Blog Post

What Data Should We Migrate When Implementing HR

Published on

March 5, 2019

Brandi Clymer

Published on

March 5, 2019

Brandi Clymer

The value of converting historical data during a system migration is always an emotionally charged discussion.  We have successfully converted hundreds of clients over the years to Sage 100 Payroll, Scissortail HCM, Sage Abra, and Sage HRMS and we understand the issues surrounding the value of data.  Regardless of the system you are moving to, the following information should be considered.

When it comes to migrating data, HR data is trickier than payroll data. It is easy to say "I want it all migrated," but you have to consider how clean the data is and how much you access it. HR data tends to include more information that is harder to limit, where with payroll data you are looking at transactional data for a date range to bring into the new system, HR migrations, much like PR data migrations will need clean, concise, and only the most important data your organization needs. Here are some items to consider when determining what data to migrate:

  • Do I need to bring over my terminated employees for previous years?
  • Is my demographic & emergency contact information up to date? If you have an Employee Self Service system, could I have my employees review their data and update where needed?
  • How much job change and pay change history should I bring into the new system? One year, 2, 3 or all?
  • How much benefit and dependent history should I bring into the new system? Just current elections?
  • How much training and certification history do I need to bring into the new system? Just the last 12 months?
  • How clean is my data? Will my data be migrated multiple times? If so, I should clean it up in my old system before I move to the new system.
  • Talk to all the stakeholders of the HR data and determine what data needs to be migrated to the new system and what you can leave behind. Will you be able to access your old system after migration? Should you extract that data to Excel, SQL, PDF Reports, or Access for historical lookups?
  • Anywhere you are changing codes (job, benefits, training, etc.) you will need a cross-reference from the old system to the new.
  • What attachments do I need to migrate? How many?
  • Do I need to migrate performance reviews? Are they attachments or separate documents? How many years?

Data migration is a time to look hard at your data and what you need to move forward with a new system. You don't want to bring in any 'trash' or incorrect data into the new system, but bring the right clean data that you need to get your job done.

Do you know how to export the data you're looking for? If not, we have created a long list of helpful resources and videos on how to use multiple HR softwares, to get you through the process easily and efficiently. Need more help with your Sage or Scissortail HCM softwares? Give us a call and get a real person on the phone when you need help with any future data migrations. Call us at (877) 496-1600.

Photo by Damian Zaleski on Unsplash

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