Legacy Modernisation
CI3 to CI4. Legacy PHP to Laravel. Custom CMS to WordPress. WooCommerce to Shopify. Shared hosting to VPS. We migrate platforms that everyone is afraid to touch - in parallel, so your live site never goes offline, with a security audit and full documentation included as standard.
If your platform is on this list, it is a liability. Not just a technical inconvenience.
These are the six most common symptoms of a platform that has outlived its usefulness. Each one compounds the others until the cost of staying becomes higher than the cost of migrating.
Three developers built it over 4 years. None of them wrote documentation. The last one left. You are scared to update anything because you do not know what is connected to what.
Updating a product, a price, or a page requires either developer involvement or editing raw HTML. Your marketing team cannot touch the site without breaking something.
PHP 7.2 reached end-of-life in 2019. CI3 is unmaintained. You are running software with known unpatched vulnerabilities on infrastructure your host is about to stop supporting.
Files are deployed via FTP. There is no Git history. You cannot roll back a bad deployment. Every update is a live experiment with no undo button.
Your platform is on a shared host with 99.2% uptime and no staging environment. Every code change goes straight to production. Downtime costs you orders you will never recover.
You want to connect Razorpay, HubSpot, or a WhatsApp API. Your legacy platform has no REST API, no webhook support, and no documentation. Every integration is a hack.
Six steps from legacy codebase to modern platform. Live site stays up the entire time.
Codebase audit & map
We read every file, every route, every database table. We document what exists - integrations, dependencies, business logic - before touching a single line. No assumptions.
Risk-ranked migration plan
Every feature is risk-ranked: what can be rewritten cleanly, what must be ported exactly, and what should be dropped. You approve the plan before any development starts.
Parallel build, zero downtime
We build the new platform alongside the old one. Your live site keeps running while the new one is developed, tested, and staged. Cutover is a DNS switch, not a prayer.
Data migration & validation
All data migrated - users, orders, content, configurations. Every row validated. Checksums before and after. We do not cut over until data integrity is confirmed.
Security hardening on the new platform
Every new platform gets a security baseline: OWASP essentials, CSRF, parameterised queries, file upload restrictions, and Shield auth hardening for CI4 builds.
Handover with full documentation
Living documentation in Notion: architecture overview, route map, database schema, environment setup, deployment process, and third-party integrations. Your next developer will not be lost.
Every platform we migrate from. And to.
Every migration starts with a codebase audit. We scope after reading your code - not before.
CI3 to CI4 Migration
Full migration of your CodeIgniter 3 application to CI4 - namespace refactoring, model rewrites, Shield auth integration, query builder upgrade, and environment configuration. Delivered with a security audit included.
Custom CMS to WordPress
Migrate from a bespoke PHP CMS to WordPress with ACF Pro - structured content, custom post types, flexible layouts, and a marketing team that can update pages without a developer.
Legacy PHP to Laravel
Rewrite of an unstructured PHP codebase into a clean Laravel application - MVC architecture, Eloquent ORM, Sanctum or Passport auth, REST API layer, and full test suite.
Shared Hosting to VPS / Cloud
Infrastructure migration from cPanel shared hosting to a managed VPS or cloud environment - Nginx, PHP-FPM, MySQL, SSL, automated backups, staging environment, and zero-downtime deployment pipeline.
WooCommerce to Shopify
Full store migration - products, variants, collections, customers, orders, and metafields - from WooCommerce to Shopify 2.0. Redirects for SEO, theme rebuild, and payment gateway reconfiguration.
API Modernisation
Wrap your legacy platform in a REST API layer without a full rewrite. Enables modern integrations - WhatsApp, Razorpay, HubSpot, mobile apps - without touching the core application.
What every migration includes, by default.
DNS-switch cutover with parallel build means your live site never goes offline during migration.
CI4, Laravel, WordPress, Shopify, VPS, API modernisation - across 8 client platforms.
Checksum-validated data migration on every project. No missing orders, users, or content.
Every migration includes a Notion-based technical documentation package - architecture, routes, DB schema, deployment.
Impulsebyte vs the alternatives.
| What you need | Impulsebyte | Freelancer | Big agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parallel build (old site stays live) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Security audit included in migration | ✓ | ✗ | Separate cost |
| Full documentation handover in Notion | ✓ | Varies | ✗ |
| Fixed price before we start | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Data validation with checksums | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Zero-downtime cutover | ✓ | Varies | ✗ |
Legacy platforms we have modernised.
Audit first. Build with confidence.
We never quote a migration without reading the codebase. The audit is the foundation - it determines the scope, the risk, and the price.
Codebase Audit Only
2-week audit of your legacy platform - architecture map, dependency inventory, security gaps, and a risk-ranked modernisation roadmap. For organisations deciding what to do before committing budget.
Fixed-Price Migration
Full platform modernisation at a fixed price agreed before we start. Parallel build, data migration with validation, security audit, and documentation handover. Most common engagement.
Phased Modernisation
For large or complex platforms - API layer first, then CMS modernisation, then infrastructure migration. Each phase scoped and priced separately. Revenue never stops.
Questions about legacy migration projects.
Free 30-minute codebase review before we quote. No obligation.
Book Codebase AuditYour legacy platform is costing you more than a migration would.
Free codebase review. Fixed price before we start. Zero downtime on cutover. Full documentation at handover.