How to Migrate Your Paging Tool Without Breaking Your Team

Migrating a paging tool offers an opportunity to improve incident management workflows beyond a simple like-for-like swap, potentially addressing issues like alert noise and inconsistent communication. Eryn Carman outlines a four-step framework for successful migration, emphasizing the importance of taking a comprehensive inventory of the current on-call system, building a project team with diverse roles, and engaging change agents to ensure smooth transition. The process should include at least four weeks of parallel running to build trust in the new system and anticipate surprises such as overlooked dependencies or custom configurations. A service catalog can prevent fragmented ownership and improve routing, while a thorough inventory helps to clarify project scope and demonstrate return on investment. Carman highlights that while migrations are inherently disruptive, they can be leveraged to create more efficient and effective systems if approached strategically.