From Optimizely to Umbraco CMS – LRF's platform journey

We interviewed Johan Tufvesson, Head of LRF’s Digital Channels, responsible for LRF.se, LRF National’s social media, and newsletters. He shares the journey from Optimizely to Umbraco - why the switch became necessary, how the process unfolded, and the value LRF sees today.

How did your previous platform on Optimizely perform, and what challenges did you face?

– The starting point for the switch was that Optimizely was quite expensive. It had high operating costs, and we noticed that Optimizely was increasingly focusing on e-commerce, which wasn’t relevant for us. We needed something different. So both cost and the platform not meeting our needs were the main reasons for the change.

What criteria were most important when choosing a new solution?

– Several things mattered. One of the biggest advantages we saw with Umbraco was that it’s an open-source platform built on .NET. It gives you the best of both worlds: a stable and reliable platform with a strong community.

– For us, it was also important to have a platform that is easy to develop on, since we have many integrations with our membership system and various self-service tools. Our experience is that Umbraco is flexible and supports ongoing development.

How did you experience the actual switch?

– Switching platforms is a major project. Internally, a lot of the work involved cleaning up existing content, as our old website had grown quite quickly. We decided strategically to build a new structure. Previously, we organized content around LRF’s internal structure, but now the website is built around user needs – for example, allowing users to follow different topics.

– We experienced very little technical issues, and the go-live went smoothly thanks to a great collaboration with Toxic. The site was fully functional but not fully optimized in every detail, so we continued working through a backlog during the first year. Since Optimizely operates on annual contracts, we were careful not to get stuck in a costly long-term extension like before. Working in an agile way worked very well for us.

How has the new platform changed your daily work?

– We find it an easy-to-use platform. We have many editors spread across the country, and Umbraco works well for them. Of course, there’s always room for improvement, but overall it’s a well-functioning platform.

Compared to before, what benefits do you see most clearly in Umbraco versus Optimizely?

– Aside from the cost, which is a big difference, we now have a platform that is much easier to develop on. That’s a very important factor. In short, it’s a user-friendly and developer-friendly solution, and these factors give us a great overall experience.

Have you received any feedback from colleagues or users?

– Yes, and there has actually been very little criticism. That’s almost the best feedback you can get. People usually speak up when they’re unhappy, but this time we received very few complaints compared to before. We rebuilt the APIs, considered the overall structure, and did a lot to create a better experience. Overall, the website works very well, which is great!

What future challenges do you see for the website?

– The biggest change is AI and how it affects the web. We’re already seeing how Google’s AI summaries impact traffic. Previously, it was mostly about SEO, but now we also need to consider how AI engines interpret content. Platforms like Umbraco also need to prepare for this. In all my time working with digital solutions, I believe this will be the biggest change we’ll experience.

What advice would you give organizations considering a similar platform switch?

– Dare to think outside the box. It’s easy to just choose the biggest platforms out of habit, but you need to evaluate your own case and your own needs. Switching platforms isn’t something you do every other year – you live with it for a long time. So calculate costs over time, look at your operations, and choose a platform based on that.

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