The success of cloud implementations hinges on the ability to convert and move data without compromising project schedules. There are decisions, such as “What data should I bring over?” and “How much data should I bring over?” that every organization must consider. The answers become critical for HCM data being migrated to Oracle Cloud and determine the value creation for Oracle HCM Cloud. What may seem like perfectly good data in the legacy application may not be a right fit for Oracle HCM Cloud -- which is why it is important to understand the source as well as the target when migrating data.

How do you gauge the complexity of your data? Some top-level indicators would be:

• The history of Mergers and Acquisitions in the past, which invariably inject data from varied sources into the system
• The antiquity of legacy data would indicate the amount and level of data expertise and management required
• The volume of legacy data is often a good yardstick of the incomplete or inaccurate data you will have to deal with.
• The technological change the organization has been subject to would determine the extent to which data has been stored in differing formats across multiple and diverse devices and systems.

It is easy to see that without a good migration strategy things can go awry. At the very outset, it must be understood that all data should not be migrated. This is in the interest of keeping the Cloud HCM application clean, validated and reliable as the single source of truth.

A typical conversion strategy for HCM applications can be divided into two:

• Understanding how to migrate data that is required. Data migration should be done incrementally during the course of the program and customers should actively participate in selecting the initial data set for the data migration. Feedback from the 1^st data conversion cycle helps to uncover unforeseen issues at data source and can be fixed before the start of the next data conversion cycle
• Understanding how to archive data that is not required. This is often dictated by compliance needs. Organizations tend to have a parallel plan along with the implementation of Oracle Cloud HCM to determine the options for archiving data whether on premise or on another cloud platform (such as Database as a service) to ensure optimal retrieval and reporting on such data.

Once these simpler steps are done, conversion takes center stage. Ideally, data conversion is split into six areas:

• Data Profiling, which is required to understand the data sources, data audit and data cleansing needs before data can be extracted to the Oracle HCM application.
• Data Extraction depends on the technology used in the legacy applications. Organizations may use SQL or PL/SQL procedures or reporting tools such as Cognos or OBI to extract the raw data from the legacy application.
• Data Mapping (legacy data to the Oracle HCM data templates) is extremely important. Wipro provides an overview of the data conversion templates to the business and IT team and it is imperative for the customer to understand each field on the template and clarify how data needs to be populated.
• Data Validation is done after it is mapped to the Oracle HCM Cloud templates by the business and IT teams, ensuring the data being loaded is accurate and appropriate
• Data Loading into Oracle HCM is done using tools which report data issues that need to be fixed before the next load
• Data Reconciliation is done to ensure data accuracy in comparison with the legacy application

If an organization decides on converting the full historical data, it should do a cost/benefit analysis at an early stage of the implementation (historical data is dirtier and therefore more costly to convert). Additionally, customers should review the process-wise flows in Fusion for the importance of historical data.

Based on previous experiences with migrating legacy applications to Oracle HCM Cloud, Wipro recommends converting 1 to 3 years of legacy HCM data, however, this duration might vary depending on the legislative requirement of the country. For instance, Wipro recently helped a global healthcare & diagnostics services provider convert 3 years of historical data as part of a large HCM transformation program.

One platform which simplifies the process of data migration is Wipro’s QuMiC. QuMiC leverages automation to extract data from legacy systems like EBS and PeopleSoft, validate and report issues to business, and finally perform data transformation required for compatibility with Oracle HCM Cloud. QuMiC accelerates data conversion by 30-40% by eliminating multiple manual and redundant steps.

With QuMiC and the right strategy for migration of data to Oracle HCM Cloud, organizations can achieve faster time-to-market and maximize the value of their investment.