Switch without losing ten years of notes
Two weeks. Week one is export, field mapping and validation while your team keeps billing. Week two is your own environment and full validation before sign-off.
Most firms who lose data in a migration lose it because the vendor sent an export file rather than running a migration. Notes, call history, attachments, submission and placement history all carry across when someone handles the mapping and validation properly, and none of it does when nobody owns that work.
Implementation, migration and training are included in the licence here rather than quoted as professional services. That is a commercial position rather than a technical one, and it is worth checking against whatever else you are comparing.
Week one: export, map, validate
Field mapping is decided rather than discovered. Your team keeps billing throughout, because nothing changes in the system they are working in until the mapping is agreed.
Week two: your environment, then sign-off
Your own environment, populated and validated by your team before go-live rather than after. Cutover happens with no downtime.
What to clean, and what not to
Clean the active segment, archive the historical one, and delete records with no reachable contact and no placement history. Trying to clean everything first is the most common reason migrations slip by months.
Questions
How long does an ATS migration take?
Two weeks with Sortinghat, including validation before go-live. Complex long-tenured instances with heavy customisation take longer to map, and we scope that before committing rather than after.
Will I lose my notes when I switch ATS?
You should not, and most firms do because the vendor sent an export file rather than running a migration. Notes, call history, attachments and submission history all carry across when someone handles the mapping and validation properly.
What does an ATS migration cost?
It varies widely and is frequently quoted separately from the licence. With Sortinghat, implementation, migration and training are included rather than billed as professional services.
What is the hardest ATS to migrate from?
Bullhorn and Ceipal, for different reasons. Bullhorn's object model does not map one to one and long instances carry heavy customisation. Ceipal's standard export omits activity history and some attachment types.
Should you clean your data before migrating?
Partially. Clean the active segment, archive the historical one, and delete records with no reachable contact and no placement history. Trying to clean everything first is the most common reason migrations slip by months.
Does payroll and timesheet history transfer?
Assignment and timesheet history carry across and are validated explicitly. Because Sortinghat carries back office, this moves with the front office rather than being left behind.