Posted by: Mike Isaacs
15 August 2025
Preserving content and data in Umbraco upgrades strategies for regulated enterprises
For regulated organisations, losing content or data during an Umbraco upgrade is not an option. Beyond the immediate disruption, data loss can trigger GDPR fines, FCA non-compliance, and long-term reputational damage.
Key questions leaders ask include:
- Will business-critical content survive the upgrade?
- How can media libraries and structured data be protected?
- What safeguards ensure compliance evidence is preserved?
At a glance
- Definition: what preservation means in Umbraco upgrades
- Why data integrity matters for regulated businesses
- How Growcreate safeguards content and data
- Outcomes of structured preservation strategies
- Comparison: structured vs ad-hoc upgrades
- Third-party validation and Growcreate credentials
- Who benefits from safeguarding content
- FAQs
Definition
Preservation of content and data in Umbraco upgrades means ensuring all structured content, media, and transactional data remain intact across versions. Achieving this requires backup routines, migration scripts, audit trails, and verified restoration processes.
(Source: Umbraco Upgrade Documentation)
Why it matters
- Regulatory attribution – GDPR requires organisations to safeguard personal data.
- Operational resilience – The FCA mandates firms prove they can recover from disruption without data loss.
- Market trust – Forrester research highlights data integrity as a top driver of customer confidence.
Data loss during an upgrade isn’t just a technical failure — it’s a compliance breach and a brand risk.
How Growcreate applies data preservation
We apply our Support → Enhance → Evolve methodology:
- Support – Immutable backups, geo-redundant storage, routine test restores.
- Enhance – Migration scripts for structured content and media, automated integrity checks, validation at every stage.
- Evolve – Continuous monitoring, audit-ready logs, and compliance-aligned workflows to reduce long-term data risk.
Outcomes
- 100% preservation of structured content in Growcreate-managed upgrades (internal audit data).
- Recovery Time Objective <1 hour for large asset libraries with Azure Backup.
- Zero compliance breaches across all Umbraco 7/8 → 13 LTS upgrades delivered by Growcreate.
Case proof: A membership organisation with 250k records upgraded from Umbraco 8 to 12 without losing any member data or media assets, ensuring GDPR compliance.
Comparisons
| Approach | Data integrity | Compliance risk | Business impact | Cost impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structured (Growcreate) | 100% preservation | Zero breaches | Maintains trust | Lower TCO through prevention |
| Ad-hoc | High risk of data loss | Regulatory breaches | Trust erosion | Higher remediation + penalty costs |
Third-party validation
- Umbraco Docs – Official guidance on safe upgrade practices.
- GDPR – Legal requirement to safeguard data.
- Forrester – Data integrity as a key driver of trust.
- Growcreate proof – ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, Umbraco Platinum Partner, Azure hosting and migration expertise.
Who benefits from safeguarding content
- CEO – Protects brand reputation and investor confidence.
- CFO – Avoids fines, litigation, and remediation costs.
- CTO – Ensures compliance with GDPR and FCA obligations.
- CMO – Protects content assets and marketing continuity.
- COO – Maintains operational resilience and business continuity.
Upgrade Umbraco without risking your data
Data integrity is non-negotiable. Growcreate ensures your content, media, and compliance evidence remain intact through every stage of an Umbraco upgrade.
Book a strategy call with our upgrade team.
FAQs
Not with a structured process. Growcreate applies migration scripts, backups, and test restores to ensure all content and media remain intact.
Immutable and geo-redundant backups provide auditable records, proving compliance with GDPR and FCA requirements.
Rollback procedures restore from the latest verified backup, reducing recovery time to under an hour in most cases.
Yes. The Umbraco upgrade documentation outlines safe practices, but enterprise-scale upgrades need additional controls.
We provide audit-ready logs, integrity checks, and compliance evidence to satisfy internal and regulatory requirements.