The client

Mercedes, a global automotive brand, needed a content management system to handle multilingual content translation and publishing. Our project focused on upgrading, enhancing, and optimising their existing Umbraco CMS solution.

The challenge

Mercedes' content management system was hosted on Umbraco Cloud but needed migration to a more robust hosting environment and significant improvements to its translation workflow.

Since a third-party agency developed and maintained the website front-end separately, communication between back-office operations and the content delivery system became a project focus. The key challenges included:

  • Complex translation workflows involving automated and manual processes
  • Performance issues due to limited resources on Umbraco Cloud
  • Need for improved infrastructure through migration to a dedicated Azure environment
  • Managing custom API integrations to ensure smooth communication between back-office content management and the front-end system

The insight

The existing system used a heavily customised workflow to manage content translations, requiring editors and translators to have manual oversight. However, newer versions of Umbraco offer built-in features that can replace much of this custom code, improving maintainability and reducing long-term support costs.

The solution

  • We optimised the translation workflow by integrating Microsoft Translation API for automated translations, enabling human editors to refine content before publishing.
  • GrowCreate built a custom API that enables smooth communication between the Umbraco back office and the separate front-end system.
  • We enhanced code efficiency to maintain optimal performance when multiple translators work simultaneously.

Solution benefits

  • Streamlined translation and publishing processes with a hybrid automated-manual approach
  • Azure migration for improved resource allocation and system reliability
  • Umbraco v13 upgrade to ensure long-term maintainability and compatibility with future CMS developments
  • Simplified support by replacing legacy custom permissions with Umbraco's built-in user management.

The future

The transition to Umbraco v13 means Mercedes now benefit from a modern, scalable and efficient content management system. Future improvements could involve removing custom-built permissions and fully leveraging Umbraco's native features, reducing technical debt and maintenance efforts. GrowCreate continues to support Mercedes with ongoing enhancements, hosting management, and CMS optimisations.

Services and technology

Engineering

Umbraco CMS
Custom web development
Custom software solutions
API and systems integration
DevOps engineering
QA and testing

Azure Cloud Services

Architecture
Cost Optimisation
Cloud Managed Services