The end of Universal Analytics is almost here - are you prepared?
As the digital landscape evolves, so does the fate of Universal Analytics (UA). On 1st July 2024, Google will decommission UA, ushering in the era of Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
It’s the beginning of the end for Umbraco version 7. Are you prepared for 30th September 2023?
After you’ve read this article, you’ll know what the end-of-life means, what the end of v7 means for you, and what to do in order to prepare before it’s all over.
Umbraco is an open-sourced and THE user-friendly Content Management System (CMS) used to build and create immersive digital experiences for your business and customers.
End-of-life describes a product that is no longer maintained or supported by the creator. If you are using the soon-to-be outdated version, you will be at risk of security breaches and other threats, which we will go into greater depth about further on. That being said, end-of-life does not mean the end of service. However, it is heavily discouraged by Umbraco and us here at Clerks well to use version 7 as unsupported software can be dangerous and, in some cases, irreversibly damaging to the integrity of your business. If the creators themselves wouldn’t use it, why would you?
There is a range of reasons that your website may be vulnerable, some of which are harder to avoid than others. However, running your website on outdated software is a significant contributor. Outdated software is outta here software!
So, some of the key risks of unsupported software are as follows:
Behind the times:
Out-dated Features:
Security Risks:
Unsupported products no longer have developers working to discover new and inevitable vulnerabilities, so they remain unresolved, and no new fixes are created or deployed leaving you unprotected.
As a digital agency, we are very aware of how much time, money, and resources corporations put into their digital presence, or more specifically, their website.
As technology rapidly evolves, the rate at which people upgrade lags far behind. Reports of system vulnerabilities are on the rise, with an increase of 9.3% between 2020 and 2021. It might shock you that over 30,000 websites are hacked every day, varying in severity. If you think upgrading is an expensive and time-consuming process, just imagine how much more costly it would be to recover and rebuild after a severe data breach.
The choice is ultimately yours. Umbraco 8,9, 10 and now 11! Here’s a little bit more insight.
Umbraco 8
Umbraco 9
Umbraco 10
Umbraco 11
Although Version 11 has just been released, the move from 10 to 11 will be a simpler upgrade therefore upgrading or re-building from version 7 to 10 would be the recommended approach. the upgrade to 11 will be similar from moving to a minor upgrade, for example 7.4 to 7.12. So, you can rest assured each upgrade, post upgrade!
We’ve already started migrating websites to make sure they don’t just have support; they have long-term support and an experienced hand to guide and assist in the transition that their sites need to go through.
Our CEO Robert Killick likes to say, ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. We do encourage you to act now, as any upgrade can be time-consuming. The migration from 7 to 10 will be a big leap but you don’t have to do it alone.
Clerkswell is an Umbraco Gold Partner with over 25 years of experience as a digital agency with the very best technology.
So, together let’s get your upgrade underway and keep you and your business thriving on new initiative protected technologies and say goodbye to predated, outdated and unsecure software.
To kick start your upgrade on the way contact our Head of Digital, Nina Anderson today at N.Anderson@Clerkswell.com.
If you already have questions brewing, join us for our Webinar and Live Q&A on 14th March with our expert speakers Paul Seal Umbraco MVP & Zeb Sadiq our CTO. Click here to join.
As the digital landscape evolves, so does the fate of Universal Analytics (UA). On 1st July 2024, Google will decommission UA, ushering in the era of Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
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Read more about Sitecore's recent release of version 10.4 as evaluated by Sai Makala, one of our Sitecore experts.