09 Dec The Importance of Planned and Structured Data Migration for ERP Implementation

The Importance of Planned and Structured Data Migration for ERP Implementation

For successful ERP implementation, the key is to understand how the data migration works. When you have chosen an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system for your business, it provides a huge capability for your process. However, successful implementation and leveraging it for your business depends a lot on how you use the data with the ERP solution. This is the reason to prepare and plan for ERP data migration when you have opted for an ERP solution.

For successful ERP implementation, the key is to understand how the data migration works. Data migration can happen frequently in an organization that uses Software as a service application like NetSuite ERP. And need to put efforts into planning data migration arise.

WHAT IS THE DATA MIGRATION PROCESS IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION?

To simply understand, when you replace your old computer system with a new one, you need to transfer the data from the legacy system to the new one. This is what a data migration process is.

Similarly, for an ERP, data migration is transferring the data from the source to the ERP system’s database. While it may sound simple, it is not so. This process includes systematic procedures, moving data from various sources and systems, transferring it into a common structure, storage type, and format, and may engage different parties in the path. Successful data migration in ERP implementation requires a methodical approach and good management. This process may involve inspection, extraction, and transformation of data from the applications before it is transferred to the ERP system database.

When you are adopting the NetSuite ERP system, you have to go through the data migration process, and how well you can leverage the benefits of this ERP depends a lot on how effectively and accurately you have migrated the data.

WHY IS DATA MIGRATION CRITICAL IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION?

Your entire business process relies on the data. And as the different parts of the business will use that historical data, it becomes critical that your ERP database system is accurate and complete. ERP data migration done right ensures that you keep the implementation process on-budget and on-time, also allowing you to discard redundant data as well as create a more efficient and streamlined system process for the future.

ERP DATA MIGRATION BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGY TO FOLLOW

Be Aware of the Data Migration Challenges

These include data redundancy, integrity concerns, time, stakeholder buy-in, migration cost, and regional and industry-specific regulatory issues. These concerns should be addressed when you are planning to deploy the ERP system.

Start Out Early

For achieving a timely and successful ERP system deployment, you have to start the migration process early, as it can be time-consuming. It also provides you with an opportunity to clear out any outdated data.

Have a Dedicated Migration Team Ready

The data migration plan starts with creating a dedicated team who will be responsible for the entire process of cleaning the data, mapping it out, and then transferring it to the ERP system database. The team should include experienced professionals who can provide their insights on every aspect from start to finish. They should be assigned with data governance responsibility.

Analyze the Data

Each of the source systems has to be assessed for different types of data, mapping it to the database structure which helps to import using automated tools. Categorize the data into:

➢ Master Data – Core data important for the business process

➢ Live Data – Information related to recent process use and transaction

➢ Historical Data – Data that is at least 2 years old

Also, define:

➢ What data needs to be migrated and in what structure

➢ What historical data has to be migrated

Clean up the Data

Not all data that is stored in the sources will be transferred from the legacy to the new system. There will be data redundancies, inconsistencies, and poor or bad data which will require thorough cleaning from the data migration team.

Decide What to Migrate

Now after analyzing the data, categorizing and structuring it, and then cleaning it, you would get a clear idea about data that needs to be migrated. The temptation of hoarding the data is obvious, but be selective. The data retention policies can guide you properly. And you can always save data once used offline for future needs. Mixing this data in the database can disrupt your master and live data structure.

Validate, Test, and Migrate

Your NetSuite ERP system comes with tools for automating data importing. However, you may need to convert that data into a specific form before it can be imported. This process makes sure you run tests and validate the data for every application and business domain.

Switching to a new ERP system is not complex but can be a little time-consuming. However, with strategic planning for ERP data migration, you can achieve efficient and successful ERP system deployment in a stipulated time and with less effort.

For any organization, the right deployment of the ERP suite is very critical and NetSuite can provide that. With an efficient systematic process for data migration, NetSuite can get deployed as fast as in 2-3 months on the cloud and fully customized. And then you are ready to leverage the performance of NetSuite that ensures 99.98% uptime running, consistently and reliably.