You have outgrown your existing ERP and want to move to another one which offers better functionality. Migration utilities pave the way for reducing the total effort required for migrating data from one system to other system. But how is a data migration utility built? One size does not fit all as the source and target systems are different in each case. Data migration involves data conversion, master records, historical data and transactional records migration.

Detailed analysis of source and target systems is done. Gap analysis is done to chart out the differences between the two systems. The migration tool should transfer data from source to target system irrespective of their versions without losing essential source system’s information to target system. The main business challenge in developing a migration tool was to match the data and the transactions from the basic accounting package to the comprehensive financial and operations system without losing track of business critical information and being user-friendly at the same time.

Data conversion will include the migration of master records, transactional data and historical data.

For example: In the migration of data from one accounting system to another:

  • Master records will include key items such as account number, name, etc., as well as transaction masters that are used to create recurring transactions. For example: standard postings in the general ledger, recurring sales orders.
  • Transactional data will include all types of open transactions. For example: unpaid AR invoices, partially paid AP invoices. Transactions completed or closed are assumed to be included in historical data.
  • Conversion of historical data should be done where appropriate.

Mapping is done between both systems in terms of modules, features and data. The target system might already have features that aid in migration. Therefore it may not be necessary to reinvent the wheel. While standard features can be easily migrated, the challenge is in migrating customized features. CI has been involved in building Simply Accounting by Sage to Sage Accpac migration utility. To know more about our rapid product engineering capabilities with respect to Sage add-on product development contact us at sales@ciindia.com