Modernizing the Toronto Board of Trade Digital Platform with Xperience by Kentico
The Toronto Region Board of Trade partnered with Inorbital to replatform BOT.com onto Xperience by Kentico, creating a modern digital foundation for one of Canada’s most influential business organizations. Launched in October 2026, the new platform modernizes the technology behind BOT.com while maintaining the extensive content, events, membership and business resources that support the Board’s community. Rather than approaching the project as a traditional CMS upgrade, Inorbital undertook a comprehensive replatforming designed to improve maintainability, performance, security and the content management experience while establishing a platform that can continue evolving with the Board.
The original project mandate called for BOT.com to transition from its legacy architecture to the latest Xperience platform, including the migration of essential content and assets and modernization of existing website functionality.
Client Overview
The Toronto Region Board of Trade has been supporting Toronto's business community since 1845. Today, the Board brings together business, government, thought leaders and community builders to strengthen the competitiveness of the Toronto region. Its work spans policy and advocacy, research, events, membership programs and international trade initiatives. BOT.com is a critical part of that ecosystem, connecting more than 10,000 members with events, insights, programs and resources while providing the broader business community with access to the Board’s research and policy work.
The Challenge
BOT.com had evolved over many years into a sophisticated digital platform supporting a wide range of audiences, content and functionality. As the underlying technology matured, maintaining the existing implementation became increasingly complex. The Board needed to modernize the platform without disrupting the digital services and content its members and stakeholders rely on. This was not simply a visual redesign. The website needed to preserve and modernize a substantial content ecosystem encompassing:
- events
- reports and research
- policy and advocacy
- memberships
- business programs
- World Trade Centre Toronto initiatives
- news and insights
- member-focused content
- business resources
The live site illustrates the scale of that content environment, with current reports, events, membership programs and resources all operating as interconnected parts of the Board's digital presence. The challenge was therefore to modernize the technology beneath BOT.com while maintaining continuity for users and content teams.
Project Goals & Objectives
The project focused on several key objectives:
- Replatform BOT.com onto Xperience by Kentico.
- Reduce dependency on legacy technology and establish a more maintainable architecture.
- Preserve the functionality and content experiences important to members and visitors.
- Modernize the content management experience for the Board’s internal teams.
- Improve website performance, accessibility and reliability.
- Protect existing search visibility throughout the transition.
- Establish a digital foundation capable of supporting future growth.
- Minimize disruption during the transition to the new platform.
Scope of Work
Our Approach
Inorbital approached the project as a structured digital replatforming. The work began with technical planning and an assessment of the existing website, content, functionality and integrations. A staged migration strategy was then used to move the site onto Xperience while allowing the existing website to continue operating during development. The project moved through defined phases covering planning, migration, development, testing and deployment. This staged approach allowed functionality to be validated progressively rather than attempting to replace the entire platform in a single release.
Replatforming to Xperience by Kentico
Moving BOT.com to Xperience by Kentico provided an opportunity to modernize the underlying platform rather than simply extending the life of the previous implementation. Inorbital rebuilt and adapted the website's existing functionality for the current Xperience architecture while migrating the content and assets required to support the new site. The resulting implementation provides the Board with a modern digital experience platform designed for ongoing development and continuous improvement. For internal teams, the new environment also provides a more contemporary content management experience and a stronger foundation for creating and maintaining digital content.
Supporting a Large Content Ecosystem
One of the defining characteristics of BOT.com is the breadth of information it publishes. The live website brings together research, economic analysis, event programming, advocacy, membership information and business resources within a single experience. The Resources section, for example, organizes content around areas including business competitiveness, climate and energy, housing, innovation and technology, talent, trade and transportation. The Board also operates an extensive events program, publishing upcoming in-person and virtual events through the website. The new platform needed to support this variety while giving users clear paths to relevant information.
Events & Business Programming
Events are central to the Toronto Region Board of Trade's role as a convener of the business community. The new BOT.com continues to provide prominent access to upcoming programming, allowing visitors to discover conferences, discussions, workshops and virtual events directly from the website. Programs from World Trade Centre Toronto are also integrated into the broader digital experience, including initiatives focused on business growth, global expansion and executive development. This makes the website both a publishing platform and an important channel for connecting businesses with the Board's activities.
Membership Experience
Membership is another major component of BOT.com. The new platform supports the Board's membership experience, including information about individual and corporate memberships, member programs and resources. The live website communicates the value of membership around three core themes: stronger networks, deeper insights and effective advocacy. Maintaining clear connections between public content, events, programs and membership opportunities was an important consideration throughout the replatforming.
Research, Resources & Advocacy
BOT.com serves as an important publishing platform for the Board's research and policy work. The new site makes current reports and economic analysis easily accessible while allowing users to explore content by topic. Recent publications address issues including business competitiveness, investment, housing, transportation and trade, reflecting the Board's broader mandate to support economic growth across the Toronto region. The platform also supports the Board's policy and advocacy work, connecting users with initiatives designed to improve productivity, competitiveness and economic growth.
Search Visibility & Digital Continuity
Preserving the site's existing visibility was an important part of the transition. The project included SEO migration activities such as redirects, sitemap management and search-engine configuration to reduce disruption as the website moved onto the new platform. This was particularly important for a website with an extensive archive of reports, resources, events and policy content that is frequently discovered through search engines and external links.
Testing & Quality Assurance
The new platform underwent structured testing before deployment. The project included browser, accessibility, functional and performance testing along with a formal user acceptance testing process. A staging environment allowed the Board's team to review and validate the site before production deployment. This helped ensure the replatforming maintained the functionality and content experience expected by existing users while transitioning to the new technology foundation.
Launch
The replatformed BOT.com went live in October 2026 well before the Kentico End of Support for version 13. The launch represents the culmination of a significant platform modernization project, moving a large and highly customized digital property onto the latest Xperience by Kentico architecture. Importantly, the public-facing experience remains recognizably BOT.com. Visitors continue to access the Board's events, research, membership information, programs and advocacy work, while the underlying technology has been substantially modernized. That continuity was a major measure of success for the project.
Results
The Toronto Region Board of Trade now has a modern digital foundation capable of supporting the organization's extensive content, programming and membership ecosystem. The move to Xperience by Kentico reduces reliance on legacy technology while giving the Board a platform designed for ongoing development and continuous improvement. For visitors, the transition preserves access to the information and services they already rely on, including:
- events and business programming
- research and reports
- policy and advocacy initiatives
- membership information
- business resources
- World Trade Centre Toronto programs
- news and insights
For the Board's internal teams, the new platform establishes a stronger foundation for managing and expanding that digital ecosystem. The most important result is not a dramatic visual change. It is that a complex, business-critical website has been successfully replatformed while maintaining continuity for its users.
Project Details
Client: Toronto Region Board of Trade
Website: bot.com
Launch: October 2026
Platform: Xperience by Kentico
