03 - Scoping your First Migration

03 - Scoping your First Migration

When a patient needs an operation, a good surgeon gets as much information as possible from the patient before recommending a course of action or providing a quote.  By taking this approach, the surgeon can provide a better, more informed experience for the customer and avoid being sued for malpractice.

Meet with the Right Person

Occasionally you may have IT professionals or sales representatives who schedules an initial consult with you and just wants a quote.  This is a trap: the IT guy is price shopping.  Never take an initial consultation with just an IT professional.  They are not a decision maker, they don't have budgetary authority, and the expertise you demonstrate will not be relayed to the decision makers.  Do everything you can to avoid meeting with only an IT professional.

In the event that an IT professional books an initial consultation with you, inform them that your leadership requires that you meet with a decision maker from the firm and you'll need to reschedule.  The IT/sales guy is welcome to attend - you're not trying to be difficult - but those are just the rules you have to follow.

Get All the Details

When you are asked to scope/quote a migration, you should get on a Teams meeting with the firm where you can talk through their needs.  Get as much information as possible before providing any estimate or quote to the customer.  This includes requesting the following information:
  1. Total number of active staff (employee count)
  2. Practice areas the firm services
  3. A backup of the database (for on-premise applications)
  4. A login to the application (for web-based systems)
  5. Total document count size and count (if applicable).
  6. Any special backup/restore requests
    1. Things like excluding, reorganizing, or adjusting data
Generally speaking, firms are willing to provide access after an NDA is signed (many even before the NDA is signed).  If they are not willing to share that information and you provide a blind quote, you are setting yourself and the client up for a bad experience.
These notes should be recorded in your playbook.

Incentivizing Firms to do the Right Thing

When doing a migration, it is in your best interest for the project to consume as little of your time as possible (increase your profitability) but the firms want their migration to be as smooth as possible with as low of a cost as possible.  At first glance, it may seem like these are opposite goals, however, we believe that both outcomes are achievable.


Important Migration Topics 

Is there anything special I need to know about [App]?

The UniversalMigrator.com website will help you speak confidently to your prospect even when you're discussing apps you haven't migrated FROM before.
Here's how to access that information:
  1. Go to UniversalMigrator.com
  2. Click on Migrate From
  3. Choose an App (like ProLaw)
  4. Notice the list of everything that migrates FROM the application.
    1. IMPORTANT:
    2. This the list of all the data Universal Migrator backs up.
    3. This is not everything that restores into the destination system.
  5. Scroll down and notice the list of apps you can migrate TO.  Skip this for now.
  6. Scroll to the "What a Migration Specialist Should Know..." section
  7. This section has key information you should know about the application you're migrating FROM.
You are strongly encouraged to share this link with your prospect.
This will give them more confidence in hiring you because everything you are communicating is publicly available.

What Data Migrates?

The UniversalMigrator.com website is intentionally developed so that you can confidently convey what will and will not migrate.
To know what will migrate:
  1. Go to UniversalMigrator.com
  2. Click on Migrate From
  3. Choose an App (like ProLaw)
  4. Scroll down and notice the list of apps you can migrate TO.  Choose one (like Clio Manage)
  5. Notice the list of everything that migrates FROM the source and TO the destination
    1. IMPORTANT:
    2. This list is the intersection of everything that can backup from the source system and restore into the destination.  This is everything you can deliver as part of the migration experience.

What if an app or a data point isn't on the list?

We are adding more data points and more apps all the time.  Just ask and we'll scope out the work and get started as soon as possible.
Here are a few things to be aware of:
  1. We do not charge extra for adding new systems or new data points.
  2. We'll need you to provide a backup or a login into the source system so we can add the mapping (our agreement enables you to do this.)
  3. When adding a new data point, we generally have same-day turnaround.
  4. When adding an entirely new system, it usually only takes 5-6 days.
  5. We prefer to get to work as early as possible.  Are they still a prospect?  That's fine!  We'll get to work even before they pay you.

All Data Should be Copied to the New System

In most situations, firms want all their data copied into their new system.  This is great for the firm and the migration specialist.

However, sometimes firms think they want some data excluded.  Often they ask this because:

  • They think it will reduce their cost
  • They think it will make the job easier or smaller. 
  • They think they don't want certain data in their new system

Contrary to what firms often think, it is usually easier and less work to move everything than it is to only move some of the data.

When a firm "only" wants you to move some of the data:

  • You have to write more complex SQL to carve out the data the firm doesn't want
  • You and the client must have complex discussions about interdependencies.  For example, if the client doesn't matter ABC.001 transferred, what should happen to the documents or unbilled time that belong to it?
  • The client makes their business more complex by now having to maintain two systems and train staff on two systems.

In the event a client makes this request, you should:

  • Inform the client about the challenges of having two systems.
    • Backing up / maintaining two systems.
    • Training staff on two systems, 
    • Staff might work out of the wrong system
    • Data often has to be moved between the two system.
  • Inform the client about the challenges of splitting data:
    • How do you resolve interdependencies like the Matter/Document one above?
  • Inform the client that a partial restore is more complex and more expensive.
  • Inform the client that in most cases, after firms have provided a complex set of "What to Keep" instructions, that list look almost identical to "everything" except the firm had to pay a lot more money.
  • Inform the clients that they will likely later decide they want some of the excluded data transferred because they did not fully evaluate the rules they provided and that will be a lot more expensive.

If the firm is simply transferring from one system to another and they think they might want a partial backup/restore, we recommend:

  • Tell the client if they don't want something transferred, they can delete it from their old system before the backup or from their new system after the restore but you would rather give them data they don't need than not give them data they want.

It is cheaper if you do it all

Often times a practice management company may have their own migration specialists who are willing to restore some of the firm's data at no cost.  The firm is interested in hiring you to "only" restore some of the data (often times, "just" documents.)

On its face, this might sound like less work, but it is important to re-frame this request so that it communicates what would actually be happening.

Quote
Sample Conversation
Law Firm:  We would like our practice management company to restore most of the data and then we want you to just restore our documents.  How much will that save us?

You:  It will actually cost more.  Let me explain.

If you hire me to do the entire process, I can connect to your legacy system, back up the data, connect to your new system and restore the data into it.  That isn't easy but I know what I'm doing, I'm good at it, and I don't have to coordinate with anyone.  And, after the restore, if you want anything tweaked or adjusted, you can just ask me and I can do it.

If you have your practice management company restore some data and then you want me to "just" restore documents, I need to know exactly when they intend to have the data restore completed.  Once they have their part done, then I have to figure out how to match everything I'm doing to everything they've already done.  If something doesn't match or line up, then I have to ask them to make adjustments before I can continue mapping everything.  And if they made a mistake and did something wrong, then it will have ripple effects that impact what I'm doing.  All this takes more time and makes the project much more complicated.  That is why we charge an extra $2,000 if we're having to match data to an existing system.

Info
If you have been introduced to a prospect by a sales representative from a practice management company, it is a good idea to connect with them prior to meeting with the client and let them know why "only" moving documents is more complex and expensive.  This why the sales rep will be prepared and understanding when you have the meeting with the client.

How much does it cost?

Within certain guidelines, can set your own pricing on the migrations you do, however the following guidance should help.

Most firms are wiling to spend the greater of:
  1. $4,000-$6,000 (this is a fair price for a solo practitioner)
  2. $750-$1,500 per employee of the firm
  3. Costs equal to approximately 10-14 months of charges of their old system.
  4. Costs equal to the same amount they paid to migrate into their old system.
Most firms are not willing to spend more than:
  1. $22,000
Some firms are willing to spend more/less than others:
  1. Family Law attorneys are more price sensitive.
  2. Personal Injury attorneys are less price sensitive.
It is generally a good idea to provide a price range instead of an absolute number.  The following price ranges tend to work well for firms:
  1. $4,000-$6,000
  2. $6,000-$8,000
  3. $8,000-$12,000
  4. $13,000-$15,000
  5. $16,000-$18,000
  6. $18,000-$22,000

What is the cost based on?

When the firm asks what your price is based on, the correct answer is "The amount of work I expect it to take to do an amazing job on your project".
Never, ever, ever share a pricing formula or equation.  If you do:
  1. The sales rep will find someone else who uses a lower formula
  2. The firm will look for ways to "optimize" your formula so that they pay less which generally involves you doing more work.

When can we start?

Tell your firm that a migration has a few phases:

First, you're going to get ready

If they're coming from an on-premise system, you're going to ask the firm to introduce you to their IT guy.  He'll set up a migration workstation that you'll use to do the project.
You'll take an initial backup of their data, start analyzing it, and then start teaching computers how to copy their data into the new system.  This process generally takes a week or two and has zero impact to their firm.

Then, you and the firm will pick a start date

The best times to start a backup are:
  1. Thursday @ 3:00PM (Best)
  2. Tuesday @ 3:00PM (Alternative)
These times are good because:
  1. Most firms are front-loaded with Monday being the busiest day.  If a backup starts on Thursday, they can be using the new software Friday morning.  This lets them use Friday as a soft-launch/warm up day.
  2. The firm can see the data restoring into their new system
  3. The work is starting during business hours
The following backup start dates are terrible:
  1. Friday evenings / Weekends / Holidays
    If you make a habit of this, your family life and mental health will suffer and the firm will have a rough Monday because, on their busiest day of the week, they'll be trying to figure out new software.

  2. The first/last day of a billing cycle/month/year.
    These dates make the migration time sensitive which creates unnecessary pressure on the project.   If billing cycles are a consideration, we recommend doing the migration mid-cycle so all the firm members can get comfortable with entering time and running bills in the new software.
Once a backup start date is picked, you should send your point of contact two calendar invites and ask that they create a similar calendar invite for everyone in their firm.
  1. Calendar Invite 1
    Subject:  BACKUP STARTS IN 30 MINUTES.  WRAP UP!
    Start Date: 30 minutes prior to the start of the migration
    End Date: The start date of the migration

  2. Calendar Invite 2
    Subject: Migration Go-Live
    Location: Firm Attendance not required
    Start Date: [Migration start date]
    End Date: 7:00PM on the migration start date.

The Migration Start Time

On the backup start time, you're going to refresh your backup and then start copying data into the new system.
From here on out, the firm should not add or edit any data in the legacy system: if they do, they'll have to manually re-enter it into the new system the following day.
If they are editing documents or writing time, they should save this some place else just for those few hours.

Important Note:  The firm can always view data in the legacy system.  They don't have to stay out - they just cannot make additions or edits.  They can always look at data in the legacy system.

The Morning After

The very next morning the firm should start using their new system.   More than likely the restore will still be in-flight but all their contacts and matters should be transferred so they can start entering time and saving documents.  If they need to reference data that hasn't migrated yet, they can always view it in the legacy system: they just need to make sure they save their changes to the new system.

Post-Migration

After the restore is complete, they can fully operate out of the new system.

What happens if something doesn't restore right?

Info
We recommend that all migration specialists include a 30-day warranty.
We warranty all the work we do for 30 days.  If something does not match the way it is in your legacy system, let us know and we'll fix it at no cost to you.  We do a great job and you're not going to have any issues, but if somehow you find something, don't try to fix it yourself or you make break our ability to fix it.  Just let us know and give us an example, and we'll take care of it.


What happens if we find something after 30 days?

After we do a restore, we keep a copy of your data and the logs for 30 days.  After 30 days, we delete it and that is why we can't tweak things after 30 days.
That shouldn't worry you though:  when we move data, the data moves the same way all the time.  If something isn't right, then it isn't right everywhere so it will be pretty easy to spot.  If it takes 30 days to find an issue, it is going to be very small minutia.

If I save documents to the new app, will they get overwritten by the migration?

No.  Restoring adds data but does not overwrite it.  If you add a document and the restore wants to copy in a document with the same name, both documents will be preserved.

How long does it take?

Every migration is different and there is no reliable way to predict it, however, most are fully complete in in 1-3 days.  The important question though is "How long will you be unable to work?" and the answer is "you will never have to stop working".  And you'll be using your new app the very next day.

Can I reuse an old/spare laptop for the migration workstation?

No.  A migration workstation has to be a modern PC with pretty good specs in it.  More than likely you'll need to either buy a new PC or get a loaner from your IT guy.  After the project is complete, you or your favorite paralegal can get a nice PC upgade.



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