The problem
Every platform eventually needs replacing: the back office is end-of-life, the website can’t take the traffic, the hosting isn’t secure, or the business has outgrown it. But a ticketing or e-commerce business can’t switch off while it moves. Sales have to keep running, every day, through the busiest weeks of the year.
The risky way to do it is a big-bang switch-over on a single weekend. The safer way is harder to build: running old and new side by side, moving one piece or one site at a time, and making sure the customer never notices which one they’re on.
Cineworld: two back offices at once
In 2010 to 2011 Cineworld moved its cinemas from the Clarity Pacer Cats ticketing system to Vista, one cinema at a time. Our booking platform worked with both back offices at once for the whole migration. Customers saw the same site and the same booking flow whether their cinema was on the old system or the new one.
- the O2 cinema moved to Vista Sales Server in four weeks (2010)
- dual operator support for The Screening Rooms (2011)
- the circuit-wide Vista roll-out completed in 2012, with seat selection, split payment and gift cards added as each became available
- a phased, circuit-wide move with no effect on sales
The platform we launched for Cineworld in 2008 took online sales from 13% to over 40% within 24 months, and 90%+ within 36 months.
VOX Cinemas: from fragmented to unified
In 2015 VOX Cinemas had separate, fragmented regional systems. We replaced them with one platform, in phases:
- the new iOS app soft-launched in April 2016, followed by Android in June
- the legacy website was retired as the new responsive site launched in the UAE, Lebanon and Oman
- further countries joined the same platform in each of the next three years
The result: +65% online transaction revenue, and an 18% uplift in booking conversion in the first year, with complex bookings completed in under 30 seconds.
Red Sea International Film Festival: moving to a secure cloud
For the Red Sea International Film Festival, we first supported the existing site in place through the 2022 festival. Then, with scale and security concerns growing, we moved it to a new secure AWS private cloud between festivals, protected by Cloudflare and AWS web application firewalls, with a UAT environment that mirrors production. We then took over its development.
Other migrations
- Rightster: we moved its iOS and Android apps from a legacy video platform to its new one, to tight deadlines, and handed the code back.
- JATO Dynamics: after an early version of a new platform had performance problems, we worked with JATO’s architects and UX experts to define its replacement, with a proof-of-concept team and a data pipeline team working in parallel.
- Help Me Stop: a legacy website rebuilt from scratch on WordPress, so the client’s own team could manage it.
How we do it
- Map what the old system really does. Including the parts nobody wrote down. Behaviour-driven tests describe the business rules, so we can prove the new system does the same.
- Run old and new side by side. A middleware layer talks to both, so the switch can happen site by site, market by market or feature by feature.
- Move in phases. Each phase is small enough to roll back, and no phase lands on a peak week.
- Keep the customer’s view the same. Bookings, accounts, gift cards and loyalty balances carry across.
- Test the load before the switch. See Peak traffic and launch days.
Related
- Services: Software Development, Vista Cinema Integrators, DevOps & Cloud Engineering, Technology Consultancy
- Solutions: Peak traffic and launch days, Multi-language and Arabic
- Case studies: Cineworld, VOX Cinemas, Red Sea International Film Festival, Rightster, JATO
- Blog: Cineworld’s Vista back-office integration, VOX Cinemas: Vista working like a dream
Frequently asked questions
Can we change ticketing system without changing our website?
Yes. At Cineworld our platform talked to Pacer Cats and Vista at the same time, so cinemas moved one by one and customers saw no change.
Can you migrate a platform you didn’t build?
Yes. The Red Sea IFF and Rightster platforms were both built by others. We supported them as they were first, then moved them.
How long does a migration take?
It depends on the size of the estate and the number of systems. A single cinema moved to Vista in four weeks; Cineworld’s whole circuit took about two years. We plan the phases with you before anything moves.
