Successful file conversions
There are 200 to 500 tables and files in a full-function OMS, so you need to allow enough time for file conversions.
The overarching concerns for successful file conversion include:
- Deciding what files should be converted via programming vs. building tables and files manually. You can’t generally afford to program convert many files, but you should convert your customer, item and order files. What effort is involved and at what cost?
- Who will build the hundreds of other tables and files required for the new system and how? These include warehouse bin location schema; vendor file and associated purchase orders; back orders; offer and source code files; shipping and processing tables; chart of accounts, and so on.
Another way to look at these activities is that early introduction to the required files and functionality starts laying the groundwork for procedures and responsibilities that are required by the project team. - What history should you convert? Initially businesses want years of history, but what is realistic and at what cost?
- During the conversion, assess the quality of the conversion in terms of the number of records and the accuracy of the data converted. Spend sufficient time to specify, program and test the conversion programs.
- Consider your plan for cutting over to new system and file conversion of the most recent files and databases. How will you manage this so that your files and databases on the new system are current at the go-live time? How much time will be required to convert files?
For larger businesses, will there be elapsed time to make the conversions from the last day on the old system and bring up the new system?