Old data carries old decisions
A new system often exposes problems that were easy to ignore in spreadsheets: duplicate suppliers, inconsistent product descriptions and customer records with missing fields. Moving everything unchanged may recreate the same frustrations inside a more expensive platform.
Name the people who can decide
Technical teams can identify duplicates and formatting problems, but they cannot always decide which customer record is correct or whether an inactive supplier should remain. Assign data owners in finance, sales, procurement and operations. Give them time to make decisions before the final migration.
Rehearse the cutover
A trial migration should test more than whether records import. Check opening balances, reporting totals, attachments, permissions and the transactions people need on their first working day. Document what failed, who corrected it and what changed for the next rehearsal.
Measure readiness in business terms
Instead of reporting only a percentage of rows migrated, track how many critical records have been verified by their owners. A clean supplier master or reliable stock opening balance may matter more than a large volume of historical data. The aim is usable information from day one.
Planning a similar initiative? Talk to our team about a practical starting point.
Talk to an advisor