"If the IT department sits with them as they, say, print back invoices or enter purchase orders, they'll see what the end users are actually using, what they're ignoring, and what they need."
@cparizo: I agree. And for this purpose, most companies have their own IT team collect requirements first from the users and then allow the external consultants to gather requirements so that the IT has a fair idea of what the system is supossed to do and they can guide the external team accordingly.
"How long will that take for everyone to become comfortable? Who knows?"
@kq4ym: I think the critical issue with automating data transfers from legacy systems is accuracy. If that's not compromised, users will be okay with it. Because they don't have to directly interact with the system related to data migration, I don't think they need to be comfortable with it.
I am of the mind that a business unit-by-business unit method of transforming an app from local to the cloud is the best way to go. The whole "big bang" or "go live" concept just doesn't gel with me. I know that a lot of cloud vendors advocate this because it gets the projecrt over for them quickly. But the user experience and functionality is paramount in these situations. IT wants to win the battle while also still providing as much value as possible to everyone involved.
The legacy problem is still a big one. Inertia anf fear of "new" technology is going to keep lots of folks away from migration to the cloud. Once it's possible to "auto" move, that would certainly help.
How long will that take for everyone to become comfortable? Who knows?
I don't know if the process can be 100% automated. There's still field matching and things like that to be done.
But you're right about companies not thinking end users know anything. I mean, these are the people thinking up creative workarounds for features that aren't existent. If the IT department sits with them as they, say, print back invoices or enter purchase orders, they'll see what the end users are actually using, what they're ignoring, and what they need.
"Two decades' worth of data to migrate can be a real pain - and with IT budgets expected to remain stagnant, finding the money to do so can be problematic."
@cparizo: Can't automation help in this case to migrate the data? I've seen cases where the entire data from legacy systems was moved to new systems via automated scripts.
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