ERP Migration Checklist: Complete Guide to Successful Data Migration

About Orderful

Orderful is a cloud-based EDI platform that keeps your supply chain running during ERP migrations. While other providers require months of re-mapping when you change ERPs, Orderful's API-first platform connects to any ERP in days. See how we simplify ERP-EDI integration or talk to our team about your migration.

If you're migrating to a new ERP system, you already know the stakes are high. Get it right and you modernize operations, eliminate technical debt, and position your business for growth. Get it wrong and you're looking at data loss, operational downtime, broken integrations, and strained trading partner relationships.

According to Gartner, approximately 40% of ERP implementations exceed their budgets due to data migration complications. Nearly 30% fail to deliver expected benefits because of data quality issues. The difference between success and failure usually comes down to planning and execution discipline.

This guide walks you through preparing for ERP migration, from initial planning through go-live, with special attention to protecting mission-critical integrations like EDI that keep your supply chain running.

What Is ERP Migration?

ERP migration is the process of moving your business's critical data, configurations, customizations, and workflows from your current ERP system to a new one. This might mean:

• Upgrading from an older version to the latest release of the same ERP
• Replacing a legacy on-premises system with a modern cloud-based ERP
• Switching from one ERP vendor to a completely different platform
• Consolidating multiple systems into one unified ERP

Regardless of the scenario, migration involves extracting data from source systems, cleaning and transforming it to fit the new system's requirements, loading it into the new environment, and thoroughly testing to ensure everything works correctly.

The goal is improving operational efficiency, ensuring data accuracy, and aligning your systems with your company's future needs without disrupting current operations.

Why ERP Migrations Fail (And How to Avoid It)

Before diving into the checklist, understand the common failure points:

1. Poor planning and unrealistic timelines. Teams underestimate complexity and set aggressive deadlines that force corners to be cut. Build realistic timelines with buffer for unexpected issues.
2. Data quality problems carried forward. Migrating dirty data means your new ERP starts life with the same problems that plagued your old system. Clean data before migrating, not after.
3. Inadequate testing. Skipping thorough testing to meet deadlines leads to discovering critical failures after go-live when they're exponentially more expensive to fix.
4. Overlooking integrations. EDI connections, API integrations to e-commerce platforms, and connections to warehouse management systems often break during migration, stalling operations.
5. Insufficient stakeholder involvement. When IT runs migration without operations, finance, and logistics input, requirements get missed and the new system doesn't serve actual business needs.
6. Lack of training. Even perfect data migration fails if users can't operate the new system effectively.

ERP Migration Checklist: Planning Phase

The planning phase determines whether your migration succeeds. Invest time here to avoid expensive problems later.

1. Define Clear Objectives and Requirements

Start by documenting why you're migrating and what success looks like. Work with executives and department heads to:

• List current pain points and roadblocks in existing workflows
• Define what perfect processes look like in the new system
• Establish measurable success criteria (cost savings, efficiency gains, error reduction)
• Document required capabilities vs. nice-to-have features
• Align migration goals with 3-5 year business strategy

Without clear objectives, you can't evaluate whether your migration succeeded or make good decisions when tradeoffs arise.

2. Assemble Your Migration Team

ERP migration affects every department. Build a cross-functional team including:

• Project lead with authority to make decisions and resolve conflicts
• IT representatives who understand current systems and technical requirements
• Finance stakeholders responsible for accounting data and reporting
• Operations/logistics who manage supply chain and fulfillment
• Data owners from each department who understand what their data means
• ERP vendor implementation partner to guide technical execution

Assign clear ownership for different data domains (customers, inventory, vendors, transactions). Shared accountability prevents critical areas from falling through cracks.

3. Audit Current Systems and Integration Points

Map your entire technology landscape:

• Primary ERP system including customizations, reports, and workflows
• Integrated systems like e-commerce platforms, CRM, WMS, EDI
• Data sources including spreadsheets, Access databases, paper records that supplement the ERP
• Automation triggers and scheduled processes that depend on ERP data
• Custom scripts and middleware that move data between systems

For EDI integrations specifically, document:

• Which trading partners you exchange documents with
• Document types (EDI 850 purchase orders, EDI 856 advance ship notices, EDI 810 invoices)
• Communication protocols (AS2, SFTP, VAN)
• Custom mapping configurations
• Transaction volumes and timing dependencies

This audit reveals dependencies that must be preserved or rebuilt.

4. Prioritize Mission-Critical Workflows

Not everything is equally important. Identify processes that absolutely cannot break:

• Purchase order processing with key customers
• Invoice generation and accounts receivable
• Inventory updates for fast-moving SKUs
• Payroll and employee data
• Regulatory compliance reporting

Rank trading partners and customers by revenue impact. Your top 20% likely generate 80% of revenue. Ensure their connections work flawlessly before worrying about smaller accounts.

For advice on prioritizing, this ERP migration primer offers a solid starting point.

5. Choose Your New ERP Platform Strategically

Evaluate ERP options based on:

Integration capabilities: Does it offer modern APIs for connecting to other systems? Avoid ERPs that force you back into legacy VAN-based EDI or brittle custom middleware.

Cloud vs. on-premises: Cloud ERPs eliminate hardware management, provide automatic updates, and scale easily. On-premises gives more control but requires significant IT resources.

Industry fit: ERPs optimized for your industry (manufacturing, retail, distribution) come with relevant workflows pre-configured.

Total cost of ownership: Factor in licensing, implementation services, training, ongoing support, and integration costs. "Cheaper" options often cost more long-term.

Vendor stability: You're trusting this company with mission-critical systems. Research their track record, customer retention, and financial health.

For EDI continuity, prioritize ERPs with API-first integration capabilities over those requiring custom mapping for every connection.

6. Build a Detailed Project Timeline

Create a realistic timeline with:

• Milestones for each major phase
• Dependencies between tasks (what must finish before something else can start)
• Resources required at each stage
• Buffer time for unexpected issues (plan for 20-30% contingency)
• Go/no-go decision points to evaluate progress

Typical ERP migrations take 6-18 months depending on complexity. Be skeptical of vendors promising faster timelines unless scope is very limited.

ERP Migration Checklist: Data Preparation Phase

Data quality determines whether your new ERP performs well or struggles with garbage-in, garbage-out problems.

7. Clean Your Data Before Migration

Audit existing data to identify:

• Duplicate records: Same customer entered multiple times with slight variations
• Outdated information: Closed accounts, discontinued products, former employees
• Incomplete records: Missing required fields like addresses, tax IDs, contact information
• Inconsistent formatting: Mixed date formats, abbreviations, naming conventions
• Legacy placeholders: Temporary workarounds that became permanent

Clean this now. Migrating dirty data means starting your new ERP with immediate data quality problems.

Put together a team representing each department to review and clean their data. Don't expect IT to know which customer records are duplicates or which SKUs are obsolete.

8. Map Fields Between Old and New Systems

Data mapping defines how information from your current ERP translates to the new system. This is tedious but critical work.

For each data type (customers, products, transactions), document:

• Source field names in current system
• Target field names in new system
• Transformation rules (combining fields, splitting data, format changes)
• Default values for new required fields that don't exist in old system
• Validation rules the new system enforces

Pay special attention to fields that feed EDI documents. If your EDI 850 purchase orders pull from specific ERP fields, ensure those mappings remain intact or get properly updated.

Use version control to track mapping changes. You'll iterate multiple times as you discover mismatches.

9. Establish Data Governance Standards

Set rules for ongoing data quality:

• Required fields that cannot be left blank
• Format standards for addresses, phone numbers, product codes
• Validation rules that block incomplete or incorrect entries
• Ownership assignments for who maintains each data domain
• Change control processes for modifying master data

Configure these rules in your new ERP from day one. Don't wait for bad data to accumulate before implementing controls.

10. Create Test Environments

Set up isolated environments for:

• Development: Where you configure and customize the new ERP
• Testing: Where you validate data migration and workflows
• Training: Where users practice without affecting real data
• Staging: Mirror of production for final validation before go-live

Never test directly in production. You need safe spaces to break things, learn, and iterate without business impact.

ERP Migration Checklist: Pilot Phase

The pilot phase is where you actually migrate data and test whether everything works.

11. Execute Initial Data Migration

Start with a subset of non-critical data to validate your migration process:

• Select a representative sample (one customer segment, one product category)
• Run extraction scripts to pull data from current system
• Apply transformation rules to format for new system
• Load data into test environment
• Validate against source to ensure accuracy

Document every step meticulously. You'll repeat this process multiple times as you refine it.

12. Validate Migrated Data Quality

Compare migrated data against source systems:

• Record counts match (no data lost)
• Key fields populated correctly
• Relationships preserved (customer orders link to correct customer records)
• Calculations accurate (inventory quantities, account balances)
• Historical data maintains integrity

Run test transactions through the new system to verify it behaves correctly with migrated data.

13. Test Critical Workflows End-to-End

Execute your most important business processes in the test environment:

• Create and process purchase orders
• Generate and send invoices
• Update inventory from shipments
• Run financial reports
• Process payroll

For EDI workflows specifically, test:

• Inbound purchase orders trigger correct ERP actions
• ERP generates outbound EDI documents with correct formatting
• Trading partner-specific requirements are met
• Real-time validation catches errors before sending
• Acknowledgments flow properly

Identify gaps between how workflows work in your old system versus new one. Some differences are improvements, others need configuration changes.

14. Fix Issues and Iterate

When testing reveals problems:

• Document each issue with reproduction steps
• Classify severity (blocking vs. minor)
• Assign ownership for resolution
• Retest after fixes
• Update migration procedures to prevent recurrence

Expect to find issues. That's why you're testing. The pilot phase is specifically designed to surface problems when they're cheap to fix.

15. Run Parallel Testing

Once initial testing succeeds, run old and new systems in parallel:

• Enter same transactions in both systems
• Compare outputs to ensure consistency
• Have actual users work in both environments
• Validate reports match between systems

Parallel testing builds confidence the new system handles real workloads correctly. It also gives users time to adapt while the old system remains available as fallback.

ERP Migration Checklist: Cutover and Go-Live Phase

Cutover is the moment you switch from old to new. Careful execution minimizes disruption.

16. Communicate Timeline and Expectations

Notify all stakeholders well in advance:

• Internal teams: Prepare for system downtime, training schedules, new workflows
• Trading partners: EDI connections may be briefly disrupted, alternative contact methods during transition
• Customers: Potential delays in order processing or invoicing
• Vendors: Payment timing might shift during cutover

Set realistic expectations. Underpromising and overdelivering is better than missed commitments.

17. Complete Final Data Migration

During the cutover window:

• Freeze current system: Stop all users from making changes
• Create final backup: Preserve complete current state for rollback if needed
• Execute full data migration: Run all extraction, transformation, and loading procedures
• Validate data completeness: Verify everything migrated successfully
• Restore integrations: Reconnect EDI, e-commerce, WMS, and other integrated systems
• Run smoke tests: Quick validation of critical functionality

Plan this for a low-activity period (weekend, holiday) to minimize business impact.

18. Activate Users and Provide Support

Once the new system is live:

• Grant access: Provide logins and permissions to all users
• Conduct final training: Refresh key processes right before go-live
• Staff help desk: Have extra support available for questions
• Monitor closely: Watch for transaction failures, slow performance, user confusion

For EDI specifically, monitor transactions in real-time after cutover to detect:

• Failed messages or acknowledgments
• Format mismatches causing rejections
• Latency issues delaying order processing
• Partner-specific compliance problems

Early detection prevents minor issues from snowballing.

19. Implement Phased Rollout (When Possible)

Instead of switching everything at once, consider phased approach:

• Migrate one business unit or product line first
• Validate success before expanding to others
• Learn from early phases to improve later ones
• Reduce risk of company-wide disruption

This works well for multi-location businesses or companies with distinct product divisions.

20. Plan for Post-Migration Support

The first 30-90 days after go-live require extra attention:

• Daily standups: Quick team check-ins to surface issues
• Issue tracking: Log and prioritize problems systematically
• Performance monitoring: Watch system speed, error rates, transaction volumes
• User feedback: Collect input on confusing workflows or missing functionality
• Continuous improvement: Iteratively refine configurations based on real usage

Don't dismantle your migration team immediately after cutover. Keep them engaged through the stabilization period.

Protecting EDI During ERP Migration: Orderful's Approach

EDI integration represents one of the highest-risk areas during ERP migration. Traditional EDI requires custom mapping between your specific ERP configuration and each trading partner's requirements. Change ERPs and you rebuild those mappings from scratch, a process that typically takes months.

Orderful's API-first platform approaches this differently:

• Single integration for all partners: Connect your new ERP to Orderful once. We handle partner-specific formatting, protocols, and requirements automatically.
• Reusable connections: Your trading partner connections don't depend on your specific ERP. Switch ERPs and your partner network comes with you.
• Real-time validation: We catch formatting errors and compliance issues before documents reach partners, preventing chargebacks during your migration transition period.
• Parallel operation during migration: Keep your old ERP connected to Orderful while testing the new one. Switch cutover seamlessly when ready.
• Fast re-onboarding: Most ERP-EDI reconnections complete in days, not months, reducing migration risk and accelerating ROI from your new system.

Companies using Orderful during ERP migrations maintain uninterrupted trading partner connections while competitors struggle with months of EDI re-implementation.

Common ERP Migration Pitfalls to Avoid

Underestimating Timeline and Complexity

ERP migration is more complex than moving data from Point A to Point B. Factor in data cleanup, custom workflow recreation, integration rebuilding, testing, training, and stabilization. Aggressive timelines force teams to skip critical steps.

Treating Migration as Only an IT Project

ERP affects every department. When IT drives migration without deep operations, finance, and logistics involvement, the new system doesn't meet actual business needs. Build a truly cross-functional team.

Ignoring Change Management and Training

Technical success means nothing if users can't or won't adopt the new system. Invest in change management, communication, and hands-on training. Include external partners who access your ERP if applicable.

Failing to Plan for Integration Complexity

Systems of record migrations involve dependencies across finance, logistics, and customer management. EDI systems expect specific field formats and document standards. Map these dependencies thoroughly and test extensively.

Cutting Corners on Data Quality

"We'll clean it up after migration" never happens. Clean data before migrating. Your new ERP's performance directly reflects input data quality.

Make ERP Migration a Strategic Advantage

ERP migration is an opportunity to modernize your technology infrastructure, eliminate technical debt, and improve how you connect with partners and customers. With proper planning, disciplined execution, and attention to critical integrations, you emerge with faster, more flexible systems positioned for growth.

Orderful's EDI platform simplifies the integration complexity that derails many ERP migrations. From real-time monitoring to reusable partner connections and API-first architecture, we help you modernize ERP and EDI simultaneously.

Speak with an EDI expert today to discover how Orderful protects your supply chain during ERP migration.

ERP Migration FAQ

How long does ERP migration take?

ERP migration typically takes 6-18 months depending on company size, data complexity, number of customizations, and integration requirements. Small businesses with straightforward needs might complete migration in 3-6 months. Large enterprises with multiple locations and complex workflows often require 18-24 months. Phased rollouts reduce risk but extend overall timelines.

How much does ERP migration cost?

ERP migration costs vary widely from $50,000 for small businesses to $1 million+ for large enterprises. Costs include software licensing, implementation services, data migration, custom development, training, and temporary productivity loss. Hidden costs often include integration rebuilding and extended support during stabilization. Budget 20-30% contingency for unexpected issues.

What data should be migrated to a new ERP?

Migrate customer records, vendor information, active products/SKUs, current inventory levels, open orders and invoices, account balances, employee data, and recent transaction history (typically 1-3 years). Archive but don't migrate: closed accounts, discontinued products, outdated records, and transactions older than needed for reporting. Clean data before migrating to avoid carrying forward quality problems.

How do you test ERP migration?

Test ERP migration through: pilot migration with non-critical data subset, end-to-end workflow testing of business processes, parallel testing comparing old and new system outputs, integration testing with connected systems, user acceptance testing with actual staff, and performance testing under realistic load. Test iteratively, fixing issues between cycles. Never skip testing to meet deadlines.

What happens to EDI during ERP migration?

Traditional EDI requires custom mapping between your ERP and each partner's requirements. Changing ERPs means rebuilding these mappings, typically taking 3-6 months. Modern platforms like Orderful use API-first architecture where your ERP connects once and partner-specific formatting happens automatically, reducing ERP-EDI migration time to days instead of months.

Can you migrate ERP without disrupting operations?

Complete disruption-free migration is impossible, but you can minimize impact through phased rollouts, parallel testing before cutover, careful timing of go-live during low-activity periods, comprehensive user training before launch, and maintaining strong support during initial weeks. Most businesses experience 1-3 days of reduced productivity during cutover plus 2-4 weeks of adjustment period.

What are the biggest risks in ERP migration?

Biggest ERP migration risks include: data loss or corruption during transfer, broken integrations with e-commerce, EDI, or warehouse systems, inadequate user training causing adoption failure, underestimated timeline and budget, poor data quality migrated forward, and disrupted trading partner relationships. Mitigation requires thorough planning, extensive testing, strong project management, and realistic timelines with contingency.

How do you clean data before ERP migration?

Clean ERP data by: auditing all records to identify duplicates, outdated information, and incomplete entries, standardizing formats for addresses, product codes, and naming conventions, removing obsolete customers, vendors, and discontinued SKUs, validating and correcting critical fields, establishing data governance rules for ongoing quality, and involving department stakeholders who understand what data means. Start data cleanup 6+ months before migration.