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Switching construction software: a guide to data migration

Even if your job costing software package merely consists of a custom Excel spreadsheet or two, it still counts as job costing software. Once you’ve become used to how your software package works, it’s easy to become reluctant about changing or upgrading – even if another system is a far superior offering. Here at Integrity Software, we understand that switching to a new system is daunting – that’s why we’ve set up a hassle-free seven-step process to help you with upgrading. An integral part of this process is data migration. In this article, we discuss how data is migrated and where it fits into our seven-step guide to upgrading.

Your data is valuable

We all know how useful data is. As a business, you’re legally required to keep hold of your accounts for at least six years after the end of the financial year they relate to. Additionally, if you hold client data in your books, it’s your responsibility to keep their data safe and secure – else you could face a huge fine and an equally damaging loss to your reputation. Transferring data between systems can be a nightmare – it may be incompatible with your new system, the formatting may break, or you may inexplicably lose large chunks of data. Therefore, data migration isn’t as simple as saving files or copying columns of data across. In most cases, data will also need to be converted and manipulated in order for it to work with your new software package.

The right data

In most cases you won’t want to transfer all your old data to your new system. For example, there’s no reason to keep details of old jobs that have long since been completed. Additionally, you may have some low quality data that contains plenty of empty fields and therefore provides little to no value. There’s no point keeping this data (unless it forms part of your accounts) when you switch systems. In fact, the upgrade process provides a great opportunity to tidy up your database by migrating only useful and complete data.

How we can help

Data manipulation isn’t everyone’s forte, but it is an essential part of the upgrade process. That’s why we advise and assist you with data migration and conversion as you move to your new Integrity Software system. We have a suite of tools to make these processes take place swiftly and reliably.

We plan for data migration from the very beginning. We’ll discuss your requirements and begin carrying out test migrations at an early stage to ensure that the process runs smoothly. These early migration tests also provide the data used during staff training for the new system.

Successful data migration means that you don’t need to start from scratch or juggle two software systems simultaneously. The Integrity Software team will walk you through this critical process and ensure that your software upgrade runs smoothly.

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