Building A Better Mousetrap, A New Approach To Data Migration For Enterprise Systems
Migrating data from a legacy enterprise system like a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system or an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system has traditionally been an expensive and time-consuming project. The typical methods involve exporting data into ascii formats or data tables and iteratively trying to manipulate the data until it is acceptable in the new system. Multiple passes are required, and extensive testing is needed for each pass to ensure the data comes across with minimal issues. Most companies tend to hold onto their enterprise systems for long periods of time, so the amount of data is significant. Data passes can take weeks to complete which results in downtime while companies transition from their old systems into their new applications. This comes at the cost of lost productivity due to business disruptions and issues are exacerbated further by the move to the cloud. Bandwidth on the cloud is slower than on internal networks and space is priced at a premium which can extend and complicate the migration. Given the large number of companies looking to move off legacy “on-premise” applications better solutions are needed for data migration, in other words it is time for a “better mousetrap”.
When companies choose to change from legacy enterprise systems it is typically due to lack of support and functionality. For example, companies using Oracle’s Agile PLM are being pressured off the platform by Oracle’s decision to terminate premier support in 2027. This means that the application will no longer receive patches for security and compatibility with browsers and operating systems. Ideally when a company moves off a legacy system, they can take advantage of new capabilities and clean up issues they experienced in their previous system to make significant enhancements in process and technology, as well as improvements to their information model. Unfortunately, current methods for migration make it difficult for companies to do this. The batch nature of migration and the volume of information do not allow companies to selectively remove data or to thoroughly evaluate or enhance the information therefore there is no data improvement. Again, due to the way this process works companies have a compressed amount of time to test information in the new system and are forced to bring either “latest only” versions or all the data contained in the system. This compressed time frame also limits any process changes since the target system must be configured to mimic the legacy system to successfully receive the data.
It is highly likely that many companies today are still on outdated enterprise systems because of the challenges and expense associated with moving to a new system. If there was a way to seamlessly move from one system to another without having to go through the pain of multiple data passes and extensive testing more companies would be able to take advantage of newer applications with more features, modern interfaces, and better data. Putting technology in place that would synchronize information between a legacy enterprise system and the new application would allow for a more manageable process for identifying critical information and correcting any issues created in the previous application. Users could review data in small, manageable quantities from the start and could also have more control over what information comes over from the legacy systems. It would also give companies the ability to modify processes and adjust/enrich data as it comes into the new system allowing for productivity enhancing business process and data improvements.
Fortunately, this technology exists today and can be applied to the data migration challenge. Zero Wait-State has spent the last 20 years developing integration technology to support communication between CAD centric Product Data Management (PDM) applications and PLM applications and PLM to ERP. Several PDM applications are also PLM systems, so the capabilities are there to tie to PLM systems together. We have specifically developed an interface between AgilePLM and Propel, a Salesforce based PLM application. We believe that Propel is the closest match to AgilePLM from a functionality perspective, so it was our first platform to integrate. We do already have integration solutions for Oracle Cloud, ComplianceQuest, 3DX, and Windchill that could easily be adapted to support this migration approach.
We are currently offering our enhanced migration solution to our clients as an alternative to traditional migration methods and can demonstrate the application to prove the viability of this approach. From a timing perspective it does not increase the transition time it takes to move from one system to another and does not add any additional cost. It produces a higher quality of data in the new system and enables process improvement to be enacted during the adoption of a new system. It reduces stress and time demands on client resources since testing can be more evenly distributed throughout the project and allows clients to interact with the new system using their data earlier in the transition process since data can be loaded earlier. Moreover, by enriching and improving the data companies will be able to better support future solutions like Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives. AI solutions need robust data models to function, and typically legacy systems lack the breadth and detail to enable these solutions to meaningfully impact productivity. We will be demonstrating this “better mouse trap” in an upcoming webinar on Wednesday, July 30th at 1 pm cst. If you would like to better understand this revolutionary new approach to data migration, please plan to attend. Click here to attend webinar "A New Approach To Data Migration For Enterprise Systems".