Step 1: Start With Pre-Migration Data Readiness, Not Extraction

Before moving data, you should understand what you are working with- your data quality and structure. Every ERP stores data differently. Mapping how customers, items, inventory, pricing, and transactions are structured in the current system helps avoid surprises later. This step is about understanding how today’s data will translate into your new ERP structure, not assuming it will fit cleanly by default.

This includes:

• • • Reviewing inventory, customer, vendor, pricing, and financial data
    • Identifying duplicates, inactive records, and inconsistencies
    • Clarifying units of measure, conversions, and valuation methods
    • Determining which data is operationally necessary and which should remain archived

Doing this tells you which data deserves to be migrated and surfaces risk early. The goal should be to move the right data. This initiative doesn’t have to be led by one person. This is shared ownership.

Step 2: Assign Clear Data Ownership

Each data area needs an owner. Pabian Partners assigns clear ownership across teams:

• • • Warehouse teams validate inventory structure and quantities
    • Purchasing reviews vendor and item data
    • Sales validates customer records and pricing logic
    • Finance confirms balances and valuation rules

Ownership creates accountability. This ensures that data is reviewed by the people who rely on it daily, not just by those importing it.

Step 3: Data Cleansing Before Data Migration

ERP migration is not the time to carry forward bad habits. Correct known errors, remove duplicates, standardize naming conventions, and fill in missing fields that will be required in the new system. Clean data going in reduces downstream corrections and builds early confidence in ERP.

ERP does not fix bad data. It amplifies it. Next, archive what you don’t need like historical or inactive data often adds complexity without adding value. Decide early which records should be archived instead of migrated. This keeps the system lighter, testing faster, and users more focused.

Step 4: Define a Limited and Intentional Migration Scope

Data migration scope is intentionally limited in early phases. Decide whether data will be migrated in phases or all at once (big bang vs phased ERP rollout). For most distributors, phased migration reduces risk by allowing teams to validate data in smaller, more manageable batches before expanding scope.

Typical focus areas include:

• • • Active SKUs and on-hand inventory
    • Open sales orders and purchase orders
    • Current customer and vendor records
    • Pricing that is actively in use

Select migration tools that work with both the existing ERP and the new ERP. Automation helps reduce manual errors, but tools are only effective when the underlying data is clean and well understood.

Step 5. Define Clear Data Mapping

Every data element must have a clear destination in the new ERP.

Customers, items, inventory, pricing, and financial balances should be mapped intentionally so nothing critical is lost or misrepresented. If a data field does not have a clear purpose in the new system, it likely does not need to be migrated.

If the ERP’s standard configuration does not support the required business process, customization may be appropriate. The goal is to support operations, not to replicate old system behavior without question.

Good data mapping enables better workflows. Poor mapping recreates old problems in a new system.

Step 6: Set Up a Testing Environment

Migration should never be tested in production. A dedicated testing environment allows teams to run migrations, validate data, and execute real workflows without risking live operations.

Step 7: Run Multiple Test Migrations Using Real Scenarios

One test migration is not enough. Pabian Partners runs multiple test migrations and validates them using real operational scenarios:

• • • Orders are entered, picked, shipped, and invoiced
    • Inventory is received, transferred, and adjusted
    • Pricing and discounts are validated against real customers
    • Financial balances are reviewed for accuracy

Issues are corrected at the source before the next test migration, not patched after go-live.

Step 8: Go-Live and Stabilization Matter as Much as Migration

We treat Go-live as a controlled transition and not the finish line.

The weeks after go-live are when:

• • • Inventory settles
    • Pricing issues surface
    • Adjustments are made
    • Teams gain confidence

Our active support during stabilization continues to prevent workarounds from becoming permanent habits.

We created a downloadable checklist for you to use as an internal prep guide for your ERP project. This is written for ops, warehouse, and finance teams, not IT alone.