Blesma

Future-proofing a digital legacy through strategic Umbraco modernisation.

Umbraco upgrades aren't glamorous. When you're migrating from version 7 to version 10, as Blesma recently undertook, they can be extraordinarily time-consuming. However, failing to upgrade leaves your organisation vulnerable to security risks and performance degradation.

Umbraco 7 reached end-of-life status in September 2023, meaning no further security patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities. Organisations running outdated versions also miss out on performance improvements, modern features, and the ability to attract development talent familiar with current technologies.

The migration from version 7 to version 10 presented substantial technical challenges, requiring careful planning and thorough testing. We worked closely with Blesma to ensure their digital platform could continue supporting their vital work with limbless veterans without disruption.

The changes occur entirely 'under the bonnet' —a complete re-engineering of the platform's foundations.

IA, UX and workshops
Concepts & Design
Responsive framework
Web design
Web architecture
Web development and build
Content management system
Project management
Analysis and reporting

So, what tangible benefits does the upgrade deliver?

Speed

Version 10 runs on .NET 6, delivering performance gains ranging from hundreds to thousands of percentage points. Pages load faster, content management is more responsive, and the overall user experience is significantly enhanced.

Convenience

Future upgrades are now straightforward incremental updates rather than massive overhauls, reducing both cost and disruption.

.NET 6

The modern framework provides developers with enhanced capabilities including Razor TagHelpers, Dependency Injection, and View Components. It's faster, benefits from long-term Microsoft support, and is genuinely cross-platform.

WebP Support

This modern image format delivers small file sizes with excellent quality, resulting in faster page loads and improved search rankings through optimised core web vitals.

Cross-Platform Hosting

Version 10's compatibility means organisations can now choose Unix-based hosting options, which often prove more cost-effective than Windows servers.

With the potential for more

The upgrade enables Block Grid for flexible content editing, Headless API for multi-platform content delivery, and Web Hooks for streamlined automations.

Project details

Challenge

Blesma was running Umbraco 7, which reached end-of-life in September 2023. This presented critical security vulnerabilities, as the platform would no longer receive security patches for newly discovered exploits. Additionally, the outdated infrastructure prevented the organisation from benefiting from modern performance improvements, features, and development practices. The migration from version 7 to version 10 required a complete platform rebuild rather than a simple update, representing a significant technical and resource challenge.

Solution

We partnered with Blesma to execute a comprehensive migration from Umbraco 7 to version 10, carefully managing the complex technical transition whilst ensuring business continuity. Our approach focused on rebuilding the platform's foundations on the modern .NET 6 framework, implementing contemporary development practices, and thoroughly testing all functionality before deployment. We worked methodically to preserve existing content and functionality whilst taking advantage of the performance and security benefits offered by the current platform.

Result

Blesma now operates on a secure, high-performance platform that delivers dramatically improved speed and reliability. The migration to .NET 6 has resulted in performance gains of hundreds to thousands of percentage points across various metrics. The organisation benefits from enhanced security, modern development capabilities, and significantly simplified future upgrade paths. We have recently upgraded Blesma to Umbraco 13, further extending these benefits, and we're already making plans for the next major release to ensure their platform remains current, secure, and optimally positioned to support their mission.