ERP Data Migration: Tips & Best Practices

Data migration is the process of transferring data from one system to another. Literally, it is a challenging and key process in ERP implementation. Implementing an ERP system permits an enterprise to understand their performance and prospect of the business. Making this clean, accurate, consistent data vital.  Before deploying an ERP system the organization handles their information in different formats in different systems. So a systematic approach could be in-cooperate before importing data into the database.

Data migration is a crucial process. Because data in the new ERP system must be accurate, consistent, and complete which is the key for different people who entirely depend upon this historical data. Following are some of the challenges facing data migration.

Data Redundancy and Integrity:

More than one department carries a clone of their customer information or product details which does not mean that their data is alike. Each department may arrange data distinctly.

Data Migration Cost:

A successful data migration has a methodological approach that includes extracting, cleaning, and restructuring data. That can be included into a major part of the whole implementation budget. Even when you replace an old ERP system with a latest one, the expense of data resettling can add 10-15% of the  new system, as per a report from ERP Focus.

Stakeholder Support:

For avoiding internal conflicts need permission from high authorities before migrating data. As mentioned earlier each department stores their data in their own way and staff enter data in a specific way. So management backing is essential for verifying that all importing data produce single and consistent data.

Regulatory Issues:

Changes in the rules and regulations of regional and industry-specific also affect the organization's data handling. When moving data, ensure you fullfil those rules and regulations.

4 Steps to Build an ERP Data Migration Strategy and Plan

1. Create a Migration Team

A responsible team is needed for deciding which data entails transfer and how to clean it up. The implementation team has a data migration team and that team contains a lead role person from each group who gives the intuition of how data is used by their groups.

2. Analyze and Map the Data

Inspect each source system data and watch for inconsistency and redundancy. The migration team is in charge of resolving these matters before bringing in data into the ERP system. During this implementation you have to chart the data to the form of the ERP database, so mechanized tools can bring in the details.

3. Decide What to Migrate

Older systems contain a lot of information like details of customers who have not ordered yet, suppliers that have gone out of business, and historical information of old transactions. This information is not needed further so it can be stored offline or in a separate system depending on your data policy.

4. Migrate, Validate and Test

Latest  ERP software possesses a series of tools that automates the procedures of importing data. But you may rationalize data, sometimes convert it into a form that ERP can understand. Before going live, imply testing on migrated data of each business group and ERP application.

ERP Data Migration Best practices

Following are some of the key practices followed by the organization to overcome challenges and keep track of the ERP project.

• Prioritize Data Migration: A systematic planning is essential for data migration because it is a time-consuming process and a minor defect will interrupt the entire implementation. Try to start on time and allocate desired resources before getting bottlenecked. Once the implementation starts create a process for extracting, cleansing data from the source system.

• Think About Broader Business Use of the Data: There are some central points to keep in mind before beginning the migration which is a comprehensive evaluation of prevailing data, creating an idea on how it will be used inside the ERP system, charting the structure of the ERP database and planning up the rules for interpreting data to the latest form. An ERP implementation provides better understanding into business operations instantaneously by evaluating its data, so you would consider how data will be utilized for managerial purposes altogether as well as by each department.

• Assign Data Governance Responsibility: Better define the roles and responsibilities of your team and also clarify who possesses which data. A better practice is to designate a person having whole responsibility for assent with any procedures that influence your business.

• Be Selective with Data: Data is the backbone of the system which does not mean every data is essential. So don't try to import every piece of information to the latest ERP system from the old system. Historical data is not accessible or immediately useful which makes the system performance slower. So the users get difficulty accessing their needy information.

Testing is the way of knowing the success of your data migration. Instead of testing the whole migrated system, begin testing with a smaller amount of your migrated data.