Keys to a Successful, Modern Migration Strategy

There is a revolution going on in IT and application development, and flexibility and efficiency are at the core of this change. Legacy systems cannot keep up, and the only way to maintain or thrive in this new environment is to buy, whole-heartedly, into modern IT options. Taking advantage of these modern options requires a move from an on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, and savvy business leaders know it. These same leaders are asking themselves: How will our customers make this transition with us? What will they need to successfully sign in? What are our options for moving all these customer profiles? What happens to their passwords? How long will this transition take?

Do you recognize these questions? You’re far from alone. Many companies are making the shift to the cloud and experiencing the pain of the transition it requires. Born in the cloud, Okta is a leader in helping companies to make this transition with as little friction as possible. The following provides tips on making this transition safely and seamlessly.

Moving to a new service! What could go wrong?

Moving your organization to an entirely new platform may seem like a daunting task. Customer identity is not only at the heart of your customer user base, it’s also key to the overall user experience. Facilitating a frictionless migration is key to keeping your customers happy and engaged with your service. When working with millions of user profiles, the simplest of mistakes can escalate to a catastrophic event.

User migrations that “go bad” usually stem from inadequate planning. Such failures are usually due to a lack of understanding in some key areas: a. Where user profiles reside, b. their current state and c. getting those users from point A to point B.

But, since you’ll be working with customer PII and credentials, there’s also a security component. Failure to protect this sensitive data can lead to breaches, which, as the headlines exclaim, could potentially cause you to lose credibility with your customers and any prospects.

Tech is a moving target and expectations are high

Today’s technology stage is continually shifting. Customers demand everything at their fingertips, and the expectation is that each device is instantly and seamlessly synced. Legacy systems are not designed for this, so a shift to modern systems in inevitable. Most midsize to enterprise companies will need to migrate their user base at some point in time. Failure to implement the appropriate technology to serve demand could result in heavy business losses.

Migration should be seamless and secure

At Okta, we understand that every customer has a unique architecture, and each comes with its own set of requirements. For this reason, Okta offers several methods of migration for your customers. With a wide range of options available to fit your needs, migration can be a relative breeze. Whether you’re migrating from an on-premises legacy system such as Active Directory/LDAP, a database, or another identity provider, Okta has a solution and options designed for your needs.

Ready to migrate?

Moving to a new platform should not disrupt your admin or user experience, and done properly, it won’t. For details, see the Okta User Migration Guide, and explore the full breadth of available options when migrating to Okta.