Client/server migration is the driving force behind many of today's Information Systems (IS) re-engineering efforts. With the need to support ever-changing business practices, client/server technologies offer numerous advantages over traditional legacy systems. However, realizing these benefits will require IS Managers with departments of at least moderate size or more than a few years old to anticipate a migration to client/server that is an evolution; not a revolution. The speed and character of the migration will be influenced by the corporate culture, the number of conversions, and the amount of interaction between the legacy systems and the new technology.
This move to new technology will present demands on the organization that are mostly obvious and by their nature must be satisfied. Supporting the demands of the legacy systems, however, is not always as obvious. It is important for IS Managers to consider not only planning for all of the necessary functions associated with implementing the new technology, but also to consider strategies for maximizing the stability and support of the legacy function. Considerations will have to be made regarding the legacy systems and the people that maintain them during and after the transition to the new technology.
It would be difficult, even if desired, to hide for very long a migration to new technology from the legacy support forces. With a goal of providing maximum stability and support to the legacy function, IS Managers should make legacy support staff aware of their involvement in the migration as soon as possible to eliminate surprises. It is in the best interest of the company to provide employees with an opportunity for career planning in the face of this significant change to their livelihood.
Constructing the Plan
IS Managers should choose a planning style and method to meet the project need, but, more importantly, should take enough time to develop a comprehensive strategy. Without a detailed plan, the legacy support personnel transition can easily get lost in all of the activity associated with the new technology and, if the migration is not carefully orchestrated, can lead to disaster.
At the heart of the plan should be communication. In fact, open communications should be prevalent throughout the life of the project and reach personnel at all levels. In addition to a thorough communication strategy, a successful migration plan will incorporate the following key elements:
- Determining where the organization should be after the migration;
- Constructing a detailed implementation plan; and,
- Deciding which resources and options are necessary to accomplish the implementation plan.
Determining where the organization should be after the migration may seem like an unusual first element of a plan but, as suggested by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, it is wise to "begin with the end in mind." In this manner, the project's course can be correctly plotted from the starting point to the desired endpoint.
When determining the desired outcome of the project, several decisions must be made. It is important to decide the technology mix after the migration, the future staffing needs of both the new technology and the legacy support groups, and the required core employee skill mix.
The construction of the detailed implementation plan should address whether or not to retrain existing staff, allow for Client/user buy-in to the decision, provide for a program to secure the staff's acceptance for the retraining decision, and designate three check-point dates to monitor project progress.
IS Managers should not assume that the legacy support staff will jump at the prospect of learning new skills. Some of the staff will be excited about upgrading their skills and moving to new technology; however, others will be unsure that this new technology will prevail and will be content to remain in the old world.
Of those agreeing to make the transition, expect mixed results. Not everyone will be successful. For example, transitioning Programmers from COBOL language on mainframe to 'C' language on UNIX is a very difficult conversion. In some cases, it can take an experienced IS professional a year or more to achieve the same proficiency level as a recent college graduate.
A successful variation might be to not transition COBOL Programmers to 'C' Programmers, but to retrain COBOL Programmers to be Project Managers. They are ideal candidates for project management because they know the systems environment and possess an understanding of the technology at a higher level.
When deciding which resources and options are necessary to accomplish the implementation plan, IS Managers can choose from utilizing existing staff, hiring new permanent staff, or using temporary consulting expertise. While success could probably be achieved using any one of these options exclusively, a balanced approach using all three resources will provide the highest possible success.
Proper utilization of existing staff provides continuity and stability for the project, as well as giving the existing employees an opportunity to participate in the new technology. The attitude of existing support employees, including those not directly impacted by the current conversion, can be very important during this crucial period.
Hiring new permanent staff can provide a rapid boost up the technology and learning curves. The new permanent staff can also provide stability and a base for long term conversion of the existing staff. The downside to exclusively using new permanent staff is that they can be difficult to acquire in large numbers, they represent a corporate commitment that the company might not be willing to make, staff attrition is typically high with client/server skills and, in the long term, permanent staff can be very expensive.
Temporary consulting expertise can also provide a rapid boost up the technology and learning curves, and can be very effective in the short term. Knowledge transfer from the consultants to the permanent staff should be a major concern with this option. IS Managers should make knowledge transfer a defined and measured activity in their planning. Success is easily accomplished by identifying a reliable resource for contractors, reviewing the plan with them, making the vendor a partner in the project's overall scope, and soliciting a commitment to success.
The proper mix of the above resources is best determined by envisioning the IS department's goals at the migration's endpoint and taking into account the IS department's culture, history, and staff technical expertise.
Implementing the Plan
Project activities can be defined into three measured periods, each possessing unique characteristics. At project start it is important to secure the Client/user's support for the plan. The Client/user organization will be apprehensive knowing that new technology will be utilized to re-engineer their systems when the departments' heritage is based in legacy systems. Also, the client may be forced to alter relationships with legacy support employees which may be a cause for concern.
The next step is to implement the retraining decision by counseling the existing legacy support staff that will be dislocated by the migration. In counseling the employees, a detailed questionnaire could be used to determine each employee's wants and needs at the migration's endpoint. The questionnaire will not only provide valuable insight, but it will assist employees in career planning and give a feeling that they have input into the process.
Retraining employees can be a prolonged and expensive effort. Considerable ego and anxiety is involved in the process. Data from previous projects indicates that 15% will not want to migrate to the new technology and will either have to find support jobs in another application or leave the company; 15% will fail in the migration; 40% will succeed, but crossing over will take much longer than anticipated; and 30% are best moved to allied fields such as project management.
Also, at this early phase, about 10% of the employees should be replaced on the legacy team with contractors so those employees can begin the retraining effort. The goal will be to have 100% contractors left at the conclusion of the project so that when the legacy system is shut down, a graceful exit can be made from the support role. A leader for the legacy support group should be selected to manage the group until the legacy support system is shut down. This leader should be given assurances that the team members will be retrained after the conversion because this individual's attitude, talent, and morale are key elements in the stability and success of the legacy support group.
The entire conversion or transition period can be relatively long, so the second checkpoint should be at the peak of the conversion effort. At this time, plan on a 40/60 mix of employees to contractors. Assign an employee to be in charge of each major function and use the contractors as task workers. It is important to keep the Client/user's confidence level high as communication between the groups will continue to be a key element in the project's success.
The last checkpoint should be two months from the project's end. At this time, all of the support people will be contractors except for the assigned leader. The conversion will have a number of employees in various stages of retraining (because retraining is very difficult, these employees will need encouragement from time to time).
After cutting over to the new system, especially if multiple future conversions are planned, it is important to celebrate so the department can share in the success of the conversion and the people. Also, it is important to keep the promises to the leader that stayed until the legacy system was shut down; the organization will be watching how that person fared.
Migration to new technologies is inevitable, as is the impact of change on personnel. IS Managers must approach migration as not just a new technology venture, but also a human resources issue. As it will be necessary to maintain the legacy systems while the new client/server system is being implemented, IS Managers should consider people migration as well as technology migration in their planning. A comprehensive plan for using all available resources is the key to success.
An IS Manager's best business decision will require evaluating all of the resources at hand. Determining which resources to use at various stages of the migration is influenced by the corporate culture and the characteristics of the systems involved, but a balance of resources is likely to ensure the highest probability of success.
About the Author
Prior to joining MATRIX, Joe Ruf's career spanned over thirty years in the Information Technology field. As a professional Project Manager, Joe has been responsible for numerous large mainframe system implementations, and as an executive at BellSouth Information Systems, managed several conversions to client/server technology. He can be reached at Joe_Ruf@MatrixResources.com.
We've prepared this report to share useful insights with an information systems manager considering a conversion to client/server technology. This article discusses strategies for constructing and implementing a conversion plan, conditions affecting the many phases of a project's life cycle, and offers suggestions for evaluating and managing people resources during a migration. If you have any questions about this report or if you would like to arrange for a formal discussion on this topic, please contact your MATRIX Associate or me at Bill_Gower@MatrixResources.com.
Bill Gower, MATRIX President |