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Commercial · Migration

Why do practice management implementations fail? Change management.

The short answer

It depends on data volume, the number of entities, how much trust and financial history moves and the quality of the source data. A migration runs through discovery, mapping, cleansing, a sample migration, the full run and validation before cut-over. We scope a realistic timeline up front — and never rush the validation, because data integrity is the deliverable.

"How long will it take?" is really a question about risk. A migration that's rushed to hit a date is a migration that loses data. The timeline is set by how much has to move and how clean it is — and by refusing to skip the steps that protect your history.

What sets the timeline

  • Data volume. Tens of thousands of documents and thousands of contacts take longer to extract, transform and validate than a small dataset.
  • Number of entities. Consolidating several related entities into one Actionstep instance adds mapping and reconciliation work.
  • Trust and financial history. Trust records demand extra care and reconciliation — this is where rushing does the most damage.
  • Source data quality. Duplicates, inconsistent naming and legacy fields all add cleansing time. Cleaner in, faster through.
  • Environment access. Legacy systems often live on a local server; working securely against that environment shapes the plan.

The stages — and why each exists

  1. Discovery and data audit. We assess your current environment and volumes, and confirm exactly what must come across.
  2. Mapping and cleansing. We define what moves where and clean duplicate and legacy records so you don't carry mess into the new system.
  3. Sample migration. We migrate a small set of real matters, including documents, so integrity is proven before the full run.
  4. Full migration. Everything moves — matters, contacts, documents and trust history.
  5. Validation and reconciliation. We check the data against the source before anyone relies on it.
  6. Cut-over and support. We switch you onto a configured Actionstep and stay on through go-live.
The non-negotiable

Data integrity is the deliverable. We prove it on a sample before the full run, and reconcile everything before cut-over — no exceptions to hit a date.

A real example

On one engagement we consolidated three related entities into a single Actionstep instance and migrated roughly 70,000 documents and 13,000 contacts off an on-premise legacy server — history intact, with SharePoint and data-security requirements handled as first-order concerns throughout. You can read the anonymised write-up in our case studies.

The honest way to get your timeline is to look at your actual data. Explore our FilePro to Actionstep migration service, or tell us your volumes and we'll map out a realistic plan.

Related questions

Will we have downtime during the migration?

We plan the cut-over to minimise disruption — the bulk of the work happens in parallel with your firm running as normal, and the switch is scheduled around you. We'll set expectations clearly before cut-over day.

Can you migrate trust and financial history, not just contacts?

Yes. Trust and transaction history is migrated and reconciled as a first-order concern. It's the part we're most careful with, because it's the part firms can least afford to get wrong.

What if our data is messy?

That's normal, and we plan for it. Cleansing duplicate and legacy records is a defined stage — it adds a little time but means you start fresh rather than importing years of clutter.

Ready to talk?

Leave the legacy system behind.

A short, no-obligation conversation. 30 minutes, our honest view, no pitch deck.

— Insights
History
intact.