THE CHALLENGE

Data Migration and Consolidation are often the most misunderstood and underestimated processes in any implementation. As businesses make strategic decisions about new application platforms, it is imperative that any change not cause disruption to the business.

A well articulated and well resourced data migration plan is critical to mitigating risk, preventing delays and avoiding disruptions. The need to migrate or consolidate data can also be driven by mergers and acquisitions. One of the biggest inhibitors to achieving economies of scale and cost savings in an M&A situation is integrating the two operations at the data level. This can often take several years and is probably the hardest part of the consolidation process. The sooner it can be completed, the quicker the merged entity can unlock shareholder value and comply with regulatory requirements as well.

Often, the migration and consolidation process is considered primarily an IT integration project rather than a strategic business consolidation. Our team approaches it from a business perspective and works very closely with the users to understand the blue print and fine tune the data to the new environment.

DATA CONSOLIDATION RISKS

With heightened media awareness, shareholder concerns and regulatory involvement, data migrations are subjected to intense scrutiny. It has become critical to simultaneously manage various transaction risks to realize projected savings and gain operational efficiencies in a merger. Understanding the accuracy of various sources of data (such as customers, inventory and vendors) is critical to successfully managing exposure.

OUR METHODOLOGY

We recognize that no two migrations are identical. So our 5-step methodology allows for maximum flexibility to meet each client's individual requirements. The various stages are:

• Assessment, planning and design

• Setup of staging server and database

• Data import, mapping, transformation and conversion

• Validation & testing

• Training & documentation

WHY UTOPIA?

Our success is largely attributed to our ability to deploy a unique mix of onsite and offsite specialists, migration tools, and a proven methodology. The team typically includes seasoned functional consultants and project managers who clearly articulate customer business objectives, layout a migration plan, and deliver a customized solution.

We are unique due to our experience in developing taxonomy structures and our vast in-house library of off-the-shelf data templates that facilitate rapid conversion of legacy data into "data load ready" formats.

THE DATA QUALITY ISSUE

One of the biggest challenges in a data migration project is typically the poor quality of legacy data. Incomplete, inaccurate, unstructured or duplicate data can derail an entire implementation.

Using tools and libraries of templates, Utopia's content specialists can handle the most difficult data cleansing projects as part of the end-to-end migration. Our specialists can profile, standardize, correct, enrich, de-duplicate and classify various types of enterprise data with great accuracy and consistency.

UTOPIA SUPPORT SERVICES

Feeling unsure of your ongoing data creation and effectiveness of data quality audits? Let Utopia arrange for ongoing maintenance and audit of your master data efforts. Our analysts and client services teams conduct monthly maintenance checks & periodic audits to provide you and your shareholders with detailed feedback and peace of mind.

PROJECT TIMELINES

Project Management is critical to complete a data migration or data quality initiative on time and within budget. Our Project Managers track and report progress to our clients on a weekly basis. A weekly calibration allows for corrective action sooner than later. A sample timeline is provided below:

SUMMARY

Utopia takes the stress out of your data migration, consolidation or governance efforts. Our implementation teams have the skills, tools and the know-how to accurately prepare, map, convert, clean, enrich and load your data for a swift and efficient migration. In addition, we deploy solutions to ensure that future data creation is consistent with your approved templates and business rules.

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