Enterprise resource planning (ERP) plays an essential role in the way modern companies conduct day-to-day business operations. And, while ERP systems are designed to help companies keep better track of their data and optimize business functions, they don’t always uphold every end of the bargain…
This is where companies turn to ERP migration to help. ERP migration not only helps companies transfer important historical data to their new ERP system, but it also provides the functionality needed to reduce data redundancy, conduct more efficient data analysis, and maximize your overall technology investment.
Read on to learn more about ERP migrations, as well as how our team of experienced consultants can help you!
What is ERP Migration?
ERP migration involves the process of transferring data from from its original source to a new ERP database, often involving complex data conversion processes to transfer necessary data from multiple different systems and storage locations into a common data structure.
With optimized ERP cloud migration processes, companies can…
- Reduce total cost of ownership for their ERP software
- Simplify system configuration and customization
- Improve system scalability and mobility
- Increase data integrity and security with a single source of truth
- Leverage automatic updates to keep system infrastructure up-to-date
- Reduce dependency on third-party tools
- Extend the value of your existing systems and applications
What is an ERP Implementation Partner?
An ERP implementation partner is responsible for helping companies find the best fit ERP solutions, integrations, and configurations for their needs. Implementation partners work to understand an organization’s current business processes and system performance to not only design a solution that maps your data correctly, but also build an ERP data migration strategy that can withstand change in the industry or throughout the company.
How Do Implementation Partners Differ?
Implementation partners function to meet the same organizational goal: Improving existing business processes to make clients’ lives easier. But, what many organizations don’t understand before choosing an implementation partner is that even though they all have the same goal in mind, their methods of operation are different.
Even when helping clients migrate to and from the same ERP system, the implementation methodology adopted by each partner can vary, affecting the overall clients experience. For example, if a company leverages an internal tool for extracting, processing, and transferring data, the way they access and use data from their legacy system may not be drastically different if moving to a more functional ERP system like Workday or Oracle. But, if the same company is using an implementation partner, like Workday, they might use alternative methods of accessing the correct data and migrating it in the most efficient way possible.
Where Does Surety Come In?
While traditional implementation partners do offer the functional and technical expertise needed to implement a new ERP system, migrate existing data to your new system, and ensure your data structure fits the needs of your new ERP solution, sometimes streamlined methodology and routine processes don’t cut it.
This is where our team of senior-level ERP consultants comes in to help.
Here are a few of the main ways our ERP consultants can provide a personalized approach to ERP migration and find the best ways to maximize your technological investment and get the most out of your ERP systems.
Data Migration from Legacy Systems
Too often, clients overlook critical data migration steps until they are knee-deep in mismatched data formats and less-than-optimal processes. So, when it comes to outlining a data migration process that meets your needs, understanding your own data and finding a consultant that does the same is critical to your success.
Whether we’re physically completing data extraction processes or offering specific functional or analysis expertise to ensure your team pulls the right data, formats it correctly, and crosswalks properly to ensure clean and functional data, Surety keeps data conversion and migration at the top of the priority list from the start.
Reviewing Current ERP Functions
Before implementing a new ERP system, such as UKG or Workday, clients are required to fill out “workbooks”, which essentially outline your current business processes and all the data in your legacy system to help you understand how to adapt your current system to meet your needs or where to look to find the right solution. These mandatory workbooks offer a way for clients to check in with their current systems, applications, and data sources to assess performance and functionality before making the switch or upgrading their current system.
And, while checking in with current business processes may seem like a standard practice, many companies often fail to review the data in their current ERP system, leading to limited functionality, inefficient change management processes, and repeated processes in the long run.
This step of your migration project is essential, but too often, software vendors offer little to no guidance when it comes to accurately completing your workbook. Luckily for you, this is where our consultants come in to help. From proactively planning workbook completion steps for your team to gathering essential data for each section and everything in between, our team offers the support you need to find success for your data migration team.
Building a Functional Team
Understanding the kind of team you need for your ERP migration project needs is another critical step in the process. The makeup of your data migration team will not only depend on the size of your organization, but it’s also closely associated with the scope and complexity of your project.
Typically, an ERP migration project team will have their own unique combination of internal employees and consultants, including…
Project Manager:
An experienced, detail-oriented team member who reviews creates project deadlines, keeps everyone on task, and reviews migrated data within the system.
Technical Expert:
A consultant who’s responsible for ensuring all data is properly integrated between a legacy system to the new ERP.
Functional Expert:
A consultant who’s in charge of all functional and operational tasks, including leading system design initiatives, ensuring all modules function properly, and more.
Data/Reporting Analyst:
A junior team member responsible for gathering all necessary data, testing scripts within the system, and evaluating the functionality of EIBs within the legacy system and the new system.
From filling functional roles, leveraging technical system knowledge, providing sound guidance for complex projects, and everything in between, our team is sure to fit the bill.
Advocating for Clients
When it comes to navigating complex data conversion processes, outlining an ERP migration project plan, and finding best practices for your team, having experienced, reliable consultants on your side is crucial to your success.
Our team focuses on providing consultants who not only act as “client-side advocates” to ensure their client chooses the best software for their needs, but also keep the customer’s best interest at the top of the priority list no matter what.
While software vendors are concerned with finding the most efficient route to a customer’s go-live date, oftentimes leading to important steps being overlooked, our consultants keep the customer at the forefront, attending to client needs before their own and those of individual software vendors.
Navigating Change Management Processes
Navigating change management processes and outlining best practices for ERP system migration, conversion, configuration, and customization is often a challenge for project teams, regardless of the size or complexity of the project at hand.
When considering making the switch to a new ERP system or conducting data cleaning and conversion processes, it’s important to ask yourself these questions…
- Do we want to use this as an opportunity to adapt all processes to out-of-the box functionality in the new ERP system?
- Do we want to incorporate as many of the current processes as possible into the new ERP system through customized ERP solutions?
- Is the internal team on-board with the switch or are they being forced into using a system they don’t want?
- How do you ensure all team members remain on the same page throughout the switch from a legacy system to a cloud-based one?
- Are internal team members reluctant to take consultant advice or do they understand consultants are there to make their lives easier?
Support for Your Legacy System
While helping your team understand their new ERP system, training staff, and ensuring the integration process runs smoothly is critical to your success, having someone to maintain your legacy system and its associated data while your internal staff learns the new system is just as important.
Our consultants offer backfill support to take a load off your internal employees during your ERP migration process. We can support your legacy system through the early stages of the ERP migration process (or until you’re ready to decommission it). This way, your internal employees can focus more on learning the ins and outs of the new system without having to worry about maintaining functionality in the old system.
ERP Migration Project Examples
With clients in multiple different industries and ever-changing industry needs, ERP software is always evolving to provide better functionality, accessibility, and efficiency to meet your needs.
And, with a wide range of ERP solutions for clients to choose from, our well-rounded team of consultants has the technical knowledge and functional expertise needed to navigate any kind of ERP migration, integration, or implementation.
Navigating complex project needs and balancing a variety of different industry verticals is what our consultants do best… Here are a few key projects they helped with in the past year:
Healthcare
- Lawson to Workday data migration and integration
- Lawson to Ultipro data migration and integration
- Lawson data preparation and extraction for new Workday implementation
Retail
- Lawson to Workday data migration and integration
- Lawson data extraction
- Support for Workday implementation projects
Professional Services
- Lawson to Workday data migration and integration
Manufacturing
- Lawson to Workday data migration and integration
- Kronos Timekeeper to Workday Time Tracking integration
Education
- Lawson to Oracle data migration and integration
Partnering with Experts
Whether you need help outlining an ERP data migration checklist for your team, choosing the right ERP system for your business needs, navigating key steps for a successful data migration, or anything in between, Surety Systems is here to help!
Our team of senior-level ERP consultants has you covered on every step of ERP system migration, from exploring and analyzing key data sources to testing the final system. Even better, they have extensive experience with a variety of different ERP vendors and software, including SAP, Infor Lawson, Workday, UKG Kronos, and JD Edwards.
Getting Started with Us
Interested in learning more about ERP migration or where our consultants can fit in your organization? Know you need help migrating your data from a legacy system to a cloud-based ERP solution, but don’t know how to leverage important data migration resources? We can help with that!
Your company. Your priorities. Our expertise. That’s the name of the game with our consultants.
Contact us today to get started!
