A Look at Automated Content Migration: Part 1 - Kapow Technologies

When it comes to migrating your content to a new content management system, the only way to go is automated. In this article series we take a close look at several of the automated solutions on the market, starting with Kapow Tech's content migration tools.

The Need to Migrate Content

We've had this conversation before. There always seems to come a time when you need to get your content out of one system — be it a file share, a CMS, a DMS or whatever — and put it into a new system.

Whatever your reason, there's one important thing to remember: the content itself. It's never simply a matter of taking from one and putting into another. That, in the words of Gerry McGovern, is a disastrous strategy.

Content Migration Approaches

There are a number of ways to migrate content from an existing CMS or other location into a new content management system. As a refresher, these are:

• Manual cut and paste
• Custom coding
• Utilizing generic CMS APIs
• Reverse engineering the content database
• Implementing an automated content migration solution

Which approach works best for you comes down to how much time, money and resources you have. There are pros and cons to each option, but for most of you, the days of cut and paste are long gone. Considering the complexity of most websites, the need for automated solutions has become self evident.

The good news is that a number of automated solutions already exist. Among these we count EntropySoft, Kapow Technologies, Vamosa and Vital Path. In this first article we take a look at Kapow Tech's Content Migration Module to see how it compares to others in the market.

Kapow Technologies

Kapow Tech is probably best known for their Web Data Server (WDS), a developer-friendly platform that enables users to build mashup solutions with the flick of a keystroke. The WDS makes use of a number of robots. Using standard web protocols, the robots can automate navigation and interaction with web applications and provide secure access to the underlying data.

Kapow Tech's Approach to Content Migration

RoboMaker, part of the Kapow Visual Development Environment (VDE), is a tool for building robots. It enables you to build robots that can crawl a website and see both visible and invisible content (i.e., metadata).

Kapow Technology's RoboMaker Concepts

This is where content migration gets started.

Content Migration Module

The Migration Module is technically a part of the company's Web Data Server, but is also marketed and sold independently. The diagram below lays out the constituent parts of the solution and also makes it clear how the migration technology shares deep synergy with the company's larger Web Data Server mashup platform.

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Tags: content migration, entropysoft, kapow technologies, vamosa, vital path, web cms, web content, web publishing

When it comes to migrating your content to a new content management system, the only way to go is automated. In this article series we take a close look at several of the automated solutions on the market, starting with Kapow Tech's content migration tools.