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Seven WayS To Help DaTa MigraTion During iMpleMenTaTion
SpeCial reporT SerieS
ERP IN 2014 AND BEYOND
INTRODUCTION 3
DevelOp a DaTa MIgRaTION plaN 4
peRfORM a ThOROUgh gap aNalysIs 6
COMMIT ResOURCes TO DaTa CleaNsINg 8
CapTURe DaTa ReqUIReMeNTs 10
pRODUCe DeTaIleD DOCUMeNTaTION fOR DaTa CONveRsIONs 12
peRfORM ITeRaTIve CONveRsIONs aND TesT TheM RepeaTeDly 14
DevelOp a MasTeR DaTa MaNageMeNT sTRaTegy 16
yOUR BesT-pRaCTICe CheCk lIsT 18
CONClUsION 20
aBOUT COlUMBUs 22Columbus Rapidvalue 22Columbus Care 23Columbus Data Migration studio 23
CONTeNTs
Data migration is one of the hardest parts
of an eRp implementation project It tends
to present a high level of complexity and
can be challenging to accomplish with
the desirable accuracy and reliability
however, data migration is also one of the key turning
points where you ready your eRp system to become an
enabler of your growth and goals by bringing into it the
wealth of data from your business history Committing
the appropriate strategic thinking and resources to data
migration will help ensure your long-term eRp success
Because data migration is an important strategic
concern, you need to ensure that you have the buy-in
from all business stakeholders all participants on your
project team must understand their roles along with the
sources and types of data they are responsible for They
also need to be aware of the potential risk to business
operations and organizational viability if data is flawed
or damaged every data migration project is different and
every legacy system presents a specific source format
with certain fields and tables Of course, many tools and
templates can help you with the importing and exporting
of data, but they only go so far
There are no standard scripts available, and the bulk of
the work needs to take place outside of your new eRp
environment To ensure that you get the right data
into the new solution, in the right format, you need to
set realistic time estimates for analysis, development,
and testing Based on our experience in thousands of
challenging — but successful — eRp implementation and
data migration projects, we have documented seven
practical steps that will help keep your data migration
on track and deliver the results you want This is not a
definitive list, but it will help you reduce the complexity
challenge with some insight into the key areas you need
to focus on Remember what is at stake: Without the right,
intact data in the right format, your new eRp solution
will not be able to generate the business benefits you
want to achieve with it With the right data and a sound
strategy to manage it, the eRp system can perform well
in 2014 and for years to come
Introduction
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ERP IN 2014 AND BEYOND
3
Develop a DataMigration plan
Many experts agree that data
migration should be seen as a
separate project or sub-project
to the main eRp implementation
This helps set the right mindset
within the organization to appreciate the importance of
this process The practical starting point is to establish
a data migration project team and ensure that you
have the right people involved, with support and buy-in
from the board The participants of the project team
do not need to be the same people who already take
responsibility for the entire eRp implementation But, as
a group, they need to understand the strategic thinking
behind your eRp deployment and the goals for the new
business management solution They also have to be
fully familiar with your legacy systems and the kind of
information that resides in them
Just like the eRp implementation, data migrations will
involve your colleagues as well as third parties from
consultants and contractors It often helps to build a
matrix or spreadsheet to document the names, contact
detail, roles, and accountabilities of these contributors
you will also want to enlist the participation of the ! find additional information here:
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4
aCTIONs
Make sure the organization
understands the importance of data
migration
Involve all key
contributors and document their accountabilities
plan data migration
collaboratively in a practical
workshop
IT specialists or consultants who perform the data
cleansing we discuss below Because data cleansing is
a very complex sub-project, you should document and
obtain sign-off for all the individuals and responsibilities
involved
Once you have your team in place, you facilitate a data
migration workshop to plan your data migrations in a
collaborative manner a data migration workshop is a
meeting to set out the approach to be taken during the
data migration project It should take place as early in the
eRp implementation project as possible, preferably at the
same time as the scoping activities a good time might be
following any early solution familiarization for key users,
because many of the required skills and architectural
considerations will be fresh in attendees’ minds
The workshop should include all areas that matter
for data migration, including the scope, data sources,
roles and responsibilities, timescales, data repository,
cleansing, gap analysis, data requirements capture,
loading, testing, and future master data management
The output from the meeting is a data strategy
document to be signed off by the project board This
document should detail the approach and plan for your
data migrations along with roles and responsibilities It
will serve as a shared reference throughout the project
SpeCial reporT SerieS
ERP IN 2014 AND BEYOND
5
Data migration involves much
meticulous work that takes time
and needs careful planning There
are no quick answers or accelerators
proven, reliable tools, templates, and
the knowledge of experienced consultants will
help the process run smoothly, but it still needs
your company and team to make a substantial
commitment of time and resources a thorough
gap analysis, performed very early in the
data migration process, is a critical juncture
where many companies fall short because they
underestimate its importance or the amount of
work needed to complete it The purpose of a gap
analysis is to ensure that your migration will capture
all data that is essential for the new eRp system, as
well as all customer data
perform a Thorough gap analysis
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6
analyze source data
against data schemas
in the new eRp solution
Involve data cleansing teams
to help ensure all data is captured as
needed
Realistically plan for the
resources and tools you need in
data migration
aCTIONs
To verify this, it is necessary to analyze and compare
the source data against the new eRp data schemas
an efficient way to do so is by extracting key tables
within the scope of the migration out of the eRp system
into Microsoft excel for field-by-field comparison with
the source data any major gaps you find here should
be communicated to the cleansing teams, who need to
make sure that data is captured properly
fields with customer information are fundamental to
the functioning of the business If there is no acceptable,
simple workaround when any such customer data fields
are missing from the new eRp system, once again your
data cleansing and project teams need to become
involved They will then need to investigate which
modifications are necessary to ensure complete data
capture
SpeCial reporT SerieS
ERP IN 2014 AND BEYOND
7
Commit Resources to Data Cleansing
The fi rst step in your data migration
should be ensuring that the data you
want to bring into the new eRp solution
are of sound quality and uncompromised
Basic cleansing of data sources should
take place as promptly as possible after your data
migration workshop following an analysis of the
source data, certain obvious issues and gaps will
become apparent immediately The cleansing
teams should address these as soon as they can
some of the data quality issues you are likely to run
into are fairly predictable for example, the structure
of the tables may be diff erent Concepts at work in one
system may not be present in another The data itself
may be of poor quality, with lots of outdated, incorrect,
or redundant information given changes in the business
and the way it takes advantage of technology, the way
the organization will use the new eRp system might not
even be compatible with the data in legacy systems
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Create a process
to maintain consistently
excellent data quality
ensure buy-in and commitment
from technical and business stakeholders
aCTIONs
plan for data cleansing early in
the process
The decisions and practical steps needed to perform
successful data cleansing that effectively supports
the eRp deployment require the agreement and, very
possibly, a significant effort from your cleansing teams Of
course, many of the people involved will need to perform
their regular jobs in addition to this assignment The
company and everybody working on the eRp deployment
should understand that good data husbandry pays off
and needs to become a part of the regular IT process
Data of any real worth to a business usually does not exist
in isolation as soon as it is clean, there is the immediate
risk of it becoming compromised again Therefore, you
will need to find a way to monitor continuously that the
data you wish to bring into the new eRp environment is
within your quality criteria Doing so will require regular
reviews of the data against the operational rules that
apply to your deployment project
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9
Capture Data Requirements
You need to document data requirements
table by table and field by field The
result of this step should be a document
which combines the new eRp
database schema with any
new tables or fields which are being added to
the solution We recommend that you place all
documentation generated in capturing data
requirements under change control in the same
central repository where you maintain all essential
documents related to the eRp deployment
foundation data should also be included in the scope at
this stage foundation data documentation should be
subject to change control as well Ideally, any additional
values required in any lookup table should be
communicated by means of a formal change
request following this practice will help
ensure that all data environments remain
in sync and the change request will receive
the proper attention
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10
establish a change process
to keep foundation data in line with business needs
Document data requirements
in a centralized reference resource
aCTIONs
Once you have defined the schema of the
target eRp database and modifications
become available according to a
release plan, technologists can
document how data conversion
will take place The output of this step is a
specification document which details the
mapping and transformation of data from the
source to the target format The target format
should be one which the standard eRp import
routines can recognize for that reason, it should be
based on previously taken extracts This avoids the
need for custom loading scripts
produce Detailed Documentation for Data Conversions
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12
Consider generic
source formats to simplify
conversionsperform
additional data cleansing as it becomes
necessary
Maintain complete
documentation of data conversion mapping and steps
aCTIONs
It is necessary to define the source format for each table
In eRp deployments that involve multiple companies
or multiple legacy systems, you may need to define a
generic source format which each source system must
follow This step will also provide you with a repeatable
conversion process for each company
Detailed data conversion documentation may surface
additional cleansing and completion requirements that
you need to pass on to your very busy data cleansing
team The immediately subsequent task for them, of
course, will be to plan the appropriate actions to address
these requirements
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ERP IN 2014 AND BEYOND
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Each source of data in your operation
may well require a different method of
conversion some data sources may
be a good fit for automatic conversion
with readily available software tools,
and others may need to be manually converted
by team members who follow the
specification documents There is no
one recommended, optimal method
of developing a conversion script
Technologists may want to use a
combination of tools to complete
conversions, including sql server
Integration services, third-party
code-building products, custom code in X++
or other languages, and excel macros
perform Iterative Conversions and Test Them Repeatedly
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14
evaluate the actual
benefits and costs of fully converting
legacy data
Test conversions repeatedly,
and then again
set proper expectations for
conversion results and timelines
Closely define conversion actions and
responsibilities in your plan
aCTIONs
your conversion execution plan should define who is
responsible for the conversion of each data table and,
most important, the sequence in which conversions
should take place In the conversion plan, you want to
clarify and define the target environment as well as
the company or companies affected by the planned
conversions
your planning should also document for the project team
what data conversions are scheduled for which times It
may not be possible to release a full data set in the first
instance of a conversion, and a phased release may be
necessary you want to set the right expectations to
make sure your stakeholders understand that the loading
process using excel imports can be time-consuming
Other methods which avoid these delays require more
specialized developer skills your eRp implementation
partner should be able to assist with resources and
expertise
We cannot emphasize enough how critical the testing of
your conversions is Once a converted data set exists in a
company, it should first be sense-checked before being
released for testing by the project team
you need to allocate enough time in the project plan
for conducting tests of key processes to ensure that
the conversion is valid In an activity of this complexity,
re-work is inevitable and not at all an indicator of failure
But you need to allow time for it as well We recommend
that you plan for at least two releases of data
Many organizations are anxious to transfer their
transactional history data so that they have a
complete record in the new eRp system however,
the benefit of doing so is never as great as the
time and cost it requires Therefore, when it comes
to converting your legacy or historical data, you
should carefully weigh its benefits and costs We
recommend that you migrate legacy data into a
separate, referenced sql database or cube for
cross analysis with the new system Once legacy
data is reliably archived, you can think about the
best business intelligence tools to access and make
sense of the information as an alternative, you could
simply leave the data in the old database for user
reference
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Much like the initial
implementation is just
one critical step in the
long lifecycle of the eRp
solution, data migrations are one
phase in the life of your organization’s wealth of data
your data projects should not end with the solution’s
go-live date strategic, consistent data management
is vital throughout the life of the eRp solution to help
your company obtain the business benefits it seeks
to achieve with eRp standardized workflows, process
maps, templates, and mandatory fields all help to ensure
that users enter the right kind of data at the right time
and do not develop bad habits, such as taking short cuts
Throughout the life of your eRp solution,
you need to have the assurance that a
team or person in the organization takes
responsibility for monitoring and analyzing the
cleanliness and integrity of your data so that your eRp
solution can always enable the best possible business
results
If your organization does not yet have a master data
management strategy, the implementation of an eRp
solution would be an opportune time to articulate it and
put it into practice as opposed to transactional data,
master data pertain to the people, things, places, and
concepts that are essential to your business
Develop a Master Data Management strategy
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16
Develop a strategy
for managing information
throughout the eRp lifecycle
Consider the value of master data
management for your organization
Involve your technology partner in
helping you plan information
management
aCTIONs
Closely connected to your business processes and
strategic objectives, master data management primarily
includes the processes and technologies you use to
create and maintain accurate and consistent master
data Within your master data management discipline,
you define data formats, sources, use models, and users;
devise a data governance program; monitor and maintain
data quality and integrity; manage data hierarchies; keep
data stewards informed and accountable; and other
important tasks Many consultancies and technology
providers offer valid, proven tools and approaches
to assist your master data management your eRp
implementation partner will be the best resource to get
you started
SPECIAL REPORT SERIES
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□ Make sure the organization understands the importance of data migration
□ Involve all key contributors and document their accountabilities
□ plan data migration collaboratively in a practical workshop
□ Realistically plan for the resources and tools you need in data migration
□ analyze source data against data schemas in the new eRp solution
□ Involve data cleansing teams to help ensure all data is captured as needed
□ plan for data cleansing early in the process
□ ensure buy-in and commitment from technical and business stakeholders
□ Create a process to maintain consistently excellent data quality
□ Document data requirements in a centralized reference resource
□ establish a change process to keep foundation data in line with business needs
□ Maintain complete documentation of data conversion mapping and steps
□ Consider generic source formats to simplify conversions
□ perform additional data cleansing as it becomes necessary
your Best-practice Check list:
! find additional information here:
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18
□ Closely define conversion actions and responsibilities in your plan
□ set proper expectations for conversion results and timelines
□ Test conversions repeatedly, and then again
□ evaluate the actual benefits and costs of fully converting legacy data
□ Develop a strategy for managing information throughout the eRp lifecycle
□ Consider the value of master data management for your organization
□ Involve your technology partner in helping you plan information management
SPECIAL REPORT SERIES
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19
Conclusion
Successful data migration strategies
are as individual as the companies that
implement eRp systems In every case,
they require a significant commitment
of resources and careful planning If you
perform these critical steps diligently, take the time
for extensive testing and quality assurance, and keep
business stakeholders involved in critical decisions,
your eRp deployment enjoys a high probability of being
able to deliver the business results the company hopes
to achieve in 2014 and future years your trusted
technology partner will be your best go-to resource to
plan data migrations in line with your goals for the eRp
implementation The practical guidelines we share here
from our experience reinforce that data migration is a
critically important task, but they can also help you tame
its complexity and speed you on your way to generating
measurable benefits from your eRp solution
Contact us to find out more or receive assistance with
your eRp project
You may also find the other papers in our ERP in
2014 and Beyond series helpful:
| seven Ways to avoid eRp failure
| seven Ways to Optimize your existing eRp solution
| seven Reasons to Consider eRp Deployment in the Cloud
| seven Ways That Business process Management Can Improve your eRp Implementation
! find additional information here:
www.columbusglobal.com
20
about Columbus Columbus RapidvalueColumbus is an industry-based consultancy and
award-winning technology developer focused on the
manufacturing, food processing, and retail industries We
are the preferred consultancy for ambitious companies
wanting to streamline business processes, improve
operational efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve
visibility into their businesses
Our approach to solving our clients’ issues can best
be described as proactive We challenge our clients’
traditional ways of thinking, help them see new
opportunities for improvements, and take responsibility
to drive change in their organizations We’ve delivered
these business benefits for over 25 years to many of the
leading companies worldwide
Columbus is a long-time developer of award-winning
industry software and has recently become well known
for developing Columbus Rapidvalue Rapidvalue
is a business process management tool that drives
increased client value for eRp solutions It delivers
a shorter implementation with more predictable
results by incorporating hundreds of best industry
practices accumulated through in over 6,000 Columbus
implementations This allows Columbus to focus on
streamlining the processes that make our clients unique
Companies all over the world are investing in Rapidvalue
and enjoy the benefits of shorter times to value, quicker
and less risky implementations, and the industry
leadership and knowledge acquired from the thousands
of Columbus deployments that preceded theirs
! find additional information here:
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22
ColumbusCareColumbusCare is unique to Columbus —it is how we take care of our clients, 24/7 worldwide With ColumbusCare, you get a well-trained team dedicated to improve your system’s efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and risk resistance Whether you’re looking for enterprise-level support, upgrade options, or system enhancements, ColumbusCare provides flexible service levels to meet the needs of your business
Columbus Data Migration studioColumbus Data Migration studio enables streamlined and cost-effective migrations that minimize difficulties, time and costs, while ensuring the reliability and integrity of your data Data Migration studio can help you unleash the potential of your eRp solution and enable your organization to efficiently migrate large amounts of data quickly and easily
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ERP IN 2014 AND BEYOND
23
’Columbus’ is a part of the registered trademark ‘Columbus iT’
speCIal RepORT seRIes:eRp IN 2014 aND BeyOND
seven Ways To avoid eRp
Implementation failure
seven ReasonsTo Consider eRp
In The Cloud
seven Ways To help Data
Migration During Implementation
seven WaysTo Optimize
your existing eRp solution
seven Ways That Business process Management Can Improve your eRp Implementation