The Big Cloud Lie: Why “Simple Migrations” Don’t Exist

Software vendors love a good fairy tale. Their latest one goes like this: “Your ERP, maintenance, or MRP system is moving to the cloud. Don’t worry. It’s the same system, just hosted somewhere else. Easy upgrade. Push a button and you’re done!”

It’s not that simple.

The Harsh Reality

When a vendor shifts from a client-server or legacy platform to the cloud, it’s not just moving boxes from your data center to theirs. It’s a complete rewrite. There are changes to the architecture, the user experience, and configuration. The backbone of how data tables are structured, how transactions are processed, and how integrations work are all different. Interfaces are redesigned and workflows are restructured. As a result, screens look nothing like the old ones. Settings that worked before don’t translate because you’re rebuilding processes in a new framework. It’s not just a facelift. It’s reconstructive surgery.

The Fallacy of “No Change”

Vendors pitch cloud migrations as “plug-and-play” to make the sale. But the reality is closer to a full re-implementation. There’s no such thing as “no change.” Testing will be required to validate every report, integration, and workflow. Users will need to learn how to use the new system, so leaders will need to account for training (or re-training). Roles and responsibilities and day-to-day tasks will all shift, which means change management.

If you’ve ever implemented an ERP or MRP system from scratch, you know the drill. Cloud “migrations” demand the same discipline.

What Leaders Must Do

Falling for the “simple upgrade” myth sets an organization up for disaster. Instead, approach the cloud migration like this:

1. Treat the cloud project as a re-implementation. Budget, staff resources, and schedule time accordingly.
2. Invest in change management. Your people need support, not surprises. Day-to-day tasks will likely shift and this can impact roles across the board.
3. Plan for testing and training. Don’t skip the hard work. Factor in time for testing and the preparation required to train your team so they can be successful.

The vendor fairy tale works because it caters to what organizations want to hear. “Push a button and you’re done” is comforting because it lets leaders believe a decade of customization and patchwork processes can magically come along for the ride. That would be nice… but don’t buy the story. Be prepared ahead of time for change and it’ll be less of a shock when it actually happens.

At Trenegy, we help organizations prepare for and implement systems and the people and process changes that come with it. To chat more, email us at info@trenegy.com.