Preparing to Migrate to NetSuite

Owned by Nicola Gabancho (Unlicensed)
May 27, 2016
3 min read

The process of migrating to NetSuite can be complex and often disruptive to an organization. Advanced and thorough preparation for a systems migration is critical for success and to help ensure adoption by staff. This document was created to help NetSuite.org grantees prepare both operationally and technically for a migration to the NetSuite platform.

Prepare your Staff and Assemble Your Team: 1 – 2 weeks

When migrating from one or more systems to NetSuite, it is important to communicate clearly and frequently with your entire staff so they understand the process and potential for impact on their schedules or work both during and after the implementation.

In the start-up phase, you will also want to assemble your migration team, typically consisting of department leads and external resources, which could include an implementation partner. To prepare:

  • List everyone in the organization who uses the data that is being migrated
  • Identify how the data is being used by each individual, whether input, output or both
  • List the crucial reports, particularly custom reports, each individual must have
  • Identify the roles each staff member will play, if any, in the implementation
  • Identify the role the department leads play in the migration
    • Advisory Only – someone who contributes feedback, recommendation and ideas but is not directly involved in the implementation
    • Advisory and technical – someone who contributes ideas and recommendations and also assists with technical elements such as data preparation and import
    • Technical Only – someone with technical skills such as data analysis and management
  • Identify the technical requirements specifically
    • Data export
    • Data formatting and preparation (advanced Excel)
    • Form customization – potentially HTML 
  • Identify the amount of time the department leads are expected to dedicate to the migration
  • Determine the availability of department leads; how many hours per week can they dedicate?
  • List the external resources such as accountants, data entry clerks and contractors who will be affected and their availability.
  • Describe the role these external resources will play in the migration
  • Identify and communicate all information collected as part of this process with your NetSuite implementation partner, professional services lead or other implementation consultant if you are using one

Create a Project Plan: 1 week

With your team assembled, you’ll want to create a Project Plan that details the primary elements of the migration, including:

  • All team members and the expectations around their roles on the project
  • All Systems being migrated
  • All Sources of data to migrate (from systems and spreadsheets)
  • Customizations needed
  • Communication schedule
    • This should be a schedule of recurring meetings with your implementation partner individually and department heads as needed
  • Timeline
    • Developed in conjunction with your implementation partner if you have one
    • Target go-live date or dates if staggered
      • Kick-off date
      • Data sources, data export plan and time required to migrate
      • Customizations required
    • User testing (having the project team test all expected workflows prior to going live)
    • Staff training schedule
    • Go live
    • Post go-live support
    • Follow-on training

User Testing

User testing is an important part of the migration. In the case of testing a new system like NetSuite, the objectives are to ensure that the critical elements of the software are functioning and that the desired results can be achieved. User testing can also expose the need for additional training or customizations. In brief, user testing ensures that:

  • All users have access to the functions they need to complete their job
  • Users do not have access to sensitive data, processes or other functions that are not in compliance with the organization’s separation-of-duties policies
  • Users can complete their required tasks using the forms, reports and other features provided
  • The user interface is intuitive
  • Normal use of the system produces necessary results, particularly reporting and other outputs required
  • Normal use of the system does not produce undesirable results

This Project Plan is also where details of your NetSuite account configurations, preferences, features and customizations can be documented. Allow time post-go live for any needed changes – keep a log of hurdles or missed requirements during the process.

Create a Migration Plan: 1 – 4 weeks

The Migration Plan details the roles and responsibilities of the internal and external resources and identifies the requirements and timeline involved for each application or data source to be migrated. These may include:

  • Financials
    • Chart of Accounts and changes to be made if any
    • Reporting dimension structure in NetSuite
    • Customer records
    • Vendor records
    • Item records
    • Setting up open balances
  • eCommerce
  • Marketing
  • CRM (including customers, donors, constituents, patients etc.)
  • Inventory
  • Retail/Point-of-Sale
  • Event Management
  • Payroll
  • Volunteer Management
  • Grant Management
  • Fund Raising

Execute the Plan – 12+ weeks

The total time required to migrate to NetSuite depends on many things, chiefly the number of applications and business functions being migrated, the variety of data sources and the number of internal and external resources required for and impacted by the implementation. With proper planning, a well- organized team and excellent communication, your migration to NetSuite will be a success.