Technology migration and replacement planning

We write the plan for retiring one platform and moving to another, and hold the build and cut-over to it. The plan covers what data moves and what is archived, which processes change, the order of cut-over by site or brand, the period of parallel running, and the point at which the old system is switched off.

The board approves it gate by gate.

• A current-state document of data, processes, reports and workarounds.
• A data migration specification with mapping, cleansing rules and an archive decision.
• A cut-over plan by site, brand or customer group, with go and hold criteria.
• A parallel-run plan with reconciliation checks.
• A rollback plan for each gate.
• A staged budget and a decision paper for the board at each gate.

• Migrated records reconcile to the source, and the count reconciled is reported against the count moved.
• Parallel running ends on the planned day, measured as days of parallel running against the plan.
• Orders carry on through cut-over.
• The budget is tracked gate by gate, with cost reported against the staged budget.
• Workarounds that lived in people's heads are retired or documented.

Migrations fail on the things nobody wrote down: old reports, special prices, workarounds staff use daily, and data in forms the new system will not take. The group then runs two systems for longer than planned and pays for both.

• The current system is out of vendor support or cannot scale to plan.
• A replacement has been chosen and no one has a date.
• Only one person understands how the current system is configured.
• Data sits in forms that cannot be loaded as they are.
• Past migrations ran late and over cost.

Groups running an end-of-life ordering, dispatch, CRM or accounting system, businesses moving from spreadsheets to a platform for the first time, and boards that have approved a replacement and want a plan they can hold people to.

Qasim Abbas brought more than 20 companies across several countries onto one set of numbers, so he knows the numbers must stay right while the systems under them change. We plan your cut-over by what must reconcile at each gate.

We plan for the platform the board has chosen, including one scored in our technology assessments for boards. See how fees work.

Should we run old and new systems side by side?

For a defined period, yes, with daily reconciliation. The plan sets its length and the test for ending it.

How do you hold the date?

The plan sets the date and we track it for the board.

What does the board approve at each gate?

A decision paper and a staged budget, with the rollback plan for that gate.

State the system you want retired and the date you want it gone. We return what the plan has to cover for that date to hold.