Standardizing complexity: how UTC unified a hybrid web estate on Upsun

Outages across a hybrid web estate became the tipping point

When a university website goes down, it is instantly visible and disruptive. For The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, that risk was amplified because the web estate was split across environments: the Drupal site followed one hosting model and workflow, while WordPress and PHP applications lived elsewhere with different operating assumptions.

The practical problem was not only complexity, it was time. On-prem workloads meant the team still had to own the “keep it running” tasks such as patching and reboots, which competed directly with work that improves the student and stakeholder experience.

The turning point came after downtime on both the hosted and on-prem sides. In the team’s words, those incidents were the signal that the status quo was no longer acceptable and that the estate needed a more resilient, unified approach.

“We had outages with our existing Drupal-only hosting and with our on-prem hosting. Those were tipping points that pushed us to look for a different solution.” - Chris Gilligan, Senior Web Developer, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

A rubric-based evaluation led to a solution that goes beyond Drupal

UTC did not make the decision informally. They ran a committee process with a rubric to compare options, which is critical in higher education where decisions must be explainable and repeatable.

Upsun stood out for a simple reason: UTC needed a single platform that could host more than Drupal. They wanted one consistent operating model across the estate, including WordPress and other applications, rather than stitching together different providers and processes.

From an execution standpoint, Upsun supported the way UTC wanted to work. GitHub integration and branch-based environments made it easier to test changes safely without relying on a single shared staging workflow that becomes a bottleneck.

“We needed a platform that could host more than just Drupal - WordPress and other apps too - and that was a key reason Upsun stood out. We evaluated multiple options with a committee and rubric, and Upsun consistently came out strongest across the variables we cared about.” - Bridget Hornsby, Director of Web Development, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

UTC migrated Drupal first as the most complex workload, working closely with Vardot and Upsun support, then carried those patterns forward into WordPress and PHP migrations. The team valued the fact that the work stayed collaborative rather than disappearing into a “black box,” which helped UTC build internal confidence and reduce ongoing dependency.

One platform delivered standardization, less toil, and better value

The most immediate impact was standardization. Once Drupal, WordPress, and PHP lived on the same platform, UTC could apply one deployment and environment playbook across the estate instead of switching operational modes depending on the stack. That consistency reduces risk during releases and makes it easier to scale the estate without multiplying exceptions.

UTC also reclaimed time. By moving high-traffic production properties away from on-prem hosting, the team reduced the operational burden of server upkeep and the routine work that pulls focus away from continuous improvement.

Reliability improved in the way that matters most for universities: confidence on high-visibility days. UTC referenced a prior traffic spike that caused failure, and noted that post-migration issues they observed were tied more to external dependencies than to Upsun itself. That shifts the team from firefighting to planning, because platform stability becomes a given rather than a constant concern.

Finally, UTC found stronger value economics. They described spend as comparable to their prior Drupal-only contract, but with broader hosting coverage and more included services, which made the overall platform decision easier to justify.

“Moving to one platform made our workflow more unified, and we’re spending about what we did on our Drupal contract while now also getting hosting for other applications.” - Chris Gilligan, Senior Web Developer, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

A unified platform that belongs on every university’s shortlist

UTC’s journey is a practical blueprint for any university team managing a fragmented web estate. The problem was not just “hosting,” it was the drag and risk created by different platforms, different workflows, and uneven reliability across critical public-facing services.

“We’ve been extremely pleased with the support we receive from Upsun. Their team takes the time to understand our environment, priorities, and the complexity of a large university web ecosystem, offering responsive and thoughtful guidance. Even beyond hosting, their care and partnership reduce uncertainty, strengthen our decisions, and give our team confidence to move forward.” - Bridget Hornsby, Director of Web Development

By consolidating Drupal, WordPress, and PHP onto Upsun, UTC gained a unified cloud application platform, a consistent operational model, and support that showed up when the stakes were highest. The outcome is a web estate that is simpler to operate, easier to scale, and more reliable when the campus is paying attention.

“If you’re evaluating external hosting, Upsun should definitely be part of your evaluation.” - Bridget Hornsby, Director of Web Development

Running your sites across different platforms costs time and increases risk when things go wrong. We’re here to help you spend less time maintaining hosting and more time improving the student and campus experience. Let's show you what consolidating your web estate looks like on Upsun.