The PMCPA's website was on Umbraco version 7, which was reaching end-of-life in September 2023. This would expose the PMCPA's website to security threats, and lead to reduced functionality due to outdated features, which caused significant concern. They wanted to upgrade to Umbraco 10, the newest version that offers long-term support.
Prescription Medicines Code Of Practice Authority
Pharmaceutical | Umbraco v7 to v10 upgrade
The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) is a division of The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). The Authority is responsible for providing advice, guidance and training on the ABPI Code of Practice and for operating the complaints procedure. Having previously neglected their digital presence, they sought a refreshed website to improve functionality and security.
The Challenge
The Approach
ClerksWell's approach was to adopt a 'life and shift' approach to this rebuild on Umbraco 10. This was the first Umbraco 10 upgrade project the team had delivered which offered many learning opportunities. The main challenge was making sure every aspect of the website worked once migrated to Umbraco 10, despite some uncertainties along the way.
We started with a series of set-up tasks, the most significant of which was the set up of ClerksWell's accelerator kit and tailoring it to this project specifically. We also provisioned the Umbraco 10 Cloud environment and took a copy of the live database.
Following this, the page templates were divided into 5 broad categories. They were ported over to Umbraco 10 one by one. During this process, we moved individual templates to Umbraco 10, observed what aspect were broken and then upgraded the code accordingly. This approach has two notable benefits: the developers were in strong control and there was clear visibility of development progress throughout the build.
The Impact
Overall, this was a hugely successful first Umbraco 10 upgrade project. It was delivered in line with predicted timelines and budgets, and the PMCPA were delighted with the result. Thanks to the upgrade of the .NET core version, the website's performance has noticeable improved, with faster page loading times. Not a single user noticed the upgrade, according to the client, indicating an entirely successful and seamless migration.
Their new, upgraded website will now provide the basis for future, ongoing branding changes as part of a broader rebranding journey.
Project Overview
“The PMCPA engaged ClerksWell to upgrade their website from Umbraco 7 to Umbraco 10, ensuring long‑term platform support, improved performance, and a stable foundation for future digital and brand development. With Umbraco 7 approaching end‑of‑life and presenting increasing security and functionality risks, the upgrade was a critical step for safeguarding the organisation’s digital presence. Taking a controlled lift‑and‑shift approach, ClerksWell delivered the upgrade using a structured discovery, build, and test methodology. The project marked the team’s first Umbraco 10 upgrade, requiring careful technical planning, rigorous quality assurance, and close attention to continuity to ensure the site functioned exactly as expected post‑migration. Through thorough assessment, phased development, and an in‑depth QA process, the website was successfully upgraded without disruption to users, delivering improved performance, long‑term support, and a platform ready to support ongoing change.”
2 months
Project delivered
0
user-visible disruption at launch
1
bug raised during UAT
Improved
overall site performance
