ActiveEon | Smart Migration services

There are several reasons for migrating from a legacy scheduler solution

Features

The existing solution misses crucial new features.

Modern UI

You are looking for modern solutions.

Compatibility

Compatibility with new applications is stretched at best.

Clouds & Containers

Compatibility with new technology (cloud, containers) is not solid.

Expensive support

Outdated software costs too much to maintain.

New business needs

New business users demand quick access to IT services.

ActiveEon migration process

The key to a successful legacy system transformation is to find a way to gradually, piece by piece, replace your existing systems with newer systems that closely match the business need and give you a competitive edge.

The ActiveEon converting tool is tailored to communicate with the current solution and solicits details on the jobs, schedules, resources, and other specifics about the job streams running today.

To ensure a successful migration from legacy system jobs to ActiveEon’s solution workflows, we will set up a project with a process-driven approach, mainly composed of the following phases:

Data Collection

Parsing & Conversion

Optimization

Syntactic Check

DATA COLLECTION

To initiate the migration, the first step will be to collect the data, which could be, in the case of an AutoSys job, different types of files, JILs, Calendars, Machines, Global Variables. At this step, we examine the company organizational structure, and we review the batch documentation standards.
Afterward, we gather data in order to create:

Job scripts to support identifying embedded legacy job scheduler utilities.
A list of service accounts used with the jobs.
A list of non-expired service accounts used with the jobs.
A list of privileged service accounts used with the jobs.
A list of privileged non-expired service accounts used with the jobs.

The diagram below presents the migration process from a legacy job scheduler, in this case AutoSys scheduler, to ActiveEon’s solution workflow.

ActiveEon diagram migration process from job scheduler

PARSE & ANALYZE INPUT DATA

Once the data collection process is done, the next step is to parse and analyze the input data, understand, and evaluate the current scheduling solution followed by finalization of the new workload automation environment.
The aim of this step is to analyze the data collected in the previous step and to identify equivalent ActiveEon workflows implementation.

RUN CONVERSION

The next step, after collecting and parsing data from the input files, is to run the conversion tool. The program will run in order to produce ActiveEon objects (Workflows, Scripts, Rules, Calendar’s definition and Calendars association) by converting to the equivalent ActiveEon Workflows implementation. During this process, there is zero business impact and near-zero downtime.

picture of people working with computers to optimize

OPTIMIZATION

The one mistake we hear about failing migrations is the belief that a simple shift and lift strategy will do the job.

In fact, when companies desire to move from legacy systems to ActiveEon, they expect improvement in their processes and simplification in the daily operation.

This is the reason why during the optimization phase, we are able to review all elements that the conversion tool provides and drastically improve the automation structure and reduce the number of jobs by at least 40%.

SYNTACTIC VERIFICATION

1% of the workflows need to be syntactically checked. For this reason, we have included a Syntactic verification step. This is a manual process where the workflows are manually checked to ensure a much better precision of the converting process.

We will identify test cases required to validate conversion and load ActiveEon workflows into a test environment. A very important step that we have integrated is to verify the functional equivalence of ActiveEon workflows. The results of the manual tests will be verified, and we will stub any applications that are not available in the test environment.

EXECUTION & FUNCTIONAL VALIDATION

In the last 2 steps, Execution Validation and Functional Validation, together with the client, we will perform a functional validation. Working together with the client will ensure better efficiency and allow the client to have a transparent overview of the entire process.

At the end of this process, there will be a transition to cover legacy system jobs into the production server.

Launch & Early Life Support

The moment of truth has arrived. The new platform has been fully developed and is ready for delivery. This phase is, without question, the most exciting time yet in this transformative journey. Before the final release, the project team, developers, governance team, security and compliance, and other key stakeholders will reassemble to determine timing, resources, and steps to finally launch the ActiveEon platform into production.

There are key steps that must be considered during this phase:

Final data migration schedule – This step ensures that all required data is migrated at the time of release to eliminate the possibility of data loss during the transition.

Closure of all open records in the legacy solution – All tasks and jobs should be resolved and closed in the legacy platform, if possible. Alternatively, the team may have decided that existing processes may continue to be handled in the legacy system for a set period, and all new records will be created in ActiveEon.

Release schedule – This step involves determining the best time to fully transition to the ActiveEon Platform.

Communication Plan – This step ensures that the entire IT department is aware of the release and allows for feedback and open dialogue with stakeholders to ensure maximum buy-in.

Training – Ensure that everyone is familiar with the new way of working and that all users understand how to make the jump to the ActiveEon Platform.

System testing – A key step where QA tests on the production system are defined and scheduled to ensure a smooth deployment.

Change Management – Documenting the request for change, approaching the change authority to assess and schedule the change, and garnering final authorization to launch the platform must take place.

Release and Deployment – The final step to launching the ActiveEon Platform and fully transitioning from your legacy system to ActiveEon.

Smart migration services

There are several reasons for migrating from a legacy scheduler solution

How to successfully migrate to ActiveEon

Understanding of customers need first

A migration tool for speeding up the process