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Integration migration playbook

A playbook for migrating third-party integrations using zero-downtime deployment patterns including blue-green and canary releases.

Enterprise websites depend on a web of third-party integrations that must continue functioning throughout the migration. A single broken integration can halt transactions, corrupt data, or degrade the customer experience. This playbook covers the systematic migration of integrations using zero-downtime deployment patterns.

Integration Inventory and Classification

Before migrating any integration, classify each one by risk and complexity:

Tier 1 - Revenue Critical

These integrations directly affect revenue and must have zero downtime:

  • E-commerce platforms: Shopify, commercetools, BigCommerce cart and checkout flows.
  • Payment processors: Stripe, Braintree, Adyen payment capture and webhook handling.
  • Order management: OMS and ERP integrations (SAP, NetSuite, Oracle) for fulfillment.

Tier 2 - Experience Critical

These integrations affect the user experience but do not directly process transactions:

  • Search: Algolia, Elasticsearch, or Coveo search indexes and query endpoints.
  • Personalization: Dynamic Yield, Optimizely, or Adobe Target for content personalization and A/B testing.
  • Authentication: Auth0, Okta, or Azure AD for user login and session management.

Tier 3 - Operational

These integrations support marketing, analytics, and internal operations:

  • Analytics: Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics, Segment event tracking.
  • Marketing automation: Marketo, HubSpot, Pardot form submissions and lead capture.
  • Customer support: Zendesk, Intercom, or Drift chat widgets and ticket creation.

Zero-Downtime Deployment Strategy

Blue-Green Deployment

Blue-green deployment runs two identical production environments simultaneously. The "blue" environment serves current production traffic on the legacy stack. The "green" environment runs the new Next.js application on Vercel with all integrations configured and tested.

On Vercel, blue-green deployments use Edge Config and Next.js Middleware to route traffic between environments. Skew Protection ensures that once a user is assigned to an environment, they remain there for the duration of their session, preventing inconsistent experiences.

The blue-green approach is ideal for enterprise migrations because:

  • Instant rollback: If the green environment exhibits integration failures, traffic switches back to blue in seconds by updating the Edge Config value.
  • Full validation: The green environment can be tested with real production data and traffic patterns before receiving user traffic.
  • Stakeholder confidence: Business stakeholders can preview the complete new experience at a stable preview URL before the cutover.

Canary Releases

For migrations where a full cutover is too risky, canary releases gradually shift traffic from the legacy environment to the new one:

  • Start with 1-5% of traffic routed to the new environment.
  • Monitor integration health metrics (error rates, latency, webhook delivery) at each increment.
  • Increase traffic in stages (5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 100%) with a minimum 24-hour observation period at each level.
  • If any integration exhibits degraded performance, halt the rollout and investigate before proceeding.

Canary releases are particularly valuable for Tier 1 integrations where even brief failures have revenue impact. The gradual rollout limits the blast radius of any integration incompatibility.

Integration Migration Patterns

API Adapter Pattern

When the new frontend requires a different API contract than the legacy CMS provided, implement an adapter layer:

  • Deploy API routes in Next.js (app/api/) that accept requests from the new frontend and translate them to the format expected by existing backend services.
  • This avoids requiring simultaneous changes to both the frontend and backend systems.
  • Retire adapters after migration by connecting the frontend directly to updated backend APIs.

Webhook Relay Pattern

Many integrations depend on webhook endpoints that are registered with third-party services:

  • Before cutover: Configure webhook endpoints on the new environment in parallel with the legacy endpoints.
  • During cutover: Update webhook registrations with third-party services to point to new URLs. Use the adapter pattern if URL structures change.
  • After cutover: Monitor webhook delivery logs for failures. Most platforms (Stripe, Shopify, HubSpot) provide webhook delivery dashboards with retry controls.

Environment Variable Management

  • Store all integration credentials, API keys, and endpoint URLs in environment variables managed through Vercel's project settings.
  • Use separate environment variable sets for preview, development, and production environments.
  • Rotate API keys and secrets during migration rather than copying legacy credentials to the new platform. This is an opportunity to improve secrets hygiene.

Database Migration Considerations

If the migration involves database schema changes:

  • Use backward-compatible migration patterns. The expand-contract pattern adds new columns or tables first, migrates data, then removes legacy columns after both environments are confirmed stable.
  • Both blue and green environments must be able to read from and write to the same database during the transition period.
  • Use migration tools like Prisma Migrate, Flyway, or Liquibase to version and apply schema changes safely.

Sources

SEO preservation strategyPost-migration monitoring

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