IT migration without downtime: a 7-step plan

Moving email to Microsoft 365, migrating servers to the cloud or implementing a new ERP system – projects that often look technical but affect the business the most. A well-planned migration goes almost unnoticed; a poorly planned one can halt work for days. Here are the 7 steps we apply in our projects.

1. Inventory

List what you are actually migrating: systems, data, integrations, licences, users. The biggest surprises hide in undocumented integrations and “forgotten” scripts someone created long ago.

2. Goal and success criteria

Define why you are migrating and how you will know it succeeded: acceptable downtime, data loss threshold, performance, cost. Without this, decisions are hard to make when the project starts to stall.

3. Risk assessment

Assess what could go wrong and how it would affect the business. Pay particular attention to data protection (GDPR), access rights in the new environment and vendor dependency.

4. Migration strategy

All at once (“big bang”) or in stages? A phased migration is usually safer: first a pilot group, then everyone else. Plan the work outside peak hours and align it with the business calendar (month-end close, seasonality).

5. Test migration

Before the real migration, run a test with real data. Check data integrity, integrations and key user scenarios. This also tells you the real duration.

6. Rollback plan

Decide in advance when and how you will roll back if something fails. Have recent, verified backups and a clear decision point (“go / no-go”).

7. Communication and support

Users need to know what is changing, when and what to do. In the first days after the migration, provide extra support and collect feedback.

Why have an independent project manager?

The vendor is responsible for its part, but does not always see the full picture. An independent IT project manager represents your interests and controls deadlines, budget and quality. How it looks in practice – a case study of a real estate company’s IT infrastructure separation and migration. AuraGroup manages Microsoft 365, SharePoint, ERP and infrastructure projects and helps rescue stalled ones. More about IT projects and migrations or contact us.