Migrating Enterprise Content to a Cloud Platform: Strategies, Challenges, and Solutions

Why Migrate Enterprise Content

Enterprise content used for customer communications serves as the lifeblood of modern enterprises, driving success, efficiency, and workflow across industries in an increasingly digital business landscape. These enterprise communications form the backbone of business operations, from transactional documents like invoices and statements to crucial correspondence like insurance policies and legal notices. Over the years, various approaches and technologies have been developed to store, archive, and manage this enterprise content, ranging from simple paper-based filing systems and legacy mainframe systems to advanced enterprise document management systems (EDMS), and cloud-native enterprise content management (ECM) platforms.

As organizations seek to embrace digital transformation by leveraging advancements in EDMS and ECM platforms, they need to look beyond mere storage and archival of legacy mainframe and enterprise content. They need to migrate their legacy archives of enterprise content used for customer communications.

Traditional customer communication archives are trapped in outdated ECM archives and EDMS systems. They are vulnerable to security breaches, fragmented across silos, and incapable of scaling effectively, making them hinder collaboration across lines of business, stifling innovation, and draining resources.  Modern cloud native enterprise document management systems offer a compelling alternative, delivering a robust and future-proof platform for managing customer communications and interactions.

Cloud platforms prioritize security with continuous updates, safeguarding sensitive data from cyber threats prevalent in end-of-life (EOL) legacy systems.  By migrating document storage of customer communications to a cloud platform, the siloed information becomes readily accessible, streamlining workflows and empowering access to a single source of truth. They also eliminate costly hardware upgrades, cumbersome systems integrations, and expensive software customizations. ECM and EDMS using cloud platforms scale effortlessly, adapting to evolving business needs while eliminating the burden of infrastructure investment.

Migrating legacy mainframe, EDMS, and ECM systems to modern cloud platforms enables enterprises to obtain a significant financial advantage by eliminating high maintenance fees, expensive customizations, and ongoing professional services associated with maintaining legacy systems.  It also effectively prepares organizations for the inevitable EOL letter.

The goal is to become more agile, responsive, and effective in managing and utilizing these valuable information assets. Next-generation approaches to migrating enterprise content used for customer communications enable organizations to take a giant leap forward in business digitization, provide customers with preferred digital experiences, increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, and integrate legacy enterprise content into modern cloud-native systems for enhanced business value.

Common Challenges Migrating Enterprise Content

Technical Challenges

Migrating large volumes of enterprise content used for customer communications from legacy mainframe, document management, and ECM systems to modern cloud platforms comes with its own set of technical challenges. One of the primary hurdles is the time-consuming and error-prone nature of migrating massive datasets. Organizations often face difficulties in extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) data from disparate sources and formats into a unified, compatible structure for the new system.

Another technical challenge is converting various print streams, such as AFP, PostScript, PCL, and Xerox DJDE/Metacode, into online-ready formats like PDF, accessible PDF, and HTML. This conversion process is crucial for ensuring the accessibility, readability, and usability of migrated enterprise content used for customer communication documents in the new system.

Regulatory and Compliance Challenges

Enterprise Content migrations of customer communication documents also bring forth regulatory and compliance challenges that organizations must address. Meeting enterprise-level tracking and audit requirements is critical to the migration process. Organizations must ensure that every document is accounted for, tracked, and auditable throughout the migration journey to maintain data integrity and comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

Furthermore, data privacy and security concerns are paramount during enterprise content  migrations. Sensitive customer data and information must be protected against unauthorized access, breaches, and misuse. Organizations must implement robust security measures, such as encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention mechanisms, to safeguard customer data throughout the migration process and in the new system.

Enterprise Content Migration Strategies

Bulk Migration

A bulk migration strategy involves migrating all archived enterprise content and customer communications from the legacy mainframe, document management, or ECM system to the new cloud platform in one, comprehensive move. This approach is suitable when organizations aim to decommission the legacy system quickly and realize immediate benefits from the new system.

Benefits of bulk migration include:

• Faster transition to the new cloud platform
• Reduced complexity and maintenance of multiple systems
• Immediate access to all historical data in the new system

However, bulk migration also requires careful planning and execution to ensure data integrity, compatibility, and performance in the new system.

Parallel Migration

In a parallel migration strategy, organizations run the legacy mainframe, EMDS, or ECM system and the new cloud platform simultaneously for a period of time. Documents are migrated on-demand, typically when they are accessed or modified in the legacy system. This approach allows for a gradual transition and minimizes disruption to ongoing business processes.

Advantages of parallel migration include:

• Reduced risk of data loss or incompatibility issues
• Ability to validate and fine-tune the new system incrementally
• Smooth transition for end-users and integration points

However, parallel migration may require additional resources and effort to maintain and synchronize both systems during the migration period.

Hybrid Migration

A hybrid migration strategy combines elements of bulk and parallel migrations. It involves migrating a subset of recent or frequently accessed data to the new cloud platform in bulk while keeping older or less critical content in the legacy system. Users gradually transition to the new system, and older content is moved as needed.

Benefits of hybrid migration include:

• Faster access to critical data in the new system
• Reduced impact on business operations during the transition
• Flexibility to prioritize and phase the migration based on business needs

The hybrid approach allows organizations to balance migration speed with business continuity and risk mitigation.

Phased Migration

In a phased migration strategy, organizations set up day-forward archiving in the new cloud platform while leaving older documents in the legacy system until they expire or meet predefined criteria for migration. This approach enables a gradual and controlled transition to the new platform.

Advantages of phased migration include:

• Minimized risk and impact on existing processes
• Ability to validate and optimize the new system incrementally
• Reduced upfront migration costs and efforts

However, phased migration may require longer coexistence of legacy systems and the new cloud platform, and users may need to access multiple systems during the transition period.

Key Considerations for Successful Enterprise Content Migration

Scoping and Discovery

Assessing Document Formats

Before embarking on an enterprise content migration consisting of legacy customer communications, it is crucial to assess the types of data, documents, files, and reports residing in the current archive. This assessment involves identifying the various formats, such as print files (AFP, PostScript, PCL, and Xerox DJDE/Metacode), legacy data structures, and other enterprise content types. Understanding the scope and complexity of the existing archive helps in planning the migration effort effectively.

Key questions to consider during the assessment phase include:

• What types of data, documents, files, and reports are stored in the current archive?
• Are they all print files, or are there other formats like legacy data structures or unstructured content?
• What specific print file formats (AFP, PostScript, PCL, Xerox Metacode, PDF) are used?
• Are there any proprietary or custom formats that require special handling?

Mapping Document Types

Mapping document types involves classifying different varieties of documents based on their purpose, retention requirements, and criticality. This classification helps determine the appropriate migration strategies and prioritize the content for migration.

Steps to map document types include:

1. Identify each document type in the legacy system (e.g., statements, invoices, contracts, reports)
2. Assign a level of importance to each document type (e.g., high, medium, low)
3. Determine the retention requirements for each document type based on legal and regulatory obligations
4. Establish strategies for handling outliers and legacy formats
5. Anticipate future needs for analytics, integration, and process optimization

Sizing the Migration Effort

Targeting the Content

Not all enterprise content in the legacy system may need to be migrated to the new cloud platform. Organizations should make strategic decisions about what content to retain, archive, or eliminate based on its relevance, value, and regulatory requirements.

Factors to consider when targeting enterprise content for migration include:

• Age and relevance of the content
• Frequency of access and use
• Legal and regulatory retention requirements
• Historical value and potential for future analytics
• Storage costs and performance implications

By carefully selecting the enterprise content to migrate, organizations can optimize storage utilization, reduce migration efforts, and ensure a lean and efficient new cloud-native archiving platform.

Estimating Time Requirements

Estimating the time required for migrating enterprise content is crucial for planning and resource allocation. The migration process is typically I/O intensive and requires significant computing power, temporary storage, and throughput.

Factors influencing the time requirements include:

• Volume and complexity of the content to be migrated
• Available computing resources and network bandwidth
• Extraction and transformation processes involved
• Data validation and quality assurance steps
• Parallel processing capabilities and limitations

Organizations should perform a thorough sizing analysis, considering peak loads and potential bottlenecks, to estimate the time requirements accurately. It is also essential to factor in the available maintenance windows and business-critical processes to minimize disruption during the migration.

Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL)

Extracting Data from Source Systems

Extracting data from the legacy mainframe, document management, and ECM system is a critical step in the migration process. The extraction methods depend on the source system and the available tools and APIs.

Common extraction approaches include:

• Native export utilities provided by the source system
• Custom-developed scripts or programs to extract data
• Third-party migration tools with pre-built connectors
• API-based extraction for real-time or incremental migrations

Organizations should evaluate the available options and select the most appropriate extraction method based on the source system, data volume, and migration requirements.

Transforming Documents for the New Cloud Archive

Transforming documents involves converting the extracted data into a format compatible with the new cloud platform. This transformation process may include:

• Converting print streams (AFP, PostScript, PCL, Xerox Metacode) to standard formats like PDF or HTML
• Extracting metadata and indexing information for efficient search and retrieval
• Applying data validation and cleansing rules to ensure data quality
• Restructuring data to align with the new system’s data model and taxonomy

The transformation process should consider the target system’s requirements, such as document fidelity, accessibility, and integration with other systems.

Loading and Validating the New Archive

Loading the transformed data to the new cloud storage system is the last step in the migration process. The loading approach depends on the target system’s capabilities and the volume of data to be loaded.

Common loading methods include:

• Bulk loading through import utilities or scripts
• API-based loading for real-time or incremental migrations
• Staged loading to manage large volumes of data

After loading, it is essential to validate the migrated data to ensure its accuracy, completeness, and integrity. Validation steps may include:

• Comparing record counts and checksums between the source and target systems
• Verifying metadata and indexing accuracy
• Testing search and retrieval functionality
• Conducting user acceptance testing to ensure data accessibility and usability

Governance and Compliance Considerations

Information Governance Policies

Migrating enterprise content consisting of legacy customer communications provides an opportunity to align the new cloud platform with the organization’s overall information governance framework. Information governance policies should guide the migration process to ensure compliance, risk management, and data integrity.

Key considerations for information governance during migration include:

• Data retention and disposition policies
• Access controls and user permissions
• Data privacy and security requirements
• Legal hold and eDiscovery processes
• Audit trails and reporting

Organizations should involve relevant stakeholders, such as legal, compliance, and IT teams, to define and implement appropriate information governance policies for the migrated data.

Records Management and Disposition

Effective records management is crucial for maintaining the integrity and compliance of the migrated data. Organizations should establish clear policies and procedures for managing records throughout their lifecycle, from creation to disposition.

Key aspects of records management in the context of migrating customer communications include:

• Defining record retention schedules based on legal and regulatory requirements
• Implementing automated retention policies and disposition workflows
• Ensuring proper classification and tagging of records
• Establishing audit trails and reporting mechanisms
• Regularly reviewing and updating retention policies to meet changing requirements

By implementing robust records management practices, organizations can reduce data bloat, mitigate legal and compliance risks, and ensure the ongoing value and usability of the migrated data.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of migrating enterprise content in legacy mainframe, document management, and ECM system archives?

• Improved accessibility and usability of historical data
• Reduced maintenance costs and complexity of legacy systems
• Enhanced search and retrieval capabilities
• Increased compliance and data governance
• Enablement of digital transformation initiatives

How long does a typical enterprise content migration project take?

The duration of migrating enterprise content that is legacy customer communications in mainframe, document management, and enterprise content management systems can vary depending on the size, complexity, and scope of the data to be migrated. Factors such as data volume, source and target systems, transformation requirements, and resource availability influence the timeline. A typical migration project can range from a few weeks to several months.

Can all types of legacy documents be migrated to modern cloud platforms?

Yes, most types of legacy documents can be migrated to modern cloud platforms. Crawford Technologies’ migration solutions support a wide range of source formats, including print streams (AFP, Xerox Metacode, PCL, PostScript), PDF, and other proprietary formats. The migration process involves extracting, transforming, and loading the documents into the target system while ensuring data integrity and fidelity.

How does Crawford Technologies ensure data security during the migration process?

Crawford Technologies follows stringent security protocols and best practices to protect data throughout the migration process. This includes secure data transfer mechanisms, encryption of data at rest and in transit, access controls, and auditing. Crawford Technologies works closely with the organization’s security team to align with their security policies and requirements.

What are the cost implications of an enterprise content migration consisting of customer communications?

The cost of migrating enterprise content from legacy mainframe, EDMS, and ECM systems depends on several factors, such as the volume of data, complexity of the source and target systems, transformation requirements, and professional services involved. Crawford Technologies provides customized pricing based on the specific needs and scope of the migration project. The long-term benefits of migrating to a modern cloud platform, such as reduced maintenance costs, improved efficiency, and enhanced compliance, often outweigh the initial migration costs.

Conclusion

Migrating enterprise content with legacy customer communications from mainframe, document management, and ECM systems to a modern cloud platform is a complex undertaking that requires careful planning, strategic execution, and the right expertise. By understanding the common challenges, exploring different migration strategies, and considering key factors such as scoping, data extraction, transformation, and governance, organizations can ensure a successful and efficient migration process.

Crawford Technologies’ STEP migration methodology provides a proven framework for navigating the complexities of migrating enterprise content from legacy mainframe, document management, and ECM systems. With extensive experience migrating a wide range of legacy document formats and systems, Crawford Technologies offers the tools, expertise, and best practices to help organizations achieve their migration goals while minimizing risks and disruptions.

If you are considering migrating your enterprise content with legacy customer communications in mainframe, EDMS, and ECM systems to a modern cloud platform, Crawford Technologies is here to help. Our team of experts can provide personalized guidance, assess your specific requirements, and develop a tailored migration strategy that aligns with your business objectives.

Don’t let legacy mainframe, document management, and ECM systems hold you back from realizing the full potential of your customer communication assets. Contact Crawford Technologies today to learn more about our STEP migration solution and take the first step towards a successful and transformative migration journey.