CASE STUDY
Assessment and planning is done to assess the current data state on the existing infrastructure and what is required to be migrated . Validation of the current data and quality of the data . How much of data is required to be migrated and the feasibility of around cost saving and improved scalability .
Data Mapping and preparation to identify the type of data required for the migration and how this maps to the modern cloud solution . Data cleansing exercises to eliminate duplicates and inaccuracies .
Migration options on which tools are selected to perform the migration such as template driven files , automated data flows such as ETL for the data transformation to the cloud solution .
Identifying any integration and third party applications required and selecting the appropriate integration medium used such as API , middleware applications and any automated workflows .
Once the above stages have been identified and agreed upon with the end user enterprise , the migration plan is executed . was conducted in various sessions to accommodate each members availability . The ALNET team provided further hand holding sessions as part of their user acceptance testing to assist the Reach for a Dream users process more confidently on the system to achieve the ultimate objectives .
Benefits , gains and IT maturity
Migration testing is performed with subsets of data especially in a financial application to run financial reporting to validate monthly and yearly balances and related master datasets based on pre migration and post migration comparisons for completeness .
Change management
According to ALNET ’ s Maharajh , change management is the most critical element when migrating to a cloud solution and must include stakeholder management during the early stages to build support and guidance to the team members and create the awareness and efficiencies by migrating to the modern cloud solution .
It is important to establish a well-structured customised role-based training plan that will allow the users to be engaged in a practical training environment based on the business processes .
Introduction of user acceptance training and testing is done to ensure that all processes are accommodated and addressing any issue that may be encountered and resolved accordingly . User satisfaction is the ultimate goal by creating a smooth and exciting journey to ensure that the user is well equipped during the go live stages .
ALNET provided role-based training for the Reach for a Dream team based on each team member ’ s processing responsibility on the system . The training
Sage Intacct has improved processing efficiencies across multiple areas for The Reach For A Dream Foundation . This was from processing donor invoices , tracking dream costs for dreamers at branch level and reducing the challenges around bank reconciliations . The pre-defined reports and dashboards provides real-time financial data overview on one screen with drill-downs , thus allowing visibility into financials to help make better , data-driven decisions .
The Foundation ’ s van Huyssteen says the system ’ s potential to provide near live information is a great advantage . This assists the business to analyse data and make meaningful business decisions .
Typically , an enterprise that has a clear objective on cloud technology adoption and its benefits such as scalability , cost-efficiency , flexibility are prepared for migration , indicates ALNET ’ s Maharajh .
Companies that foster a culture of innovation and technology adoption are generally more open to cloud technology and are more likely to succeed in migrating to a cloud financial solution .
Enterprises with strong leadership support for digital transformation , innovation and adoption of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are more geared towards cloud solutions , understanding the advantages and efficiencies that will streamline the operations with scalability and flexibility that it offers . p
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