of your migration, our services team can help.

We’ve delivered hundreds of migrations across higher education, councils, NGOs, and large enterprises. In the last three years alone, our team has bulk-imported more than a million pieces of content – so we know how to carry out successful migrations in the real world.

From the start, we’ll work with you to understand your content models, user journeys, and current pain points. We run detailed discovery sessions and stakeholder interviews, so your new system doesn’t just look good on paper – it actually supports how your teams work day to day.

When it’s time to move content, we use the Contensis CLI and our Management API to automate secure, structured imports from your legacy systems. That means thousands of items of content can be migrated efficiently and accurately, without the kind of repetitive manual work that slows projects down.

For more complex digital estates, we’ll plan incremental migrations that follow agile principles – so you can test, refine, and keep improving without needing to switch everything over in one go. And because accessibility and compliance matter from day one, we’ll make sure your content meets those standards as part of the migration itself.

Migration is rarely just about technology – it’s about people. New tools can feel daunting, especially if your team has spent years working around the quirks of an old system. That’s why Contensis backs up its features with practical training and ongoing support.

We work with your editors, developers, and governance teams to make sure they’re comfortable with the new workflows and confident in using the platform. That might mean hands-on workshops, walkthroughs, or just being there to answer questions when they crop up.

The experts in our services team can help you tackle the sticking points that can slow migrations down. Need to get governance teams on board? We’ll show how Contensis’ permissions and workflow tools can make compliance easier. Need to upskill content editors who’ve been stuck in a rigid template system for years? We’ll break down the basics of modular content and show how it makes their work simpler, not harder.

But our support doesn’t stop once you’ve launched. A migration is a big change, and it’s normal to have questions, tweaks, or new ideas after go-live. Contensis’ support and customer experience teams are there to help you refine workflows, solve unexpected challenges, and keep evolving as your organisation’s needs change.

We’ve seen first-hand how this flexibility and focus on real-world workflows can make a difference.

Heriot-Watt University recently migrated from their legacy CMS, OpenText, to Contensis, choosing a carefully phased approach to ensure minimal disruption and maximum collaboration.

The project kicked off with a two-day developer workshop at our Shropshire offices, bringing together Heriot-Watt’s in-house development team and experts from our services team. This wasn’t just about training – it was about building trust, setting the direction, and laying the groundwork for success.

From the start, the migration was shaped by an agile methodology. Heriot-Watt’s internal team didn’t just watch from the sidelines; they were part of a dedicated project squad that worked hand-in-hand with our team. Together, the project squad mapped out the core user journeys and focused on what the Heriot-Watt team had identified as their top priority – getting the university’s undergraduate course pages up and running.

Behind the scenes, a custom Node.js importer was built to integrate Heriot-Watt’s curriculum management system (Akari) directly with Contensis. This meant course data was always up to date, synchronised hourly to ensure accuracy across the board.

One of the biggest challenges in any migration is managing the transition itself. Rather than flicking a single switch, we took a phased approach. By configuring reverse proxies and Site View nodes within Contensis, the university could release new sections gradually while keeping other areas live on OpenText. It was a measured, controlled way to go live, with no risk of disruptions.

The results? A successful launch of 102 new course entries in Contensis, forming the backbone of a wider content environment that eventually grew to over 6,000 entries. And the project didn’t just meet expectations – it delivered on time and under budget, giving the university the confidence to keep evolving their digital estate on their own terms.

A migration isn’t about flipping a switch – it’s about making sure your new system works for your team and your users, now and in the future. Contensis is built to support that: with practical tools, human-centred training, and ongoing support that doesn’t end on launch day.

If you’re planning a migration, or just want to see how Contensis can make your content work harder, let’s talk.