When CERN—the birthplace of the World Wide Web and home to the world’s largest particle physics lab—decides to migrate over 1,000 websites from Drupal to WordPress, it’s not just a technical decision. It’s a signal that even the most advanced scientific institutions are prioritizing usability, accessibility, and long-term sustainability in their digital infrastructure.
So why make the switch?
CERN cited the growing complexity of Drupal and the burden it placed on site maintainers. Their goal was clear: modernize their ecosystem, reduce friction for content creators, and offer a platform that evolves as fast as their research. With WordPress, they found a CMS that empowers users without requiring a PhD in front-end development.
TL;DR: WordPress just got a cosmic thumbs-up from the people who helped invent the web.
A Trend in Motion: Why Enterprises Are Leaving Drupal
CERN isn’t alone. Across industries—from public institutions to private enterprises—organizations are reevaluating their CMS decisions. One major catalyst was the end-of-life (EOL) for Drupal 7, which officially passed on January 5, 2025.
As of that date, the Drupal Association and Security Team no longer provide updates or security patches. For organizations still running on Drupal 7, the risks are now urgent rather than looming:
- Security vulnerabilities: Sites are increasingly exposed to breaches and malicious attacks.
- Compliance issues: Maintaining regulatory standards like PCI, HIPAA, or SOC 2 is more difficult without ongoing support.
- Integration breakdowns: Outdated infrastructure may fail to connect with modern tools and services.
For many, this has become the final push to move away from legacy systems and toward more sustainable, user-friendly platforms—WordPress chief among them.
Why CERN Made the Move
According to CERN’s official announcement, the decision was based on one core idea: empowerment through simplicity.
Their Drupal ecosystem had become too complex, rigid, and difficult to maintain. Updates were cumbersome. Training new users required a time-consuming onboarding. The entire publishing process had drifted away from the needs of researchers, departments, and communicators.
In contrast, WordPress offered:
- Improved usability for both technical and non-technical users
- Better accessibility out of the box
- Faster publishing workflows
- An actively maintained and continuously evolving platform
Or, in CERN’s words: “The aim is to offer a modern, accessible, and responsive platform, which will be easier to maintain and evolve.”
What This Says About WordPress Today
Let’s pause here. We’re not just talking about a small departmental website. We’re talking about one of the most prominent scientific institutions in the world, which maintains a vast digital presence across over a thousand websites.
If WordPress is robust enough to meet CERN’s security, accessibility, and scalability standards, it’s more than ready for enterprise use across industries—from education and healthcare to government and media.
This shift challenges lingering assumptions that WordPress is only suitable for blogs or small business sites. At this scale, it becomes clear: WordPress has become a mission-critical platform for global institutions.
The Broader Implications
CERN’s migration isn’t an isolated case. It reflects a growing trend across the public sector, academia, and large-scale enterprises: moving away from monolithic, developer-centric CMS platforms toward more flexible, user-first ecosystems.
WordPress fits this shift perfectly:
- It’s open source, with no vendor lock-in.
- It supports both decoupled (headless) and traditional architectures.
- It has a massive ecosystem of plugins, themes, and enterprise-grade integrations.
- And it enables teams to ship content faster, with far less overhead.
Not Sure if Custom WordPress is Right For You?
Trew Knowledge: Making Migration Seamless
At Trew Knowledge, we specialize in transforming enterprise websites through tailored WordPress migrations. Whether you’re facing the Drupal 7 EOL or just ready for a CMS that works with—not against—your goals, our approach ensures a smooth transition:
- Comprehensive Discovery and Proof of Concept (PoC): We assess your infrastructure, replicate workflows, and validate capabilities through hands-on testing.
- Custom Data Migration: We write purpose-built scripts to transfer content, users, and metadata while preserving relationships and integrity.
- Integration with Internal Systems: From CRM platforms to SSO and internal tools, we ensure your WordPress solution works with your ecosystem, not against it.
- Training and Enablement: We equip your teams to own and evolve your new WordPress environment confidently.
- Enterprise Performance and Compliance: From security hardening to accessibility audits, we ensure your site meets the highest standards of security and accessibility.
Ready to plan your migration?
Let’s talk about how WordPress can unlock your organization’s next chapter. Contact Trew Knowledge to explore how we make enterprise migrations seamless and impactful.
