This is the second time they’ve extended the EOL date for D7 and the platform has agreed to revisit the EOL on a yearly basis, meaning they might extend it again. Previously costs for switching and the COVID pandemic were cited as reasons for extending the EOL. Then with so many organisations and companies who use and host websites on Drupal still not budging from D7, they extended its life again. Meanwhile, Drupal 8 has already been discontinued, Drupal 9 is in full force and version 10 is squarely on the horizon. It’s time to address the elephant in the room, it is long overdue for anyone running their website on Drupal 7 to migrate to Drupal 9. D7 needs to end its legendary run, it has outlived its usefulness and the good people at Drupal have been maintaining D7 for much longer than should have been necessary. While many sites hold on to legitimate reasons to stay on D7, the time has come to make the call and migrate to Drupal 9.
While Drupal 10 is due to be released imminently, either Quarter 4 2022 or Quarter 1 2023, it doesn’t make sense to wait. The going consensus is that even when Drupal 10 is released, it’s going to take about six to nine months in order for it to be production ready. If you move to Drupal 9 now, you’ll avoid the inevitable D7 EOL crush in Q3 2023 and you’ll be ahead of the game by the time Drupal 10 is ready for prime time. There are actually more reasons to migrate to Drupal 9 now than there are to hold on to D7. You’re already missing out on the power of Drupal 9’s next-generation platform. Why would you wait until the last minute to take something as vital as your website to a better platform? Most people answer that question by saying, it will be very expensive to move my website over to Drupal 9 or 10. Or they will cite the problems many people had with Drupal 8. Let’s take a look at each one.
There aren’t any easy answers to the costs that a company may incur switching to Drupal 9 from Drupal 7. However, whatever it costs can’t really be measured against what it might cost your business or organisation if you continue to cling on to D7. When Drupal decides to pull the plug on D7, and they will, they will no longer be updating it, there will be no more support for it, and maybe most concerning of all, there won’t be anymore security support. Can your company afford not to make the jump to Drupal 9 if that supportive community you love about D7 isn’t there anymore?
Once the plug is pulled on D7, your website might experience functionality issues that could affect your online presence. That could cost your company more money than it would have to switch to Drupal 9 in the first place. In short, if you are clinging on to D7 because you think you will save money you couldn’t be more wrong. You could lose money if your site experiences problems when D7 is shut down. Not to mention, you are already leaving more money and potential business growth on the table by not being on Drupal 9.
Drupal 8 for was actually a big step forward from D7, and the leaps it made helped make Drupal 9 amazing. Drupal 9 builds upon the promises that 8 delivered on in terms of processing power. Drupal 9’s performance simply blows D7 out of the water and that performance could be used to enhance your website like never before. A better site could mean something like a bigger online store, which should lead to more revenue and growth of your business. The next-gen platform that started with Drupal 8 is perhaps the best reason to invest in Drupal 9.
Starting with Drupal 8, the platform has also addressed the issue of full version upgrades. The platform made it infinitely easier to upgrade to new versions moving forward. Getting on board with Drupal 9 will allow you to upgrade to Drupal 10 and any other version after it, much much easier. You also need to add that into your cost analysis when you say it’s too expensive to switch to Drupal 9, it should be the last time you have to make such a BIG jump.
The time for action is now, waiting for Drupal 10 doesn’t make sense.
If you run your company or organisation’s website on Drupal, you have to switch to Drupal 9. Clinging on to D7 isn’t doing your business or organisation any favours. You’re missing out on business growth already.
When D7 is finally scuppered, in November of ‘23 hopefully, you’re leaving your website vulnerable in every way.
Your website is integral to your company and it is irresponsible to allow that, just to save some money.
