Six questions to ask before your next system migration
The questions that separate a smooth migration from a stressful one — asked before you sign anything, not halfway through the project.
System migrations rarely fail because of the technology itself. They fail because of decisions made — or not made — before the project even starts. Here are six questions worth asking early, ideally before you’ve committed to a supplier or a platform.
1. What actually happens to our data, and when?
Get specific about the migration approach: is it a like-for-like lift, or does data get restructured along the way? Who’s responsible for validating that everything has moved correctly, and what does the rollback plan look like if it hasn’t?
2. What’s the plan for the systems either side of this one?
Very few systems operate in isolation. Understanding the integrations, data flows and manual workarounds connected to the system being replaced — and confirming they’ll still work afterwards — is one of the most commonly underestimated parts of any migration.
3. How much disruption is realistic, and when will it happen?
Every migration involves some disruption. The question is whether that’s been planned for deliberately — scheduled around your business’s quieter periods, communicated clearly to staff — or whether it’s simply going to happen whenever the project runs into it.
4. Who is independent in this conversation?
If the only advice you’re getting on whether to migrate, and to what, comes from the supplier who’d be doing the work, it’s worth asking who’s actually representing your interests in that conversation.
5. What does “done” actually look like?
Vague success criteria are one of the most common reasons migrations feel like they drag on indefinitely. Agreeing specific, testable criteria for what “done” means — and who signs off on it — keeps everyone aligned on when the project has actually finished.
6. What happens if it goes wrong?
Not every migration goes perfectly. Understanding the contingency plan — rollback options, extended parallel running, who’s on point if issues surface after go-live — before you start is far better than working it out under pressure.
The common thread
Almost all of these questions come down to the same thing: having someone in the conversation whose only job is to protect your interests, not to close the sale. That’s the role an independent consultancy plays — asking the awkward questions early, when they’re still cheap to answer.