Supporting a 3,000+ Member Platform Through Its Next Chapter

Expat Academy is a respected organisation within the Global Mobility sector, providing events, resources, benchmarking data and professional development opportunities for its members. The platform supported a community of more than 3,000 users and had become a central part of the organisation's day-to-day operations.

The original website and members portal were built around 2017 while Dan was working at a previous agency. When CoreTechnics was established, Expat Academy chose to continue working with Dan and moved their hosting, support and ongoing development to CoreTechnics.

This was not a greenfield rebuild project. Instead, it was a long-term partnership focused on keeping a mature platform reliable, secure and valuable while continuing to introduce new features and improvements for members.

A platform trusted by its members

By the time Expat Academy moved to CoreTechnics, the platform had already been serving Global Mobility professionals for several years. Members relied on it to access resources, browse events, review benchmarking information and engage with the wider Expat Academy community.

Rather than replacing the system immediately, the focus was on preserving what worked well while addressing technical debt, improving performance and extending the platform's capabilities. This allowed Expat Academy to continue delivering value to members without the disruption of a full rebuild.

Ongoing development rather than one-off delivery

One of the most valuable aspects of the relationship was the ongoing development agreement. Each month, dedicated development time was used to improve the platform, add new functionality and respond to changing business requirements.

This approach allowed Expat Academy to evolve steadily over time rather than relying on large, infrequent redevelopment projects. New features could be introduced when they were needed, helping the organisation continue improving its offering for members.

Modernising an ageing platform

By 2023, the platform was beginning to show its age technically. One of the most significant pieces of work undertaken by CoreTechnics was a major upgrade from PHP 5.4 to PHP 7.2. This helped improve security, compatibility and long-term maintainability while extending the useful life of the system.

Alongside the upgrade work, numerous optimisations and quality-of-life improvements were delivered. These updates helped keep the platform reliable for both administrators and members while ensuring it remained fit for purpose as technology standards evolved.

Introducing new functionality for members

CoreTechnics introduced several important enhancements during the partnership. One of the most notable additions was the MyGMPD Learning Hub, providing members with access to structured learning and professional development opportunities.

Another significant improvement was the integration between the bespoke TwistPHP portal and the WordPress website. This allowed events managed within the portal to be displayed automatically on the public website, reducing administration and helping ensure information remained consistent across the platform.

These additions demonstrated how an established platform could continue evolving and delivering value even many years after its original launch.

The next stage of the journey

By 2025, the platform had served Expat Academy successfully for close to a decade. While the system remained functional and well supported, its underlying architecture was beginning to reach the point where a full rebuild would eventually be required.

At that stage, Expat Academy chose to move to a HubSpot-based solution. The decision was driven by the organisation's future direction rather than any issue with the existing platform. The transition marked the end of a successful partnership that had seen the system continue to grow and evolve long after many organisations would have replaced it.

The project remains a strong example of how ongoing support, hosting and incremental development can extend the life of a business-critical platform while continuing to deliver value to its users.