9. DIY vs Hire

DIY makes sense if

• You have active engineering capacity
• You want long-term control over architecture and release flow
• You can absorb migration learning costs without business risk

Hire it out if

• Downtime tolerance is near zero
• SEO impact from mistakes would be expensive
• Current WordPress setup is highly inconsistent
• Internal team cannot prioritize migration for the full timeline

Decision scorecard

Score each item from 1 to 5:

• Engineering bandwidth
• SEO risk tolerance
• Domain and infra complexity
• Content model complexity
• Integration count and criticality

Higher complexity and lower bandwidth generally point to partner-led migration.

Hybrid model

A hybrid approach often works best:

• External team executes migration architecture and core implementation
• Internal team owns domain logic, content QA, and final approval
• Shared runbook for handoff and long-term maintenance

Success criteria before sign-off

• No unresolved P1 or P2 launch risks
• Redirect and SEO validation complete
• Editor workflows accepted by content team
• Ownership model documented for first 90 days