The Drupal community has confirmed what many of us have known for some time, that Drupal 6 will no longer be supported from February 24th 2016.
For most companies running the Drupal platform this is not an issue as they are built of Drupal version 7 or Drupal 8. For approximately 130,000 websites globally this does pose a significant problem
What does it mean?
End of support notification means just that, the Drupal community will no longer be providing support to the Drupal 6 code base, no security patches, no module updates no Drupal core maintenance patches.
The most cost effective option for a website built on Drupal 6 is to remain on the platform, this is by far the cheapest option, it also introduces the greatest risk to your website. Drupal 7 is the most stable platform currently available and offers functionality not available out of the box in Drupal 6. Interestingly the risk associated with the early adoption of Drupal 8 and the associated cost are factors that need to be considered should a move to Drupal 8 be considered.
If you are risk averse the option to migrate your current Drupal 6 Website to the Drupal 7 platform is your safest bet. If you are confident that your website has minimal real value and are prepared to take the risk of it being compromised, then staying on Drupal 6 is the most cost effective option.
The Good News
The good news is that there are options when it comes to upgrading your Drupal 6 website. Upgrading is generally a far simpler undertaking that the original development. There are some tools available that will assist, working with an experienced Drupal web development company will ensure the process is as simple and painless as possible.
We can help
The Koda team are currently migrating a large Drupal 6 website to the Drupal 7 platform, the development time is far quicker than a new build, the associated costs are lower as a result. If you'd like to find out more about how we may be able to assist you in ensuring the stability of your online environment please feel free to give us a call or complete the enquiry form found here, we'll be happy to discuss your options!