Fear of data migration is one of the biggest reasons banks and credit societies stay with a CBS vendor they're unhappy with for years longer than they should. The migration itself is usually far more manageable than institutions expect — as long as it's planned properly. Here's the checklist we walk every prospective client through before quoting a migration.
1. Full Data Inventory Before Anything Else
Before touching a single record, get a complete inventory of what needs to move: account masters, transaction history (and how many years back), loan schedules, member/share records, GL structure, standing instructions, and any custom reports your board or auditors rely on. Institutions that skip this step are the ones who discover missing data after go-live, not before.
2. Reconciliation Isn't Optional
Every migrated dataset should be reconciled against the source system before cutover — account-by-account balances, loan outstanding amounts, and GL totals should tie out exactly. A vendor who treats this as a "spot check a few accounts" exercise rather than a full reconciliation is underestimating the risk.
3. Insist on a Parallel Run
Run the new system alongside the old one for a defined period (commonly 2-4 weeks, depending on branch count) before fully cutting over. This surfaces discrepancies while the old system is still available as a source of truth — not after you've already switched off the old system.
4. Plan the Cutover Weekend Carefully
Most institutions cut over on a non-business day (a weekend or a declared holiday) to minimise transaction-in-flight risk. Confirm exactly what happens to transactions initiated right before the freeze — where they're recorded, and how they reconcile on the new system.
5. Staff Training Timing Matters
Training too early means staff forget details before go-live; training too late means they're learning live on production data. The right window is typically 1-2 weeks before go-live, with a quick refresher session on go-live day itself.
6. Have a Rollback Plan — Even If You Never Use It
Ask your new vendor explicitly: if something goes seriously wrong in the first 48 hours, what's the plan to fall back to the old system? A vendor who hasn't thought this through hasn't done enough migrations.
Questions to Ask Any Vendor Before Migration
- How many CBS migrations have you actually completed, and can we speak to a reference client who switched from a competitor?
- What's your reconciliation process, specifically — not just "we check the data"?
- What is the parallel-run duration, and who signs off before full cutover?
- What happens to historical transaction data older than the migration cutoff — is it archived and still accessible?
Migration risk is real, but it's manageable risk — not a reason to stay indefinitely with software that's holding your institution back.