It’s about time …Planning your Transition

Start With The End

Pick a date - When does the transition NEED to be completed by? Build a plan with all the steps and estimate the time for each step. Planning is an iterative process and will take a couple of passes to get things organized and estimated properly.

If your site is a typical HP 3000 site there are not a lot of spare resources on staff. Resources may be needed to do application systems reviews, build a framework for new application selection, manage the project, etc.

Resources need to be allocated for each step and responsibilities assigned (ex. people with the right skill set, machine time, disk space, money, etc.). Add vacations to the schedule, check on availability of outside resources, and look at other constraints. Now match the timeframe and the budget to make sure things still make sense.

Recruiting Your Team

To be successful, your migration team needs to include Senior Management and the best users from each functional area. They can do a great job on helping you test, to be sure that things are REALLY working properly and later train fellow members of their department on the new system. You need them on your team during the critical testing period on a dedicated basis – not part time or when available. For that reason the best users need to groom an understudy so they can be dedicated to the migration team when they are needed, without impacting the production in their department.

Management Considerations

So, why should your management expend any budget or focus on this transition?

There are 4 key areas the senior management team will want to consider.

• Risk Mitigation – How much does the risk profile change now that HP has stopped selling the product line? How does this risk increase when HP stops supporting the platform? Does your Senior Management team know this is coming? How do they feel about the risks?

• Fiscal Period Boundaries – All significant expenditures need to be budgeted. Any item over a discretionary level (typically $5,000) will need to be allocated. Building a transition plan will put the total estimated project cost on the table. Even if the execution may not be for years to come, there needs to be a project that is defined. Determine what needs to be done with the cost estimates, in termsof staffing and resources.

• Capital Cycles – Your organization has a usual period over which an asset is depreciated. If it is 3-5 years for computer servers and you just completed the first year, then a discussion with finance on why the "normal" server life is being changed needs to be scheduled.

• ROI – Senior Management teams are charged with the duty of getting a Return on Investment – innovating before you migrate establishes ROI. MB Foster has many ways to help you in this area.

Assess Risks

To assess the risks, you need to discover the issues beyond the day-to-day running of applications on the HP 3000. Key questions are:

1) Does the application match your business needs today and 3-5 years into the future?

2) What is the process to make changes and who makes them if required?

3) What is the process by which changes are tested, documented and put in production?

4) Are there multiple resources available to support/maintain this application?

5) Is the application documentation up to date? Source Code, Development Environment/Methods, Operations, User Docs, Daily, Month-end/Year-End process, etc?

6) What would it take to train a new user or technical person on the application?

7) What is the total cost of ownership for this application today?

8) Is the application scalable? If your business doubled, would the application be able to handle it without bottlenecks?

9) Is the application supportable over the 3-5 year timeframe?

10) What are the HR plans for the persons currently supporting the application? [Any promotions, transfers or retirements coming up in the 3-5 year timeframe?]

Smart Transitions are starting now!

Migrations typically take 18 to 24 months, larger ones (5+ applications) could be phased in over 3-4 years. The outside migration experts will be in short supply by 2010 (remember Y2K). The law of supply and demand says you should plan now to keep your costs down. Identify what it will take to do your migration, and contract for the resources you need early or pay the price by competing for the resources later.

MB Foster Can Lead Your Migration

MB Foster can lead your transition team to a successful migration. Being a Platinum Partner, you are assured that we have the experience and knowledge to help you build the plan, identify the potential solutions, work with you to select the best solution for your site and finally implement the solution, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

MB Foster will bring the right craftsmen and tools to bear at the right point in time, choosing the best resources for your situation. We are The Subject Matter Experts! Contact us at migration@mbfoster.com.

Need a quick estimation of the time needed for your migration? Try this project manager’s trick …

1) Take the worst case (time in months)

2) Add to the best case (time in months)

3) Add to the expected time x 4

4) Divide the sum by 6

The result will be a rough estimate of th time required to migrate your environment.

About MB Foster

MB Foster has the people who understand how to deliver applications and data that match your business needs. For more than thirty years we have been the trusted advisor to global customers ranging from local government to Global 100 enterprises. Our personalized service has proven time and again that we listen to your business needs, and then find the right service strategy to provide solutions that solve your business and information technology challenges today and into the future.

Whether it is a software product, migration project, data services, or project management, we make it easy for you to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time. We work with our customers to streamline their IT business operations to reduce costs, improve delivery, and grow revenues. Learn more at www.mbfoster.com.