Why Should Vendors and Resellers Outsource Data Conversions?

For Software vendors and resellers, outsourcing data migration work is always an option but when is it a good option? To answer that question there are several other questions that should be considered.

• Are data conversions beginning to be a bottleneck in your implementation process?
• Would you like to use your client's legacy data in their training?
• Do data conversions cost more than you planned?
• Is your development staff burdened with data conversions?
• Is data conversion a Core Competency that you want to own and refine and staff?
• Are data conversions becoming more important to your clients?
• Is your sales cycle somewhat unpredictable and/or erratic? Does this cause you a staffing problem for data conversions?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you are a good candidate to explore the logistical and financial benefits of outsourcing your data conversion work.
The business of outsourcing data migration work is to:

• Free up your development staff to meet the client needs
• Get you ahead of the competition
• Help resolve the constant flow of regulatory demands.
  

Outsourcing is a variable rate service.
The volume of business for most vendors varies, sometimes significantly.
Outsourcing companies pride themselves on responding to needs which go up and down.
In fact they depend on it.
Mostly because they have more customers than could be satisfied if all of them produced a high and steady flow of work.
This is good for you.
Development staffs need to have a more predictable flow of work so they can plan for and meet deadlines.
Their primary mission being new releases and enhancements to your core product line.
Being interrupted by the erratic appearance of data migration requests along with the somewhat unreasonable demands for "go live", is not helpful.
On the other hand the sales team needs a reliable programming source for their data conversion work.
They cannot predict with any real degree of accuracy the window of time when any prospect is going to "sign" and become a client.
Of course they will want the promised data migration.
We all know that sales people do make promises as part of closing deals.
And sometimes those promises don't fit well with operations.
The problem thus created can't be reasonably ignored.
The solution can be provided by an outsourcing agreement.
What to consider when looking for a data migration company: Reliability: References immediately come to mind but they are hard to come by.
Consider this.
Would you help a competitor by giving a reference for your outsourcing company? Are you willing to take the time to be a reference? Often the answers to these questions are "no".
Another measure of reliability is volume of work completed and length of time in business.
Both are subjective.
Resumes and social media present opportunities to verify what you are being told.
Cost: When comparing companies, you can throw out the highs and the lows.
Your people will be involved so mark up the cost.
Skill set: A team of programmers don't do data conversions well.
It just is not interesting work for them.
Business analysts with good IT skills and some programming background are the best.
They must speak the language of your industry (i.
e.
healthcare) and the language of your client base.
Quality Assurance: Ask to see a sample of QA documents used internally by the company.
Customer service: Who can you talk to and how available are they.
Migrating data is becoming more important and the need to do so more frequent.
Any time in your business cycle is a good time to evaluate how to best use your human capital.
Your people cost a lot to find, hire and train.
Their experience is invaluable to the success of your business.
It may be a good time to focus their attention on your core competency and outsource data migration work.