Migrate Users From Legacy Platform to New Platform

Organizations transitioning from a legacy SaaS platform to a new system face intricate challenges involving user identity, permissions, and data migration without disrupting daily operations or compromising security. This process requires careful coordination of identity providers, permission mapping, and maintaining integrations while ensuring continuous user access. Successful migrations typically involve phased rollouts, parallel runs, comprehensive testing, and robust rollback plans to minimize disruptions. Key challenges include handling SSO/MFA configuration differences, entitlement mapping, API integration continuity, and maintaining user trust. Migration urgency varies by scenario, such as vendor shutdowns, cost reduction initiatives, or compliance mandates, each affecting the success criteria and risk tolerance. Approaches include phased migration with parallel runs, big-bang cutover with pre-migration validation, just-in-time migration on user login, and manual inventory mapping with staged provisioning, each with its trade-offs in risk, speed, and engineering effort. Organizations must decide whether to build custom migration tools, buy existing solutions, or hire consultants, weighing factors like timeline, risk tolerance, and engineering capacity. Essential practices for successful migration include taking a complete snapshot of the legacy system, investing in automated validation, building observability into the process, and maintaining clear communication with users.