A platform migration is rarely just a technical project. It's a business decision with technical consequences, and the brands that navigate it well tend to ask harder questions earlier. Here are ten worth sitting with before any contract gets signed.
Q: What problem are we actually solving?
A: Slow checkout, poor reporting, and integration limits all get fixed differently. Naming the specific pain first prevents chasing a shinier platform for the wrong reason.
Q: Who outside IT needs to sign off, and have they been in the room yet?
A: Migrations that stall midway often stall because marketing, ops, or finance discover the change after the direction is already set.
Q: What's our actual integration count, and which ones are non-negotiable?
A: Most brands underestimate this until someone maps it out. ERP, POS, loyalty, marketplaces, and marketing tools all need a home on the new platform, not an afterthought.
Q: Are we migrating because of the platform, or because of how we've built on top of it
A: Sometimes the platform is fine and the custom code layered on top over the years is the actual constraint. Worth ruling this out before switching everything.
Q: What does downtime cost us, per hour, honestly?
A: This number should drive the migration timeline and rollback plan, not the vendor's proposed schedule.
Q: Who owns data during the transition?
Customer records, order history, and inventory data moving between systems is where migrations quietly go wrong. Ownership and validation responsibility need names attached, not just a process.
Q: What happens to SEO equity on our existing URLs?
A: Years of ranking content and backlinks can evaporate with a careless URL structure change. This needs a plan before launch, not after traffic drops.
Q: Is the new platform actually more open, or just differently closed?
Platform-agnostic doesn't mean platform-less. It means understanding what each option locks you into before you're locked in.
Q: What's our rollback plan if week one goes wrong?
Not if things go wrong. When. Every migration has a rough first week; the plan for that week matters as much as the plan for launch day.
Q: Are we solving for where the business is now, or where it's headed in three years?
A platform that fits today's SKU count and order volume but not next year's expansion into a new market is a migration you'll be having again soon.
There's no universally right platform, only the right platform for a specific set of constraints, priorities, and growth plans. The questions matter more than the answer any single vendor gives you. It's the same set of questions we worked through with Mr. DIY, Al-Ikhsan Sports, Qra Foods, Steel Recon Industries, before their migration.
To see how we scope a migration from the first conversation, visit Strategise.
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