So you’ve successfully managed to move your stuff from one platform to another but have this funny feeling that you are missing something. Turns out you might as performing the transfer is only half of the story. Knowing what to check and where to look is just as important as correctly moving the instances.
In today’s article, we decided to cover the aspects of proper post-migration by outlining key areas you should check. There’s a lot to cover and covering all would be impossible. So, let’s not waste any time and dive into the list itself.
Why You Should Do a Post-Migration Check
Now before we discuss the list itself, we’d like to note a few things in advance, namely, why would you need to perform a post-migration check in the first place. Generally speaking, the most common reason why you’d want to verify your things is to ensure that all the data you’d moved is there.
Not checking how the data was moved will almost certainly cause a lot of trouble in the future as you will not only end up missing stuff but might notice that some of the things you’ve moved are mixed. Now, this is all hypothetical and such but this is the reason why we check things.
Secondly, by verifying things before doing any work you ensure that your further decisions aren’t crippled by the aforementioned data mismatches. Not having a solid data foundation can cost you a customer or two.
Thirdly, by knowing that the data is there and the settings are in place will ensure that all departments can function without change. After all, your customers don’t really like change and they need to be prepared for it if it’s inevitable.
The Post-Migration Checklist
And now for the main part, the post-migration checklist itself. We already mentioned that we won’t be able to cover absolutely everything but we will do our best to discuss all the nitty-gritty details of each step.
- Check the Data. As the name suggests, you absolutely must check whether the data is there or not and we aren’t just talking about the numbers. The quality of the transfer is just as important. Make sure all of your stuff is readable and where it should be.
- Support Channels. This step is an option but kinda vital at the same time, so if it applies, do it, if not skip. Essentially, you need to move all your support channels from your old solution to the new one. If you already set up the communication path, this where you can skip this part.
- Delta Migration. In this step, it is critical that you identify whether you need or not a delta migration. If you are unsure, we have a separate article as to what is a delta migration.
- KB Link Updates. After you’ve done moving things, you will need to update all of your knowledge base links. The reason why is that through API, you can’t update them automatically. You’ll have to do it manually for each article instead. One by one, we know, it’s a long process but it is critical to the quality of the support.
- Update Templates. This is another important step that you’ll have to do manually. It is best that you update all of your triggers, workflows, auto-responses, and while you are at it, you might as well update the look of your template base. A refresh will make things easier for your staff to identify which ones to use.
- Configure Integrations. Chances are your company is using other systems which means that you’ll have to revoke old connections and add new integrations to ensure a smooth transition.
- Set Communication Channels. If you were relying heavily on the integrated communication channels such as the Live Chat, Service Portal, and Mailbox channels, then you will have to establish the connection once again as the old ones won’t be operable in the near future.
- Agent Qualification. If your staff is new to the system then they will surely encounter skill barriers. Teaching them and conducting regular training sessions will allow you to avoid any workflow disruptions. Plus it will contribute to the overall employee satisfaction rate.
- Raise Customer Awareness. You must tell your customers about the upcoming change not only because you will be unavailable at a certain time frame but when you have new features. For example, if your old tool didn’t have a self-service portal, then it would be a good idea to let your customers know about this addition.
Testing Phase
While not part of the checklist, this is also one of the most crucial aspects of post-migration projects. The best way to see how things operate is to create a test email account that you will use to send test questions to yourself. Here’s how the whole thing should look and move like:
1. Trigger as many workflows and automations as possible. To do so, ask your entire team to write sample questions that have a direct trigger and an indirect one. This will let you test the system more thoroughly and will allow you to cover more request types at a time.
2. Test tags and labels. Similarly to how you should test your workflows, you need to test your tags system. Your best course would be to write down realistic questions and send them to yourself to see what tags and labels captured the message.
3. Customer-type visibility. If you divide your incoming requests by customer categories, make sure you have different samples for different categories. This will allow you to see whether the right people see the right messages.
4. Respond. Make sure that you answer each email type, talk to all customer types back to see whether the templates are working and whether the answers are delivered properly.
These are just email operations. It would be also good if you could hand over your internal documentation to a colleague that can read through it and see if there are any corrections necessary. Remember, the process of optimizing your help desk solution is almost always on-going. You can’t “fix” everything at once but you can minimize a lot of errors before things go south.
Having these things fixed will make your employee life (specifically for agents) much easier as they won’t have to worry that some of their replies are not up to the standard. This will also add more service time that you could have used to troubleshoot the issues in the first place.
Related reads: Rules to follow during data migration if you haven't started yet.
Bottom Line
As we said, this isn’t the most complete list but it is the one that covers the most important aspects. By following these recommendations, you can rest assured knowing that your project won’t stop and customers won’t be disappointed. But that’s all from us for now. If you have questions in regards to migration, you know the drill. We are always happy to help you out, regardless of time of day. Just give us a call and we’ll get back to you.
