12 Tips for successful cloud ERP migration

Tips

1. Draw on classes realized from prior cloud ERP migration

Virtually every enterprise has moved non-ERP purposes to the cloud or to SaaS platforms. That expertise ought to inform your method in migrating ERP to the cloud.

Early on within the process, Apagen ought to convey enterprise leaders, finish customers, and IT staffers related to these past projects collectively to determine unanticipated prices or technical roadblocks which will have cropped up, in addition to any surprising safety, privateness, data backup, or networking points. Also essential is to identify any teams or people inside the corporate who have been significantly resistant to vary. Every firm has a novel tradition, so it’s essential to know how earlier cloud rollouts have been communicated, how they have been acquired, and the way they have been executed.

2. Create a complete plan and follow it

No one could be silly sufficient to embark on a project of this magnitude with no plan. But you want multiple plans: You want a purposes migration plan, a data migration plan, and a communication plan, along with plans for training, safety, networking, and ongoing monitoring and upkeep. Cloud ERP migration at a big enterprise might take three or four years to finish, so the general complete plan of plans has to have particular milestones. Organizations should attempt very exhausting to remain on schedule and avoid scope creep. But the plan additionally has to have some flexibility so as to accommodate altering enterprise circumstances.

3. Inventory your applications and data

Sounds fairly fundamental, but after 10 years or 20 years of customized business applications and writing just a few of your own, you’d be surprised what you discover when conducting a complete survey of the applications portfolio. Same with data, you have to know what you have acquired, what kind of form it’s in, the place it’s situated, how a lot of it needs to move with the applications, what historic data must be archived, and for how long.

4. Take inventory of enterprise processes and institutional information

ERP apps don’t stay in a vacuum, so it’s essential to understand how ERP systems “spill into other systems,” says Gaurav. And that applies to each inner system, similar to CRM, as nicely to enterprise partners who might need to make alterations to their processes in response to your modifications.

In addition, organizations have to take a “knowledge inventory” to realize a transparent understanding of not only what you’ve, but additionally what you do by way of processes and procedures that could be impacted by a move to the cloud.

5. Decide on a one- or two-step method

There are two methods that organizations can take when shifting ERP apps to the cloud. You can “lift and shift” current apps to a cloud platform as step one, after which over time refactor or rewrite particular functions to take full benefit of the enterprise advantages of a streamlined, optimized cloud-native app. Or you are able to do it all in one step by modernizing applications whereas they’re still on-premises after which migrating these up to date apps to the cloud. Generally talking, the two-step method is more well-liked; it delivers advantages quicker and is less dangerous.

6. Automate as many processes as you’ll be able to

Automation can assist organizations speed up their cloud ERP migration and it could additionally assist cut back human error. There are quite a lot of available automation instruments, together with those that automate data transfers, audit the information migration to ensure everything was accomplished appropriately, and automate testing, backup, and disaster recovery.

7. Migrate the least essential purposes first

ERP service providers typically suggest making a matrix that categorizes apps on their level of utilization, complexity, and influence on the enterprise. When embarking on an ERP migration, IT leaders ought to begin with the apps which have the least influence on the enterprise, in response to this technique. Gaurav used this strategy in shifting Apagen’s ERP apps to Workday, saving mission-critical finance and payroll for last. As a part of this strategy, Gaurav really ran the outdated and new systems in parallel for a time period to make completely certain that the switchover would go off without a hitch.

8. Consider the networking and safety implications

Once you’ve core enterprise processes working within the cloud, it’s important that staff are capable of securely access these apps from any location. Companies ought to be sure that staff join over a VPN and that two-factor authentication is required. Organizations must also have redundant connections to the cloud, with some mixture of MPLS, Metro Ethernet, fixed wi-fi, and conventional broadband links.

9. Uncover any expertise gaps which may influence the migration

For corporations without much expertise in shifting purposes to the cloud, it’s necessary to do a sincere evaluation of the skills required to do the job, and match that in opposition to the ability set of the IT employees. Do they’ve the bandwidth and experience to be rewriting applications for the cloud? Are they plugged into enterprise processes to the extent that they will consider purposes and resolve which could have to remain on-prem for regulatory or safety reasons, which ought to move as-is to the cloud, and which would offer a major enterprise profit if re-written for the cloud? At this point, many corporations bring in outside consultants who’ve the related expertise and experience.

10. Re-evaluate disaster restoration and enterprise continuity planning

Once your ERP apps have left the building, it’s essential that DR/BC plans mirror the brand new actuality. The excellent news is that shifting purposes to the cloud offers a chance to revamp backup and DR plans to incorporate cloud-based backup and restoration. This might remove the necessity for a backup information heart or a bodily facility that hosts backup disks or tapes.

11. Keep the lines of communication open

“It’s important to have empathy and know the pain that people are going to feel,” says Gaurav. CIOs want to speak with everybody concerned within the project from the get-go and keep constant communication all through the process. Be prepared to pay attention to finish customers and permit them to assist from the project to the extent which you could, says Gaurav. His crew even set up a hotline so end users might call if they’d issues when the new system went live.

Organizations have to additionally extend their communication efforts to clients and suppliers, ensuring to emphasise that any adjustments which are occurring are being done to enhance enterprise processes and make everybody’s life simpler in the long term.

12. Don’t neglect to think about data sovereignty

With a cloud ERP migration, mission-critical applications are shifting outside of your direct control and will end up being replicated throughout a number of cloud availability zones. Organizations want to know that they’re still liable for complying with privacy laws similar to GDPR and defending customer information no matter where it’s positioned.