DATA

CONVERSION
PLAN

VERSION 1.0
 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

This template was created to enable departments to more easily develop

their project plans. The Department of Technology, Consulting and
Planning Division, created this template based on its experiences. The
template relies on industry best practices combined with decades of
experience on California state information technology projects. The way it
was structured is to enable a department to complete the information
related to its project without having to write background information
related to the discipline. A department may use as much or as little of the
template as it wishes.
Template Instructions:
Instructions for completing this template written for the author
of the project plan - are encased in [ ] and the text is italicized and
bolded.
Examples are provided as a guideline to the type of sample
information presented in each section and the text is italicized.
Boilerplate standard language for each section is written in the
document font and may be used or modified, as necessary.
A departments project specific information goes within the brackets
<< >>.
Informational text is italicized within square brackets [ ] for
informational purposes to the person who has to create the plan and
includes background information, explanation, rationale, etc.

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

APPROVAL SIGNATURES
Example:

CONTRACTOR DATE

<<Deliverable Owner>> <<Signature>>

<<John Doe, Manager>>
<<Vendor Project Manager>> <<Signature>>

<<Vendor Managing <<Signature>>

Director>>

State project manager

Date <<Date>> To <<PM NAME>>, Project Manager

: :
I approve this deliverable and have no further questions or
comments.
I approve this deliverable conditionally, contingent on the review and
approval of the following corrections (see comments).
I reject this deliverable for the following reasons identified (see
comments).

<<SIGNATURE>> <<DATE>>

Comments

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

DOCUMENT HISTORY
DOCUMENT APPROVAL HISTORY

Prepared By
Reviewed By
Approved By <<Typically the Project Sponsor>>

DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY

Date Document Revision Description Author

Version
5/1/2014 1.0 Initial Version Shawn Nguyen

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................1
1.1. CONVERSION OVERVIEW....................................................................3

2. PROJECT DEFINITION................................................................7
2.1. PURPOSE OF DATA CONVERSION PLAN...............................................7
2.2. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.....................................................................7
2.3. SCOPE OF DATA CONVERSION............................................................8
2.3.1............................................................................................ INCLUSIONS
9
2.3.2........................................................................................... EXCLUSIONS
9
2.4. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS..............................................................9
2.5. CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA...............................................11
2.5.1..................................................DEFINE DATA ERROR SEVERITY LEVELS
12
2.5.2..............................................................DEFINE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
12
2.6. ASSUMPTIONS, CONSTRAINTS, AND RISKS.......................................13
2.6.1........................................................................................ ASSUMPTIONS
13
2.6.2......................................................................................... CONSTRAINTS
15
2.6.3...................................................................................................... RISKS
15
2.6.4...................................................................RISK MITIGATION STRATEGY
17
2.7. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY.............................................................18

3. CONVERSION REQUIREMENTS.................................................20
3.1. BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS...............................20
3.2. TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE CONSIDERATIONS.................22
3.3. DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.................................24
3.4. CONVERSION DATA SOURCES...........................................................24

4. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS.........................................25

5. DATA CLEANSING...................................................................29

6. CONVERSION APPROACH........................................................32
6.1. METHODS OF CONVERSION..............................................................32
6.2. DATA MAPPING..................................................................................34
6.3. DATA EXTRACTION AND STAGING PROCESS.....................................36

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6.4. DATA TRANSFORMATION AND LOADING PROCESS............................38

6.5. SYNCHRONIZATION PROCESS...........................................................40
6.6. CONVERSION REVERSAL STRATEGY..................................................40
6.7. DATA CONVERSION SCHEDULE.........................................................41
6.8. DATA CONVERSION MILESTONES......................................................41
6.9. CONVERSION STANDARDS AND CONVENTIONS................................43
6.9.1.............................................................................. DESIGN STANDARDS
43
6.9.2.............................................................................. CODING STANDARDS
43
6.9.3..........................................................................NAMING CONVENTIONS
44
6.9.4................................................................................. CHANGE CONTROL
44
6.9.5................................................................................ VERSION CONTROL
44
6.10. DATA CONVERSION ENVIRONMENTS...........................................45

7. CONVERSION PROJECT TEAM...................................................47

7.1.1....................................................................................... STAFFING PLAN
47
7.1.2.............................................................TEAM ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
47
7.1.3...............................................................ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
48

8. DATA QUALITY STRATEGY........................................................49

8.1. CONVERSION UNIT TESTING.............................................................50
8.2. DATA USABILITY TESTING..................................................................51
8.3. MOCK CONVERSIONS........................................................................51
8.4. DATA VALIDATION AND RECONCILIATION (DVR)................................53
8.5. DATA ERROR RESOLUTION PROCESS................................................56

9. CONVERSION IMPLEMENTATION..............................................57
9.1. APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION......................................................57
9.2. CONVERSION CUTOVER PROCESS....................................................59
9.3. IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING & CONSIDERATIONS............................60
9.4. DATA CERTIFICATION.........................................................................62

10. POST-CONVERSION SUPPORT..................................................64

10.1. IDENTIFY POST-CONVERSION DATA ISSUES................................64
10.2. RESOLVE POST-CONVERSION DATA ISSUES.................................64
10.3. DECOMMISSIONING AND MONITORING.......................................65

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

APPENDIX A............CONSIDERATIONS FOR COTS, MOTS, AND CUSTOM

A-1

APPENDIX B......................................................................... LIST OF ARTIFACTS

B-1
B.01.Conversion Design Decision template............................................B-1
B.02.Data Conversion Terms and Definitions..........................................B-1
B.03.Data Dictionary Template...............................................................B-1
B.04.Data Mapping Template.................................................................B-1
B.05.Data Quality Issue Log template....................................................B-1

APPENDIX C............................................................. DATA CONVERSION TEAM

C-1
C.01.Conversion Roles and Responsibilities - Definition.........................C-1
C.02.Conversion Roles and Responsibilities RACI Chart.......................C-1

APPENDIX D......................................................................... TABLE OF FIGURES

D-1

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

1.INTRODUCTION
[This template is the result of experience and research of best practices
concerning data migration/conversion. It is intended to provide a high-level
overview for those individuals who are not familiar with data conversion and
to serve as a guide or reference for those who are familiar with data
conversion and/or who are in the process of developing a data conversion
plan for the project at hand. Throughout the document, the terms convert
and transform, as well as, migration and conversion are used
interchangeably.]
[Virtually everything in business today is an undifferentiated commodity,
except how a company manages its information. How you manage
information determines whether you win or lose." Bill Gates.
Data conversions are a leading cause of schedule and quality issues in
enterprise application implementations. Research from several sources,
including Gartner, confirms that over 80% of data conversion efforts either
fail outright or suffer significant cost overruns and delays. As a result, they
jeopardize any other IT projects that depend on them. Some of the key
challenges for data conversion are:
Lack of staff with data conversion expertise.
Lack of clearly established and realistic data conversion requirements,
key stakeholder expectations, and data conversion acceptance
criteria.
Lack of documented and/or refined business rules.
Lack of data governance.
Lack of relevant business subject matter expert involvement.
Target system data models that change during the conversion effort.
Converted data was either validated only at the end and/or tested only
with a subset of the data.
Data conversion planning and scoping were done without a clear
understanding of the data architecture and data quality of the legacy
systems from which data is to be migrated.]

As depicted in Figure 1-1, data conversion is the process whereby data from
its current sources (e.g., existing legacy systems, hardcopies, document
images, etc.) is extracted, transformed, and loaded to a new system. For
most state departments, data conversion is often part of a larger legacy
system modernization project; it involves multiple databases, file structures,
utilities, toolsets, different computer languages, and computer operating
systems. Because it is a complex and time consuming process, data

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

conversion is one of the most critical elements associated with a successful

system implementation. Furthermore, data is a critical business asset; it is
the foundation of valuable intellectual property and the lifeblood of every
organization. Thus, unless valid, complete, accurate, and compatible data
components are available in the new system, the new system simply cannot
be useful regardless of how friendly the user interface is that was designed,
how streamlined the processes implemented, or the amount of effort
exhausted during the development of the new system.

FIGURE 1-1: DATA CONVERSION PROCESS OVERVIEW

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

1.1. CONVERSION OVERVIEW

This section provides an overview of the key aspects of a data conversion
effort. The document will discuss each of these aspects in more detail in the
subsequent sections.
[Although data conversion is simple in concept, it can be surprisingly
complex and time-consuming due to many reasons, including the challenges
stated in the previous section. Therefore, in order to increase the chances of
success on a data conversion effort, it is necessary to establish and follow a
strategy with clearly defined phases, processes, and milestones along the
way. Entry and exit criteria should be defined for each phase, process, and
milestone..

FIGURE 1-2: DATA CONVERSION METHODOLOGY FRAMEWORK

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

The data conversion process follows a typical software development lifecycle

with the addition of steps for current environment analysis and mock
conversion runs. As shown in Figure 1-2, a typical data conversion project
consists of preparation and planning, analysis and design, conversion build,
conversion testing, mock conversions, conversion cutover, and support.

Figure 1-2 also provides a methodology framework for data conversion. It

lays out the logical building blocks that are essential to a data conversion
effort. Each of these building blocks consists of a set of activities or
processes which span across multiple phases of the data conversion
lifecycle. Many of these activities happen concurrently or in an iterative
manner but they are all pivotal to the successful implementation of data
conversion. The following provides a high-level description for each of these
building blocks:
Current Environment Analysis
The purpose of current environment analysis is to assess whether the
data migration is viable, how much time it will require, what technology it
will need, and what potential issues the project team will have to face. In
addition, it is to understand where and how the data is stored, backed up,
and archived, along with identifying data quality issues and how they will
impact the data conversion effort. Also analyzed at this point are the
interfaces, network connections between data points, bandwidth and
controls, and data security. Furthermore, this is where a detailed data
dictionary, business rules, high-level source-to-target mapping
specifications, and conceptual and logical data models are developed.
Conversion Requirements
Conversion requirements are identified in an effort to understand:
What data will be migrated?
How much downtime is acceptable for the current production
systems?
Are new or modified service-level agreements required?
What are the expectations for the target data storage
infrastructure?
What are the organizations standards or policies concerning data?
What historical data is to be migrated?
Are there any technological aspects of the current environments,
conversion environments, and/or target environments that need to
be considered?

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

Data Conversion Effort Definition

Information produced by current environment analysis and conversion
requirements is essential to solidifying the planning and scoping of
conversion activities; it enables the project to further refine and solidify
data conversion scope, goals, assumptions, risks, and expectations,
timelines, and acceptance criteria. Furthermore, it gives visibility into the
work involved, which enables the project to effectively plan and properly
allocate necessary staffing resources to support the data conversion
strategies outlined in this plan.
In addition, information produced by the previous activities also provides
clarity on the current systems data quality issues which enables the
project to analyze what impact these will have on the data conversion
effort and, ultimately, on the business if not addressed before the target
system is implemented.
To the data cleansing effort, this information provides the data cleansing
team understanding of various types of data issues present in the current
legacy systems and the data population associated with each data error
type. This enables the team to determine proper correction approaches
to effectively address data errors.
Conversion Approach
This is where strategies and processes for data extract, transformation,
and load are analyzed and determined using the information provided by
the current environment analysis and conversion requirements.
Conversion methods are carefully studied; detailed source-to-target data
mapping specifications and conversion design specifications are
developed, conversion environments including staging area are modeled,
and data quality strategy is examined and planned.
Data Quality Strategy
As design specifications are completed and approved, conversion
processes and conversion programs are developed accordingly; data is
then extracted, transformed, and loaded to conversion data storage, and
unit testing occurs. Results produced by these conversion processes and
programs are then tested at several levels to identify problems as well as
to ensure accuracy and completeness of the conversion process. This is
an iterative process, which continues until all necessary conversion
processes and conversion programs are developed and successfully
tested.

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

Once all conversion processes and conversion programs are successfully

tested, mock conversions or trial runs of the actual conversion process
are conducted in a pre-production environment. The purpose of mock
conversions is to identify and resolve any conversion program issues and
configuration problems ahead of time.
In addition, mock conversions provide the project opportunities for
independent data validation of the actual data volumes. Furthermore,
mock conversions enable the project to assess data conversion readiness
for cutover as well as verifying and ensuring that the conversion process
can be finished within the timeframe allocated for data conversion
cutover.
Conversion Implementation
Conversion implementation involves evaluating different implementation
approaches, defining and planning the conversion cutover process, and
establishing the data certification process that will be used to facilitate
conversion implementation.

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

Post Conversion Support

Once conversion readiness is achieved, the final data conversion is
executed. Results are then validated and loaded into the new target
production system. Data certification is conducted to ensure data
conversion meets the established acceptance criteria.
After data conversion cutover is successfully implemented, inevitably
data issues will be uncovered and the number of data issues may be
greater than originally anticipated. Post-migration support plan is
implemented and post-conversion support staff will begin the process of
identifying, recording, and resolving data issues. This is also the time
where data conversion decommissioning activities and data quality
monitoring activities begin to take place.]

2.PROJECT DEFINITION
This section describes the purpose of the data conversion plan, goals and
objectives, scope of data conversion, critical success factors, acceptance
criteria, assumptions, constraints, and risks associated with the plan for
achieving the goals and objectives.

2.1. PURPOSE OF DATA CONVERSION PLAN

[Describe the purpose of the data conversion plan and provide
pertinent information about the systems undergoing conversion;
summarize the scope of activities that resulted in its development
and state who the intended audience is for this document]
The purpose of this data conversion plan is to describe the strategy,
preparation, and specifications for migrating existing <<legacy systems>>
data to the <<target system>> data store. This is intended to provide not
only a roadmap for performing data conversion, but also a means to discuss
assumptions, risks, limitations, constraints, and essential processes that will
be used in the process of data conversion.
The intended audience of this data conversion plan is <<key data
stakeholders, project leaders who sign off the plan and the data conversion
project team>>

2.2. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

[Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail
with no destination.- Fitzhugh Dodson.
There must be specific goals and objectives that the project intends to
achieve through the implementation of this data conversion plan. Primarily,
the goals and objectives of this effort may be that:
All data needed to support the following core business processes in the
new target system must be converted and migrated from the identified
legacy systems to the target system completely and accurately, as
compared to the source, and in accordance with department and
regulatory policies on information controls and security. Furthermore,
converted data must be compatible with the target application. This
means there are no dropped or incomplete records, and converted
data must work well with the target application.
Data conversion process must be completed within the allotted
timeframe during the conversion cutover.
The quality of converted data must meet or exceed the established
conversion acceptance criteria.]

[Describe the goals and objectives that the project intends to

achieve through the implementation of this data conversion plan.]
The objective of this data conversion effort is the migration of data from
<<legacy systems>> to <<the target system>> to support core business
processes in the new target system.
The underlying goal of this data conversion effort is to populate the new
target system with data necessary to support core business processes. The
core business processes to be supported by the conversion of data from
<<legacy systems>> to the <<new target system>> are:
<<core business process>>
<<core business process>>
<<core business process>>

2.3. SCOPE OF DATA CONVERSION

[In order to increase the accuracy of data conversion scoping, it is important
that the data conversion team fully understands the current legacy
environment from which data is to be extracted and converted prior to
finalizing the scope of data conversion. This is best achieved with a

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

comprehensive analysis of the current legacy environment, which will

provide the data conversion team the following benefits:
Visibility of all the data sources in order to identify and plan to address
any potential problems.
Choice of conversion method being properly determined and optimized
based on the state of the source data.
All data conversion related decisions being made based on proven
facts rather than assumptions, theories, or previous experience.
Scoping, planning, mapping, building, testing, validation, and cutover
activities all being determined based on a thorough and accurate
assessment of all the source data rather than theories or previous
experience.

Scope is a set of boundaries that defines the extent of the data conversion
effort. These boundaries determine what falls inside or outside the data
conversion effort. Activities that fall inside the boundaries are considered in
scope and are planned for in the schedule and budget. If an activity falls
outside the boundaries, it is considered out of scope and is not planned.
This can be done by defining what the project will deliver.
As a reminder, scope of data conversion should address all aspects that are
related to data conversion, not just the development of conversion programs
and processes alone. For example, data validation, data cleansing, and post-
conversion support should be considered. Therefore, it is imperative that the
scope of data conversion is clearly defined at the outset of data conversion
to prevent scope creep, which might reduce the projects chances of
success. Since many state department data conversion efforts are part of a
larger legacy system modernization project, the scope of data conversion
concentrates on migrating the data from multiple legacy source systems to a
single target system, and includes interfaces and reports.]
[Define the scope of the data conversion effort. The scope should
include all pertinent information to enable the data conversion team
to properly plan for the level of effort, the timeline, and the
resources needed to accomplish tasks as well as to help identify
dependencies and potential risks.]

2.3.1. INCLUSIONS
[If needed, this section can be used to specifically describe all the major
components that are included in the scope of the data conversion effort.]

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The following items are included in the scope of the data conversion effort:
in-scope items notes

<< Item 1>> <<Notes>>

<< Item 2>> <<Notes>>

2.3.2. EXCLUSIONS
[If needed, this section can be used to specifically describe all the major
components that are NOT included in the scope of the data conversion
effort.]
The following items are excluded from the scope of the data conversion
effort:
Out-of-scope items notes

<< Item 1>> <<Notes>>

<< Item 2>> <<Notes>>

2.4. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

[Success factors are elements within the structure and context of the project
that are conducive to success. Although their presence will not guarantee
success, their absence will increase the probability of failure. Successful
projects are those that embrace and apply the guiding principles of
maximizing opportunities and mitigating risks. The following are some
factors that are pivotal to the success of a data conversion effort:
Key goals and objectives of data conversion are clearly defined.
Comprehensive analysis of the content, quality, and structure of the
legacy source data is performed prior to finalizing the project scope.
Data conversion is done as an independent project.
Data conversion plan is well prepared, approved, and followed. It is
realistic and can be implemented, specific and can be tracked or
measured against, and fit to achieve the objectives; it also clearly
identifies relevant assumptions and realistic risks.
Data conversion acceptance criteria and expectations are clearly
established at the outset and managed throughout the process.
Importance of business data and data quality are determined through
the coordination with business owners and stakeholders.

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Validation of converted data is independently performed by a separate

team.
Source and target data, and business requirements, are clearly
articulated and understood.
Individuals, including IT staff, with institutional knowledge and
expertise of legacy data are identified and actively involved
throughout the project. Documentation concerning legacy system(s) is
gathered or created, if not available.
Roles and responsibilities of the data conversion team are clearly
defined, communicated, and understood.]

[Identify all relevant success factors that are pivotal to your data
conversion effort.]
The following success factors are considered pivotal to the success of the
data conversion effort.
1. <<Success factor 1>>
2. <<Success factor 2>>
3. <<Success factor 3..>>
2.5. CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
This section defines the conditions that must be met in order for the
converted data to be considered ready for cutover.
[Begin with the end in mind. - Stephen R. Covey.
It is nearly impossible to have all records migrated from source to target
with no functional, reconciliation, or compatibility data errors by the time of
system cutover. Therefore, working with the key data stakeholders to
formally establish the data conversion acceptance criteria at the outset is
crucial to the success of data conversion. Prior to the final data conversion
execution, if the data errors found are within the tolerance boundaries of the
established acceptance criteria, key data stakeholders can make a decision
to cutover operations to the new system. However, if the data errors found
are beyond the tolerance boundaries, key data stakeholders can decide to
postpone the cutover, continue operations on the source system until the
data errors are addressed, or go forward with the cutover as scheduled and
address the data errors post conversion.
Therefore, the best place to begin the data conversion effort is with
acceptance criteria. Acceptance criteria are a list of conditions that must be
met in order for the converted data to be considered ready for cutover.

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Acceptance criteria have to be clearly defined; ideally they should be SMART:

- Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, and Time bound.
The first step in establishing acceptance criteria is to prioritize the
importance of the data. Not all business processes are prioritized equally and
neither is the data within each business function. Therefore, data needs to
be prioritized by business function and then by data classifications, groups,

FIGURE 2-3: DATA CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

or types as conceptually illustrated in Figure 2-3.

Pay careful attention to the data volume associated with each business
function, the severity level, and its corresponding acceptance criteria
because the number of records for 1% of 15 million records is very different
than that of a half million-record dataset. Acceptance criteria are one of the
key factors in determining the feasibility of the data conversion effort.
Furthermore, by having the data conversion acceptance criteria clearly
defined from the beginning, the data conversion team is better able to
measure and monitor the progress of the data conversion effort along the
way.]

2.5.1. DEFINE DATA ERROR SEVERITY LEVELS

[Define the level of each severity to be used as part of acceptance
criteria for data conversion. The Figure 2-4: definition of data error
severity levels is an example which can be tailored for the current
project.]

DEFINITION OF DATA ERROR SEVERITY LEVELS

SEVERIT SEVERITY DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
Y LEVEL

Severity Defect prevents <<business function>> from Failure to convert an employee

1 rendering critical business services accurately demographic and employment data
to its employees and Business Partners.
thereby preventing the employee from
No work-around, as acceptable to the receiving correct employment benefits.

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

DEFINITION OF DATA ERROR SEVERITY LEVELS

SEVERIT SEVERITY DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
Y LEVEL
<<project leadership team>> ,is available and
service cannot be rendered until the defect is
resolved.

Severity Defect prevents <<business function>> from Incorrect application of rules to create
2 rendering critical business services accurately offset transactions resulting in an
to its employees and Business Partners.
inaccurate account balance.
An acceptable workaround was provided and
approved by the <<project leadership team>>. Workaround: users should use the
Detailed Account screen to manually enter
adjustment transactions.

Severity Defect does not prevent current services from Incorrect data types and data defects
being rendered accurately by <<Department>> to
3 pertaining to old data used for
its employees and Business Partners.
reporting/inquiry purposes only.
FIGURE 2-4: DEFINITION OF DATA ERROR SEVERITY LEVELS

2.5.2. DEFINE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

[Define the acceptance criteria in terms of maximum tolerance as a
percentage of converted data volume for each severity level within
a given business function. These acceptance criteria, besides being
used for determining whether the converted data is ready for
cutover, may be used to evaluate and monitor the progress of the
data conversion process along the way. The Figure 2-5 is an
example which can be tailored for the current project.]

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
Business function (ranked) Severity MAXIMUM TOLERANCE AS %
OF CONVERTED DATA VOLUME
1st Priority Business Function 1 0.0%
(Data Volume: ####) 2 0.3%
3 1.0%

2nd Priority Business Function 1 0.1%

(Data Volume: ####) 2 0.4%
3 1.5%
FIGURE 2-5: DATA CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

2.6. ASSUMPTIONS, CONSTRAINTS, AND RISKS

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

This section describes the relevant assumptions, constraints, and risks

concerning the scope, strategies, and goals of the data conversion effort.
[Most projects would never be able to get off the ground if they had to wait
until every resource is available to begin. Therefore, assumptions,
constraints, and risks form the basis for project planning and filling in the
gaps between known facts and guesswork.
Each constraint is a limiting condition, event, or circumstance, setting
limits for the project. Constraints limit successful project execution.
Constraints must be identified and incorporated into the project plan to
ensure that the plan is realistic.
Each assumption is a likely condition, event, or circumstance
accepted as true without absolute certainty. Assumptions bring
possibilities and allow the project to proceed. Assumptions must be
analyzed and monitored to ensure validity and relevancy as the project
proceeds.
Risk may be defined as the chance or probability of something (e.g., a
wrong assumption) that has the potential to cause the data conversion
effort to fail or fail to meet one or more of its planned objectives such
as scope, schedule, cost, or quality.
Defining assumptions, constraints, and risks is essential to project
planning process. They are used to define and shape tasks,
interrelationships, priority, schedules, effort, and resource and budget
allocations.]

2.6.1. ASSUMPTIONS
[Consider the following assumptions as some of them may be relevant to
your current project:
All severity 1 and 2 data exceptions originating from source data will
be cleansed by the data cleanup team before the scheduled final data
conversion execution.
At the minimum, one key business subject matter expert per business
domain will be available within 24 hours of the request.
All environments (legacy, staging, and target) are fully documented
(conceptual/logical data models, physical data model, business rules,
and interfaces), available, and accessible by the data conversion team
as scheduled.
Only client records with active status as previously defined and
agreed upon will be migrated over to new application system.

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

A comprehensive and up-to-date data dictionary of the legacy data is

available.
A final set of relevant business rules will be made available to the data
conversion team prior to the currently scheduled start date of the data
conversion build phase.
A draft version of the target data model will be made available to the
data conversion team prior to the currently scheduled start date of
data analysis and mapping, and the final version of the target data
model is due before the currently scheduled date of the first mock
conversion.
Independent data validation is not within the scope of the data
conversion teams responsibilities.
Only severity 1 and 2 data exceptions are required to be addressed
before commencing the next data mock conversion.
Data obfuscation is not within the scope of the data conversion teams
responsibilities.]

[Describe any relevant assumptions with respect to scope,

strategies, and goals of the data conversion effort, particularly level
of effort, schedule, resources, budget, dependencies, and quality
control.]
The following assumptions are made with regards to the <<project >> and
must be taken into consideration prior to the data conversion effort
beginning.
assumptions level of impact

<<First Assumption>>

<<Second Assumption>>

2.6.2. CONSTRAINTS

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

[Constraints are limitations on the project. Typically, these include budget

limitations, delivery deadlines, and contractual constraints. Some of the
following constraints may be applicable to your project:
Data requirements and definitions may require clarification by Subject
Matter Experts (SMEs).
Expertise in legacy data may be limited or unavailable due to lack of
documentation (e.g., data dictionary) or more pressing priorities such
as production support.
Availability of SMEs may be limited or unavailable due to competing
demands on their time.
Quality control process and security requirements add additional time
related overhead]
[Describe any constraints that could have a significant impact on
the data conversion effort, particularly with respect to effort,
schedule, resources, budget, dependencies, and quality control.]
The following constraints have been identified concerning the <<project>>
and must be taken into consideration prior to the data conversion effort
beginning.

constraints severity level

<<First Constraint>>
<<Second Constraint>>

2.6.3. RISKS
[Risk may be defined as the chance or probability of something that has the
potential to cause the data conversion effort to fail or fail to meet one or
more of its planned objectives such as scope, schedule, cost, or quality.
There are many risks inherently associated with moving data between
computer systems or storage formats, not to mention the types and number
of risks that may be involved in transforming and migrating huge volumes of
data with many years of history from multiple sources and platforms, and in
various storage formats, to a new computer system storage format.
Therefore, it is important that all relevant risks are identified at the outset so
that they can be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed and mitigated.
The following are some of the risks that may be relevant to the current
project:
The data conversion plan may not be feasible to achieve the expected
goals and objectives because data conversion scoping was based
entirely on theory and previous experience.

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Data conversion effort may not be able to meet the planned schedule
because the quality of source data is unknown.
Legacy data architecture artifacts may be unavailable or incomplete.
The expense of overtime may be required to perform certain steps
during non-business hours to reduce impact on the current production
system.
The team may encounter incompatible software, hardware, and/or
processes due to: multiple operating systems or vendors, or format
incompatibilities (Database Management System (DBMS) to DBMS,
DBMS to Operating System, etc.)
Data conversion effort may not be able to achieve the expected goals
and objectives because the existing data conversion team does not
have the necessary level of skills and experience to effectively execute
the required tasks.
Integrity and quality of the converted data may be compromised due
to lack of data governance.
Data quality of the target system may not meet the departmental
standards due to lack of properly defined business rules.
Data quality of the target system may not meet the departmental
standards because independent data validation was not considered
part of the data conversion scope of work.
Source data may be inaccurately transformed and migrated due to
lack of involvement of key business subject matter experts.
Source data may be inaccurately mapped due to lack of or outdated
legacy system data dictionary.
Data quality of the target system may not meet the departmental
standards because only a subset of the converted data was tested.
Data conversion may not be ready for cutover as scheduled because
no data conversion dress rehearsal was planned and included as part
of the data conversion scope of work.
Converted data may not be compatible, useable, or processed by the
new application system because functional requirements and test were
not part of the data conversion scope of work.]
[Describe all relevant risks, their probability, and the level of
impact with respect to scope, strategies, and/or goals of the data
conversion effort, particularly any risks related to funding, staff
expertise and availability, schedule constraints, legacy environment
complexity, hardware and software (conversion tools) availability,
incompatibility between software and operating system, etc. The
following tables may be used for this purpose, if appropriate.]

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Probability rating description

High Likelihood > 80%

Medium 80% < Likelihood > 50%

Low 50% < Likelihood > 10%

impact level rating description

Catastrophic Failure of mission-critical services

Critical Significantly degraded project performance

Marginal Negligible

2.6.4. RISK MITIGATION STRATEGY

[It is important to detect and address risks, ideally during the planning phase
and design phase of the project as they are less costly now than those
discovered during the implementation phase.
For each anticipated risk that may jeopardize the successful completion of
the conversion project, the projects Data Conversion Management Team
needs to develop a contingency strategy, which is an alternate method of
accomplishing the same objective, or risk mitigation strategy, which is a
means of reducing the impact of undesired results.
If the data conversion project is part of the overall legacy system
modernization project, this risk mitigation strategy must be in alignment
with the overall development effort.
A successful data conversion effort requires the identification of relevant and
realistic risks as well as the mitigation of those risks to the business.
Identifying these risks (e.g., dependencies on other teams within the overall
project, minimal conversion expertise within the organization, or insufficient
understanding of source data) and opportunities (e.g., the best-fit and most
effective data conversion method) early in the project allows time and
opportunity to properly address and manage them and less disruption later.
The project team should consider the following options (if applicable) to
reduce risks:
Migrate only the data of active members/customers/applications/etc.
to target application.
Delay legacy system decommissioning to a later date.

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Address only severity 1 data quality issues before the final dress
rehearsal.
Analyze legacy data before finalizing the data conversion scope.
Establish a separate team to independently validate and ensure that
all data is migrated accurately and completely.
Ensure that the integrity of the converted data is maintained.
Ensure that a comprehensive set of business rules is gathered,
documented, and signed off by business domain SMEs. These must be
centrally located and shared among the data conversion team, data
clean-up team, and data validation team.
Ensure that acceptance criteria are clearly defined, measurable, and
signed off by key data stakeholders.
Ensure that data governance is established and dedicated to address
data issues related to the data conversion effort.
Prepare a detailed inventory of what data and systems architecture
exist, and identify any data issues relevant to the conversion during
the early phases of the project
Ensure all resource dependencies, such as access to and availability of
environments (legacy data, staging, and target system), tools,
software licenses, or personnel are thoroughly identified.
Identify and secure primary and secondary SMEs with knowledge of
and experience with the legacy data.
Schedule recurring risk identification and brainstorming sessions to
actively identify potential challenges and opportunities associated with
each data conversion deliverable and dependency during the planning
phase. This minimizes risks or challenges being introduced at later
phases and allows time to proactively address these challenges and
opportunities now.]
[Provide a mitigation strategy for each of the anticipated risks
identified. The following table may be used for this purpose.]

risks Probability impact level Mitigation

<<First Risk>> High/Medium/Low Catastrophic/Critical/

Marginal

<<Second Risk>> High/Medium/Low Catastrophic/Critical/

Marginal

2.7. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

[Communications pertaining to the data conversion effort need to be shared
among the data conversion team members, key data stakeholders, and

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external personnel (when necessary). It is important that all key data

stakeholders are consistently kept informed of the state of the data
conversion effort. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a communication
plan to identify what information to share, who the recipients are, when or
how often the information will be available (frequency/schedule), what
format it will be in, and how the information will be delivered.]
[List all the recipients, schedule, format, and delivery method of
each document prepared and shared as a result of the data
conversion effort. The following table may be used for this
purpose.]
The following are the documents that the project team will prepare and share
with the corresponding recipients according to the schedule, format, and
delivery method.
document recipient frequency/ format delivery
schedule method

Status Report Key data Weekly/ PDF Email

stakeholder Monthly
distribution list

Data Conversion
Deliverables

Data Profiling Findings

Data Cleansing Reports

Data Validation Reports

Escalation Procedures

Conversion Design
Decision

Business Rules

3.CONVERSION REQUIREMENTS
[Accurately defining and clearly understanding each business and technical
requirement for data conversion is crucial for by these requirements the
project team can determine what data to migrate, whether or not archive
data is included as it may require a different conversion strategy all by itself,
what acceptable downtime is to the business during cutover, etc. These
requirements may take the form of agreements, expectations, and/or
objectives of the conversion.]

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3.1. BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS

[The project team should consult with the business or key data stakeholders
and business SMEs to determine if there are any additional requirements
that they might impose above and beyond the technical and security
requirements. The following questions can be used to help determine
business requirements and expectations for the data conversion effort:
What are the source data (any historical data) to be migrated?
What is the size of the legacy source dataset?
How many source systems are involved?
Are there any specific data availability requirements and/or
performance Service Level Agreements (SLAs)?
Which data elements/datasets are most critical to the target
application system?
Are there any datasets or data categories that are not part of this
conversion?
Are there any production applications that may conflict with the
conversion?
If data conversion is a part of an overall legacy system modernization
project, the project team will need to know whether or not converted
data is expected to be used by the business during User Acceptance
Test (UAT), system readiness verification, reporting, and/or at any
other time during conversion. If the answer is yes, inherently there
will be additional workload that may have not have been accounted for
in the original data conversion scope since there are dependencies,
checkpoints, risks, assumptions, additional requirements (data volume,
types, data condition, readiness verification), timelines, resources, etc.
that the data conversion plan must consider.
Are there objectives for better data quality and/or greater technical
flexibility or stability?
What are the expectations regarding dirty data currently residing in
the legacy application systems?
What are the expectations concerning data exchange associated with
interfaces?
How much production downtime is acceptable to the business? This is
a window of time for the data conversion team to prepare for cutover.
(Depending on the duration allowed for downtime, this could result in
additional workload for the data conversion team to ascertain that all
final data conversion activities can fit within the cutover window.)
What are the expectations concerning processes to be used for data
conversion testing, data validation of mock conversion along the way,
and final data validation at cutover?

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What is the expected timeframe for the overall data conversion effort?
Are there any future business objectives that may require
considerations for growth and scalability?]

[Describe all relevant business requirements and expectations for

the data conversion effort. The following table may be used for this
purpose. ]

Business requirements & expectations priority

1 << Requirement/Expectation 1>>

2 << Requirement/Expectation 2>>

3 << Requirement/Expectation 3>>

3.2. TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

CONSIDERATIONS
This section describes the hardware and software that are necessary to
effectively facilitate data conversion activities.
[In every phase of the data conversion lifecycle, most of the work efforts
involved can be automated to some extent and in some cases automation is
the only method to meet or satisfy requirements and/or expectations.
Therefore, a clear understanding of the entire data conversion process will
help determine the best-fit technology to be used at each stage in the data
conversion process. Figure 3-6 attempts to associate each phase of the data
conversion process with a set of technology tools that are necessary to
achieving the work required. The technology tools outlined in the diagram
are specific to data management and most of these are commercially
available. The purpose of this diagram is to provide a high-level visibility
and understanding of the entire data conversion process in an effort to help
the project team properly determine the technology tools that are necessary
to effectively facilitate data conversion activities.
Areas to be considered in determining the best-fit conversion technology and
infrastructure for your project are:
Data profiling, data quality, data obfuscation, data modeling
Metadata management software (e.g., Altova MapForce, Astera )
Data Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL)
SQL Editor or Developer IDE software (e.g., TOAD, Visual SQL Editor)

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Data modeling and re-engineering tools (e.g., ERWIN, Database

Workbench, ER/Studio)
Performance, stress, and load testing tool
Certain data conversion software does not support legacy operating
systems or may not be compatible with the architecture of the staging
environment. Therefore, a clear understanding of the technology
infrastructure currently in place and any future requirements of the
target environment (e.g., such as scalability, extensibility, and
accessibility) will help shape decisions made during data conversion.
Data structures (i.e., how data is being stored) - are the data
structures to be used for target data identical or similar to the current
legacy data structures? This is one of the major factors that will affect
the time and complexity of the conversion effort.
Numbers of interfaces and changes to the Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI) specifications, network, and communication environment with
respect to the target system.
Network, hardware and software configuration, and network
communication protocols.
If staging environment will be used, what requirements have already
been defined and what recovery or failover requirements exist?
If there are expectations that data integrity will be monitored and
reported along the way, the project team will need to consider the
appropriate tools to help facilitate this activity.]

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FIGURE 3-6: TECHNOLOGY & INFRASTRUCTURE CONSIDERATIONS

[Define all the relevant conditions or capabilities to be satisfied by

technology.]

technology & infrastructure requirements priority

1 << Requirement 1>>

2 << Requirement 2>>

3 << Requirement 3>>

3.3. DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS

This section describes all relevant data security and privacy requirements to
which the data conversion effort must adhere. It also describes the process
to be used to ensure that data confidentiality will be protected throughout
the data conversion effort.

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[What are the organizations standards, practices, procedures, or policies

concerning data security and privacy? Specifically, to which of these must
the data conversion effort adhere? Areas to consider are:
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and
Security, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and
Protected Health Information (PHI) related policies, procedures, and/or
practices.
Standards and requirements regarding masking of PHI data.
If converted data is planned to be used during UAT, does the data need
to be obfuscated or masked? Understanding the requirements
concerning data security and privacy at the outset will help the data
conversion team to prepare, plan, and manage accordingly.]
[List all the relevant data security and privacy requirements that
the data conversion effort has to adhere to and describe the
process to be used to ensure that the confidentiality of data will be
protected and other activities such as validation and testing of
converted data are still enabled. The following table may be used
for this purpose.]

data security & privacy requirements priority

1 << Requirement 1>>

2 << Requirement 2>>

3 << Requirement 3>>

3.4. CONVERSION DATA SOURCES

The data sources identified and listed in the following table are considered to
be the only sources from which data will be extracted, transformed, and
loaded into the target system:
[Be sure the list of data sources from which the data will be extracted,
transformed, and loaded to the target system is clearly defined and
approved by signature of relevant stakeholders. Without having a clearly
defined and approved list of data sources with detailed description of each
data source, the data conversion plan is simply incomplete and inaccurate.
It is the responsibility of the project team to ensure that every data source,
whether it is an Oracle database or an MS Excel spreadsheet that users have
been using for years, is identified, clearly documented, and approved.]
[List all the data sources with pertinent details that are in scope for
data conversion. The following table may be used for this purpose.]

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

DATA SOURCE description

<< Name of Data Source 1 >> or Platform: Oracle, MS Access, MS Excel, ADABAS, VSAM, ETC
Volume/Population: # of tables & rows, # of records, etc
<< Dataset / Record set >>
Business Function(s):
Key contact:
Data Owner:
Notes:

<< Name of Data Source 2>> <<Description>>

4.CURRENT ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS

This section describes the strategy that will be used to gain visibility and
have clear understanding of the functional and technical aspects of the
current legacy environment.
[The ultimate security is your understanding of reality. - H. Stanley Judd.
Understanding both the functional and technical aspects of the current
environment is essential to the success of data conversion. This is one of
the key reasons that many data conversion projects end up taking far longer
than necessary or completely fail to deliver: a lack of essential detailed
analysis of the current environments during planning.
The process of gathering information about the current environment and
updating or creating documentation where required information is not
available can be very time consuming. However, the outcome of this
process is crucial to the success of the data conversion effort as it is the key
ingredient to scoping, planning, and decision making which directly affects
every aspect of the remaining phases of data conversion. Some of the key
information essential to the current environment analysis is:
ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
Identify and analyze the Logical Data Model (LDM) and Physical Data
Model (PDM) of source systems, including the data dictionaries for
each data element to be migrated. This information is necessary to
determine the current state of the data architecture for each source
system. The LDM represents the abstract structure of the business
data or information organized in terms of entities and relationships
involved in a business function, whereas the PDM presents the physical
structure of the actual data structure.
Review relevant information about every application or system (both
internal and external) interfacing with the source systems. This

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information is very important in coordinating downtime of the source

systems, testing, and cutover.
Identify known technical constraints of the source systems as well as
issues and/or concerns regarding data integrity and data quality of the
current source system that are expected to be resolved by the data
conversion effort.
Determine data retention policy, data access control, and security
requirements.
Network connection between data points (such as the source system
to production-copy environment; production-copy environment to
staging environment; staging environment to test environments; and
so on) need to be assessed and clearly understood particularly
bandwidth, schedule, and security controls.

DATA ANALYSIS
Perform data profiling analysis of the legacy source data.
Perform data quality assessment of the legacy source data based on
relevant and current business processes and business rules of the
current system and target system including any new or updated
changes. This process involves a number of tasks to be accomplished
in order to analyze the data, such as:
o Analyzing the target database structure.
o Collecting and analyzing samples of the legacy source data for
possible data discrepancies and potential problem areas. These
issues usually arise from missing fields, incomplete data,
duplicate data, incorrect data, or non-standard characters in
standard fields.
o Identifying any specific application business functionality that
may cause discrepancies in the conversion.
o Developing metrics and data audit and reconciliation reports
based on the quality of the legacy source data.

DATA PROFILING
Data profiling should be the first step of any data conversion project as it
is the most effective and practical way to have visibility and
understanding of the current data sources before any data conversion
planning activity begins. Error: Reference source not found provides an
example of a data profiling statistical analysis and assessment report.
Data profiling process assesses the data structures and data content of
the source systems to understand and determine any challenges

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regarding data integrity and relationships between data. Typically, there

are two types of data profiling:
Metadata standard profiling: analysis of the data structures in
place. The outcome of this activity can be used to evaluate compliance
with department-wide standards.
Content profiling: analysis of the data content. The outcome of this
activity reflects the quality of the content of the data captured and is
channeled to the data cleansing effort for resolution.

Figure 41: data profiling report

The major processes involved in data profiling include:

Column Analysis: provides critical metadata which is required in
order to perform functional dependency analysis, and as such, must be
executed before functional dependency analysis. Column analysis
provides important statistical properties for each column. This
information includes cardinality, selectivity, null value rates, most
common value, unique values, and value frequencies.
Functional Dependency Analysis: compares different columns in a
single row to determine if there are data dependencies between
different column values. Dependency profiling relates to the
normalization of a data source, and addresses whether or not there are
non-key attributes that determine or are dependent on other non-key
attributes. The existence of transitive dependencies here might be
evidence of second-normal form.

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Redundancy Analysis: Identifies overlapping values between tables.

This is typically used to identify candidate foreign keys within tables,
to validate attributes that should be foreign keys (but that might not
have constraints to enforce integrity), and to identify other areas of
data redundancy.
The purpose of gathering these statistics is to:
Provide metrics on data integrity, including whether the data conforms
to department standards.
Evaluate the risk involved in integrating data for the target system,
including the challenges of joins.
Evaluate whether metadata accurately describes the actual values in
the source database.
[Describe the strategy that will be used in order to gain visibility
and have clear understanding of the functional and technical
aspects of the legacy environment.]

5.DATA CLEANSING
This section describes the process that will be used to facilitating data
cleansing.
[Data cleansing is required to ensure that legacy system data conforms to
the rules of data conversion. This process may involve manual and/or
automatic updates to legacy system data. Data cleansing should be an
ongoing business activity and as long as the legacy systems are active,
there is the potential that previously cleansed data issues are reintroduced.

Figure 51: data cleansing framework

As shown in Error: Reference source not found, the data cleansing

framework consists of:

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Defining and determining error types.

Searching and identifying data error instances.
Performing impact analysis and assigning severity and priority.
Determining and implementing data correction approach.
It is recommended that data cleansing be performed in the legacy systems
prior to data conversion or in the target system post conversion if necessary.
Otherwise, it will be very difficult for data reconciliation if data cleansing is
performed while the data conversion process is underway.
The primary purpose of data cleansing with respect to data conversion is to
address first and foremost legacy data issues that will not work properly in
the target application. The work needs to be done up front so that data can
be extracted, transformed, and loaded into the target data storage without
any intervention required at final conversion time. Data cleansing is one of
the most important aspects of a data conversion project since loading dirty
data into the target system may cause the target application not to function
as designed, resulting in incorrect business decisions and greater difficulty to
correct later. Figure 5-7 outlines the steps involved in the data cleansing
process.

FIGURE 5-7: DETAILED DATA CLEANSING PROCESS

There are many different types of data issues requiring cleansing. For
example:
Duplicates - multiple records for the same person, same account, same
contract number, or same company.

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Inconsistency in similar data - similar data stored in different formats

or different abbreviations across multiple legacy systems.
Free form text fields due to limitations within the legacy systems,
text fields might be used to store important business information such
as reasons for disqualifying an applicant, reasons for increasing the
persons salary, etc.
Incompatible data values data values that will fail to load into the
target data storage due to data type or format incompatibility, length,
lack of an acceptable value in the target system, etc.
Missing required data values a data field in the current system is
either optional or mandatory but not enforced, hence, intermittent
data. However, this field is required in the target system.
Overloaded data fields same data fields being used by different
divisions, sections, or business functions to store different elements of
information.
Compound data fields data fields being used to store multiple related
data elements (e.g., a data field contact name contains both name
and phone number).]

[Describe the data cleansing approach that will be used to address

the identified data issues. Using the data conversion process
shown in Figure 1-1 and the questions below may help you
determine the best-fit strategy for your project:
Where do the identified data issues originate? Are they caused
by missing or incorrect validation rules? Are these data issues
part of an active dataset? Who is the data owner and who
are the domain experts?
What is the most effective approach to address these
identified data issues (while data conversion is underway)?
Can the correction be performed in the legacy production
environment? If yes, will the correction set off any unwanted
production processes to run?
What are the criteria, timing, priority, and/or constraints (time,
budget, resources, etc.) that can be used to appropriately
categorize each dataset requiring cleansing? The following
table can be used to help classify different conversion
categories.]

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

data conversion category

conversion Business Environment to

category Impact timing-priority Criteria Cleanse
A 1 Pre-Cutover-1 Fail to load, Severely impact Legacy Source
Pre-Cutover-2 business services within first
week after cutover, etc.

B 1 Post-Cutover-1 Fail to process, To be fixed as Production-copy/

much as possible by cutover, Staging area/
Severely impact business in-flight as part
services within second week after conversion process
cutover; to be fixed manually one
record at a time by business staff,
etc.

C 2 Post-Cutover-2 Data issues can be fixed by Target post

business staff as part of their conversion
regular business process

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6.CONVERSION APPROACH
This section describes the approach to data conversion.

FIGURE 6-8: DATA CONVERSION PROCESS OVERVIEW

6.1. METHODS OF CONVERSION

This section discusses the conversion method that will be used for migrating
legacy data to the new target system.
[Specific data conversion methods and toolsets typically will vary based on
different aspects of the project such as:
Project scope and legacy data sources to be migrated.
Diversity in the legacy data sources.
Level of completeness and currency of the legacy data dictionary and
business rules.
Similarity and relationship between the legacy and target data models.
Target data model complexity.
Volume of data, if there are performance constraints.

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Manual vs. automated conversion: most conversion will be accomplished

through some form of automated processes. However, there may be some
datasets where manual conversion is a more effective approach. The
criteria for deciding which datasets warrant manual conversion will be
different for each project. For some, it may be because the size of the
record set is too small or involves manual research to determine the
appropriate transformation and reconciliation rules for each different record
type. In either case, automated conversion may not even be possible or may
take more time to develop all the necessary automated processes than to
convert the data manually. To ensure a smooth conversion cutover, it is
recommended that specific plans be developed, verified, and factored into
the overall conversion plan for every dataset requiring manual conversion.]
[Describe the overall approach to data conversion. The following
should be considered and addressed in this section or the following
subsection, if applicable:
Conversion Category If applicable, define the conversion
categories and for each conversion category, the criteria that will be
used to identify what datasets will be converted first, second, third,
etc. This will help the project team prioritize the work and ensure that
the work is in alignment with business expectations and other project
teams, such as the application development team, as they may have
specific application functions that require the use of converted data for
testing or user acceptance test sooner than the other application
functions.
Manual Conversion - Define the criteria that will be used to identify
what datasets will be performed manually and describe the overall
approach to manual conversion.
Automated Conversion - Define the criteria that will be used to
identify what datasets will be accomplished by automated conversion
and describe the overall approach to automated conversion.]

6.2. DATA MAPPING

This section describes the process that will be used to determine what
functionality will be implemented in the target system and what legacy data
or data sources are necessary to support the functionality in the target
system. It also discusses the process that will be used to determine how
data will be mapped to the target system and what conversion programs
must be developed to extract, transform, and load the target system.

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FIGURE 6-9: DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THE MAPPING PROCESS

[Data mapping is the process of linking data elements between the legacy
system data models and the target data model. Data mapping is the
fundamental first step in data transformation in that it captures the
transformation rules between the legacy and target data models. It also
determines the relationship between the data elements of the target and
legacy systems and establishes instructions for how the legacy data is
transformed before it is loaded into the target system.
Figure 6-9 illustrates different levels of the mapping process. Once the
project has confirmed what functionality will be implemented in the target
system, it is recommended that the project begin mapping existing
functionality in the current legacy systems to the target system. Next, the
project should begin mapping objects of each function in the current legacy
systems to the corresponding objects of functionality in the target system;
this is followed by mapping the fields of each object in the current legacy
systems to the corresponding fields of object in the target system. Finally,
map the value(s) of each field to the corresponding field value(s) in the
target system, if applicable.

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Data mapping is the most critical activity that contributes to the data
conversion effort going off-track. This is because data mapping is a manual,
labor intensive process and requires multiple testing cycles to get it correct.
Furthermore, changes to mappings are difficult to manage among the data
conversion team members working in silos. Depending on data architectures
of the target and legacy systems and the condition of the legacy data
sources, transformation logic can also be very complex. These conditions
pose high risk to data conversion efforts in terms of data quality, schedule
slippage, and cost overruns. Therefore, it is recommended that the project
team research some of the tools that are commercially available to help
facilitate data mapping activities.
Moreover, because there are many conflicts among the data in different
legacy data sources, it is recommended that a centralized data dictionary be
established to facilitate data reconciliation. A data dictionary is a centralized
repository of information about data, such as its relationship to other data,
related business rules, its format and default values. It is often housed within
the staging area for the duration of a data conversion effort. Data mapping
is a complex task that requires attention to detail and a comprehensive
understanding of source and target data models. The information contained
in the data dictionary will be useful for data enrichment, transformation,
reconciliation, and data cleansing.]
[Identify what functionality will be needed in the target system and
the legacy data sources that are necessary to support the
functionality in the target system. Determine how the data will be
mapped to the target system and what conversion programs will
need to be developed in order to extract, transform, and load the
target system. Also, describe the process that will be used to
facilitate the data mapping process.
Since the function mapping will continue to be revised throughout
the data conversion lifecycle, rather than providing the information
in the table below, it may be more appropriate to have it included
as an appendix or an attachment. A data mapping template is also
provided as part of this document and a link to it is listed in
Appendix B.]

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6.3. DATA EXTRACTION AND STAGING PROCESS

This section describes the approach that will be used to extract and stage
legacy data.

FIGURE 6-10: EXTRACTION & STAGING CONCEPTUAL PROCESS

[Data extraction and staging process describes the key steps of extracting
data from the legacy systems and placing them in a universal data store in a
homogeneous format for further interdependency analysis and
transformation. Figure 6-10 illustrates a conceptual process of data
extraction and staging.
Because most data sources reside in diverse environments and formats
(e.g., VSAM, ADABAS, MS Excel, MS Access, Oracle, DB2, etc.), it is
recommended that, especially for mainframe data, all data from every data
source within the data conversion scope first be extracted in its raw, native,

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stored form and placed in a universal data store in a delimited flat file
format. The purpose is twofold:
Data stored in a delimited flat file format can be easily accessed by
most technology available via an import function. Moreover, since the
target data structure is still unstable during this time for most projects,
the data conversion team can still make substantial progress on the
data extract development.
Extracting every known data element from each of the data sources
that are in scope is critical. Having every data field extracted really
saves time for the data conversion team as they do not have to go
through the process of determining whether or not a data element is
needed before writing the extraction code. In addition to that, they do
not have to modify the extraction code later for any additional data
elements that were initially overlooked.
The followings are the recommended approaches to data extract and staging
with respect to the three most common legacy data formats:
Mainframe Data
For mainframe data (e.g., VSAM, ADABAS, etc.), it is recommended that the
data be extracted in its raw, native, stored form and placed in a universal
data store in a delimited flat file format. These data files will then be
converted to ASCII format, which in turn will be loaded into the staging data
storage.
Desktop Data
For desktop data such as Microsoft Excel, Access, and other similar formats,
it is recommended that the data be extracted directly into a data file in ASCII
format and loaded directly into the staging data storage without any
transformation.
Relational Data
For relational data (e.g., Oracle, DB2, etc.), since the data is already in
relational format, it is recommended that the data be copied over to the
staging environment but not staged to avoid data redundancy.]

[Describe the specific approaches that will be used to extract and

stage legacy data that reside in diverse environments and formats
such as VSAM, ADABAS, MS Excel, MS Access, Oracle, DB2, etc.
Describe the process that will be used to specifically extract and
stage mainframe data, desktop data, and relational data (if
applicable). The following questions may be used to help formulate
your data extract and staging approaches:

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Source Data what are the data source environments and how will
the data be extracted from each environment?
Staging - once the data from each environment is extracted, what
happens next? Where and how will it be staged? Are there any other
data processes?]

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6.4. DATA TRANSFORMATION AND LOADING PROCESS

This section describes the approach that will be used to transform and load
legacy data to the target data store.

FIGURE 6-11: TRANSFORMATION & LOADING PROCESS

[The data transformation and loading process incorporates all knowledge

about value translation, business logic, and the understanding of both the
legacy system and target system. Figure 6-11 illustrates a conceptual
process of data transformation and loading. This process matches and links
data of different sources currently housed in the staging environment and
transforms the data, as needed, to fulfill the target system functionality. The
following are some of the common transformation types and key
considerations relating to data transformation:
Transformation types:
Reformatting: Format revisions are very common in data conversion
as the data must conform to the format required by the target system.
Format revisions include changes to the data types, length, and case
(e.g., alphanumeric to numeric, integer to decimal, 40 characters to 25
characters, lower case to mixed case, etc.) .

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Translation: Due to the difference between the source and target

data models, data in the source system may have to be reconstituted,
translated, enhanced, or converted during the conversion process to
conform to the target data requirements. Take for example gender
male in the source data might be represented as 1 but M in the
target data. Therefore, formulating correct mapping and
transformation rules to convert the data is one of the key tasks in a
data conversion effort.
Integration: When data is being migrated from multiple legacy
sources into a single target system, undoubtedly there will be various
conflicts among the data and inconsistent representations of the same
data (e.g., the same person or entity might be represented differently
in different legacy systems John Smith Jr., John S. Jr., John
Smith, LA City, Los Angeles City, LA, etc.), and that must be
reconciled in order to satisfy the target data consolidation
requirements and to have an integrated and reconciled view of data of
the department.
Key Considerations:
Legacy data is often duplicated across multiple legacy data sources
and similar data attributes may have conflicting values among the
legacy data sources.
The target system might have new attributes that never existed in the
legacy systems. In addition, data attributes from multiple data
sources might be required to be merged under one or more entities.
Legacy data might have defects resulting from inaccurate processes;
for example, account balances and interest calculations might not
match detailed transactions.]

[Describe the process that will be used to transform legacy data

sources currently housed in the staging environment and load
converted data to the pre-production environment (if used) and
then production environment at conversion cutover. The following
questions may be used to help formulate your data transformation
and loading approaches:
Transformation What does the transformation process entail? Are
business rules, mapping and transformation rules available and being
used during this process?
What data integration strategy will be used to resolve conflicts and
duplication among the legacy data sources? Considerations should be

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given to some of the following common conditions and characteristics

of legacy data:
o Data that are duplicated across multiple legacy data sources
o Data that have conflicting attribute values across multiple legacy
data sources
o Data with attributes or content that is incompatible with the new
system
o Data with invalid context due to historic changes to operational
parameters
o Data with defects resulting from inaccurate processes
o Data with invalid record relationships
Loading If the strategy includes the use of a staging area as an
integration platform to allow validation, cleansing, and/or conversion of
the integrated data, what is the approach to load converted data from
the staging environment to the pre-production environment (if used)
and then production environment?]

6.5. SYNCHRONIZATION PROCESS

This section describes the approach to be used to keep data conversion in
sync with other relevant efforts.
[Since a data conversion effort is often part of an overall legacy system
modernization project, many project related activities take place
concurrently. Particularly for the data conversion effort, unless legacy data
environments are frozen and both logical and physical data models of the
target system are stable, any structural changes in the models will have a
direct impact to the data conversion effort and the larger project as well. ]
[Define the approach to be used to keep data conversion in sync
with other relevant efforts. Be sure to clearly define the specific
and relevant conditions (e.g., request type=data structure, table
update, etc.) that you want to have the synchronization process
trigger. Otherwise, you will be inundated with many change
requests that are not related to data conversion.]

6.6. CONVERSION REVERSAL STRATEGY

This section describes the process that will be used to roll back the legacy
data in the event the data conversion process does not go as planned.
[Conversion reversal is the process by which data conversion can be
reversed. Data conversion can fail either because the legacy data could not
be converted within the planned conversion cutover window or because the

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dependencies across legacy processes, systems, and data had not been
factored.]
[Describe the process to restore the source data if the need to
revert to a previous back-up is identified at any point during the
conversion process. Also, determine what precautionary measures
can be planned and implemented to minimize the need for
conversion reversal. Some suggestions are as follows:
Define stopping points and check points to terminate data conversion
under predefined conditions and rollback conversion to predefined
segments, if needed.
Determine and plan conversion dependencies, schedule, and
execution sequence of data conversion programs.
Tune and optimize data conversion programs continually to ensure the
entire data conversion will complete within the time allotted for
conversion.
Determine and plan for hardware and network resources to support
data conversion within the cutover window.]

6.7. DATA CONVERSION SCHEDULE

This section provides a schedule for data conversion activities to be
accomplished.
[Unless big bang is the decided cutover approach, data will be converted
in phases. Therefore, special consideration should be given to what datasets
will be converted and rolled out in each phase based on an agreed upon
priority and timeline. It is recommended that a high-level conversion
timeline or schedule with relevant information be provided in this section or
subsection and a specific detailed rollout plan for each phase to follow.
Data conversion activities will be impacted by dependencies across various
processes in the legacy systems including data cleansing. In order to lessen
the impact, it is preferable to have as many data defects cleansed as
possible prior to conversion. Moreover, as long as legacy data remain
unfrozen, data conversion will continue to be constrained and/or impacted
by the on-going generation of new data in the legacy production systems
and especially the potential changes to the legacy data models due to
critical business needs.]
[Provide a schedule for data conversion activities to be
accomplished in accordance with this Data Conversion Plan. Show

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the activities in chronological order, with beginning and ending

dates of each task, the key person(s) responsible for the task,
dependencies and milestones. Make certain that the data
conversion schedule is appropriately integrated into the overall
project schedule. Since the schedule will continue to be revised
throughout the lifecycle, rather than providing the schedule in the
table below, it may be added as an appendix or an attachment.]
DATA CONVERSION SCHEDULE

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION BEGIN DATE END DATE KEY PERSON(S) DEPENDENCIES

RESPONSIBLE

6.8. DATA CONVERSION MILESTONES

This section lists the major milestones pertaining to the data conversion
effort.
[There are many milestones associated with data conversion, some of these
are:
Analysis and profiles of legacy source data and reports have been
completed.
Data conversion plan has been written and approved.
Data conversion acceptance criteria and performance metrics are
clearly documented, accepted, and evaluated.
Audit and reconciliation report requirements are defined.
Independent data validation effort has been established.
Data cleansing effort is underway.
Data conversion requirements (business and technology) are clearly
documented.
Data conversion team is formed and roles and responsibilities and task
assignments are clearly defined and accepted.
Source-to-target data mapping is complete.
A detailed plan for freezing physical data structures of the source
system during cutover is documented and accepted.
Conversion tools are identified and acquired.
Conversion programs are developed.
A conversion strategy is chosen.

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Data conversion staging environment is implemented.

Target data model is stable.
Funding for staff, consultants, and tools has been secured.]

[List all the major milestones pertaining to data conversion.]

The data conversion milestone table below provides a baseline version of the
expected schedule of key data conversion milestones.
milestone date

<<Milestone>>

<<Milestone>>

6.9. CONVERSION STANDARDS AND CONVENTIONS

This section describes the data conversion design standards, coding
standards, and naming conventions to be used by the data conversion team
to promote consistency, readability, usability, quality, and productivity
among all data conversion developers.

6.9.1. DESIGN STANDARDS

This section describes the process flow that will be used in designing and
building data conversion programs as well as what design artifacts will be
included as part of design standards.
[Describe the process flow that will be used in designing and
building data conversion programs. Also, describe what design
artifacts will be developed (e.g., a combination of Visio diagrams,
Excel spreadsheets, and data model diagrams will be used to
document the conceptual data model, data flow, and process flow
diagrams for converting a set of functionality.)]

6.9.2. CODING STANDARDS

[Define a set of programming conventions to be used by the data
conversion development team in developing data conversion
programs.]
The data conversion team will follow a set of programming standards and
conventions to increase quality, reusability, readability, and consistency

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across all data conversion programs and artifacts. For each data conversion
program, the following standards will be followed:
Descriptive header describes the functionality being developed
including relevant references. This helps increases readability and
enables troubleshooting. Each conversion program will have:
o Program name
o List of arguments
o List of return values
o Date created
o Version number and date
o Modification history and author name.
Inline comments contains descriptive notes relevant to the section
being developed.
Indentation - all data conversion programs will be indented to improve
readability and consistency of format according to the established
coding standards document.
6.9.3. NAMING CONVENTIONS
This section provides a set of naming conventions to be used for data files,
databases, staging tables, conversion instances, and related conversion
artifacts.
[Define a set of naming conventions to be used for data files,
databases, staging tables, conversion instances, and related
conversion artifacts.]

6.9.4. CHANGE CONTROL

This section describes the process that will be used to control the acceptance
or rejection of proposed changes to the scope of data conversion.
[Describe the process that will be used to control the acceptance or
rejection of proposed changes to the scope in order to avoid
unnecessary risks associated with scope creep.]
Any modification to or deviation from the agreed scope of the data
conversion effort will be logged as a change request. It will then be assessed
to determine the impact of implementing the change in terms of time,
quality, and cost. Change requests will be approved by the <<designated
person/board>> according to the delegation of authority from <<the
project>>.

6.9.5. VERSION CONTROL

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This section describes the process to be used for facilitating changes to

conversion deliverables, conversion programming code, and other
conversion related artifacts.
[Define the process to facilitate changes to conversion design and
programs due to a bug fix, new business requirement, data
cleansing process, or functional design, etc. Also, describe the
process by which data conversion deliverables, design artifacts, and
program source code will be version controlled and managed.]

6.10. DATA CONVERSION ENVIRONMENTS

This section describes the conceptual data conversion environments required
to facilitate data conversion development, data conversion testing, data
validation and reconciliation, and data cleansing.

Figure 6-5: data conversion environments - logical model

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

[Data conversion is rarely a direct transfer of data from source to target.

Therefore it is necessary to have all the source data staged in an interim
area to allow additional processing to get the data ready before loading it to
the target system. This interim data holding area (a.k.a., staging area)
houses the data that was extracted from all the sources, possibly from
different platforms (e.g., Oracle, DB2, MS Excel, MS Access, VSAM, ADABAS),
and allows for additional processing to be performed in this area. In addition
to a staging area, the project team should also consider other environments
that are essential to supporting data conversion development, such as data
conversion testing, data validation and reconciliation, and data cleansing.]
[Define the data conversion environments required to facilitate
data conversion development, data conversion testing, data
validation and reconciliation, and data cleansing, if applicable. The
project team should begin by:
Reviewing the mission each data team is specifically tasked to
accomplish and what their needs are for the environment.
Creating a logical layout of the data conversion environments similar
to the one shown inError: Reference source not found5. Describing the
purpose of each environment including the inflow and outflow of data
between these environments.
Specifying the software requirements that are necessary to implement
and support the work within these environments.]

This section describes the logical view of the data conversion environments
as shown in <<Figure ##>>. It provides a high-level layout of what
environments are needed and for what purpose, the inflow and outflow of
data between these environments, and the tools required to support data
conversion activities.
The data conversion environments are composed of the following individual
environments:
Production-Copy
Data Cleansing
Conversion Development
Validation and Reconciliation
Pre-Implementation

The following software tools will be used to facilitate data conversion:

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

ETL tool <<Software tool>>

Data modeling tool <<Software tool>>
Address validation tool <<Software tool>>
Mainframe data extraction tool <<Software tool>>
Data profiling tool <<Software tool>>
Other <<Software tool>>

7.CONVERSION PROJECT TEAM

This section discusses staff planning, structure of the data conversion team,
and roles and responsibilities of each team member.
7.1.1. STAFFING PLAN
This section provides the data conversion staffing plan. The staffing plan will
be regularly updated as changes occur. This staffing plan may be impacted
by any change to the project schedule, resource availability, data conversion
activities scheduled/prioritized in various areas, and data cleansing schedule.
Therefore, the staffing plan will need to be reviewed periodically, and the
number of staff required will need to be re-assessed.
[Provide a detailed data conversion staffing plan describing how the
project will effectively manage staff resources required at each
stage of the conversion effort to support the data conversion
strategies outlined in this plan. The following tables may be used
for this purpose.]

DATA CONVERSION STAFFING PLAN

Role responsibility skills required # OF STAFF sTART DATE END DATE

REQUIRED

DATA CONVERSION RESOURCE LOADING CHART

ROLE # OF STAFF # OF FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) STAFF IN PY

REQUIRED
JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

Total FTE

7.1.2. TEAM ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

This section discusses the structure of the data conversion team.
[A link to the example of a data conversion team organizational chart is
provided in Appendix C.]
7.1.3. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Data conversion requires collaboration among all the teams involved,
particularly the functional teams, technical data conversion team, the data
infrastructure team, and the data management support teams. This section
defines the team organizational structure and the key roles and
responsibilities that are necessary for the data conversion team to effectively
achieve the goals and objectives stated in this plan.
[Define all the key data conversion roles and responsibilities for this
data conversion effort. It is recommended that roles and
responsibilities be specific and clearly defined, and established as
early as possible in order to help guide the data conversion team
throughout the project. The following table may be used for this
purpose. A link to the example of data conversion team roles and
responsibilities is provided in Appendix C.]

DATA CONVErSION ROLES and RESPONSIBILITies

ROLE responsibility
<<Role>> <<Description>>

<<Role>> <<Description>>

<<Role>> <<Description>>

<<Role>> <<Description>>

8.DATA QUALITY STRATEGY

This section describes the strategy that will be used to test all custom-
developed data conversion programs to ensure that the results produced by
the conversion programs meet the established conversion acceptance
criteria.

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[In order for data conversion to be accepted, converted data needs to be

validated against all applicable business rules and transformation rules to
confirm that data conversion meets the established acceptance criteria and
that all legacy data needed by the target system are converted accurately
compared to source and compatible with the target system.
Data quality strategies must be capable of confirming that data loss and
accuracy is within the established acceptance criteria during each stage
within the data conversion process.
There are different methods or options of testing converted data and content
conversions. One of the methods is sampling, where some subset of random
data or content is selected and inspected to ensure the conversion is
completed as designed. While the sampling method works, depending upon
the established data conversion acceptance criteria, this method may not be
suitable to provide relevant and complete statistical information to
determine whether data conversion satisfies the established acceptance
criteria. The followings are some suggestions to help prepare for data
conversion test:
Confirm scope of data source systems. Verification should include data
to be included as well as excluded.
Define the source to target high-level mappings for each category of
data or content and verify that the desired type has been defined in
the target system.
Check target system data model stability and verify data requirements
such as field names, field types, mandatory fields, valid value lists and
other field-level validation checks.
Using the source-to-target mappings, verify the source data against
the data requirements of the target system. For example, if the target
system has a mandatory field, verify that the corresponding source
data field is not null, or if the target data field has a list of valid values,
verify to ensure that the corresponding source data field also contains
these valid values.
Review and formally confirm the data conversion specifications, which
should include the following elements:
o Source system definitions
o Number of records in the source system and growth rate
o Data cleansing requirements
o Performance requirements
o Testing requirements
o Source-to-target data mapping documents
o Conversion design requirements

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o Referential integrity constraints of the target database

o Business/validation rules
Two aspects of data conversion testing:
o Functional testing - verifies that converted data support the
functionality of the target application system.
o Non-functional testing - confirms that all data in scope was
successfully migrated to the target system in terms of accuracy
and completeness per the established data conversion
acceptance criteria.]

[Define the strategy to be used to test all custom-developed data

conversion programs to ensure that the results produced by the
conversion programs meet the established acceptance criteria.
Particularly, describe the approaches to conversion functional
testing and conversion non-functional testing with respect to each
of the following tests (if applicable):
Conversion Unit Testing - initial unit testing is conducted by the
developer to verify that the conversion program performed according
to specifications and that the appropriate tables and fields were
populated.
Data Usability Testing - primarily focuses on verifying that
converted data is functionally compatible with the target application
system.
Mock Conversions - controlled dress rehearsal of all the conversion
execution activities required to transfer legacy data to the target
system.
Data Validation and Reconciliation (DVR) leverages relevant
information from the conversion design specifications to validate the
entire converted data volumes to collect and provide statistical
information that is necessary to determine whether data conversion
satisfies the established acceptance criteria. Since this has significant
downstream impact to the organization and the data owners in terms
of data quality, integrity, completeness, and usability, it is highly
recommended that the department own this important responsibility
to ensure that integrity and completeness of the lifeblood of the
organization (data) are still preserved through the conversion
process.]

8.1. CONVERSION UNIT TESTING

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The main purpose of conversion unit testing is to verify whether conversion

programs conform to detailed design specifications and also to ensure that
the converted data produced by these conversion programs are accurate
compared to legacy data. This section describes the process that will be used
by conversion developers to conduct unit testing.
[Describe the process that will be used by conversion developers to
conduct unit testing. Also what reports will be produced as evidence
of due diligence that unit testing is properly executed.]
8.2. DATA USABILITY TESTING
The primary focus of data usability testing is to determine how compatible
the converted data is with the target application system. In other words,
data usability testing verifies to ensure that there is successful interaction
between the target application and the newly converted data. Data usability
testing is accomplished through the following mechanisms:
System test and User Acceptance Test (UAT): testing mock converted
data through the application user interface using existing system test
and UAT test cases with a selective set of converted data. The
purpose is to discover discrepancies between the application and the
converted data.
Independent data validation: testing mock converted data through a
series of batch processes and functional queries developed based on
data validation rules and business rules. This test helps identify
inconsistencies and incompatibilities between the converted data and
the target application.
[Describe the approach to be used to verify that converted data is
functional and compatible with the target application system.]

8.3. MOCK CONVERSIONS

A mock conversion is a controlled dress rehearsal that includes all steps
that will occur during the actual live conversion to migrate data from the
legacy systems to the target system. Each mock conversion simulates the
real conversion cutover process with actual data volumes. The purpose of
mock conversions is to identify and resolve any conversion program issues
and configuration problems ahead of time. Also, it provides opportunities for
independent data validation of the actual data volumes, assessment of data
conversion readiness, and ensures that the entire data conversion process
can be finished within the timeframe allocated for data conversion cutover.

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[Since the aim of mock conversions is to identify and resolve any conversion
program issues and configuration problems as early as possible, each mock
conversion should have a well-defined set of specific strategic targets of
what it intends to achieve. The following is a suggested format and outlines
the important elements that should be included in the planning of a mock
conversion:]
Title: Mock Conversion <<##>>
Purpose: <<what does this mock conversion intend to achieve? >>
Duration: <<planned start and end dates>>
Key Participants:
<<Consultant key staff or teams>>
<<State key staff or teams>>
Other Participants: <<staff or teams that need to be informed>>
<<Consultant key staff or teams>>
<<State key staff or teams>>
Effort: <<number of hours estimated>
Basis for measuring progress: <<what will be used to measure progress?
>>
Dependencies: <<list all the items that this mock conversion depends
upon>>
Exit Criteria: <<list the criteria or requirements that must be met in order
for this mock conversion to be considered as complete. >>
[Furthermore, the following are some best practices to consider:
A data conversion run book should evolve out of the mock conversions to detail each step
of the conversion process, when each conversion step occurs, dependencies, who is
responsible, and so on.
Each mock conversion should be started with new data extracts, staging (if applicable),
transformation, and then load processes.
All error resolution and data validation processes should be conducted as part of the
overall mock conversion process to identify and resolve errors, determine new error
resolution, verify data validation requirements, and continue to refine the process.
Mock conversions should be conducted in an environment that closely resembles that of
the target environment. Configuration and customizations in this environment should be
frozen including the database instance where the mock conversion takes place. If

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

changes are made to the configuration as a result of necessary adjustments made to the
mock conversion process, they should be documented.]
[Describe the approach that will be used to identify and resolve any
conversion program issues and configuration problems ahead of
time. Also, describe what approach is to be used to assess data
conversion readiness, and to ensure that the entire data conversion
process can be finished within the timeframe allocated for data
conversion cutover.]

8.4. DATA VALIDATION AND RECONCILIATION (DVR)

The purpose of data validation and reconciliation is to ensure that all
required legacy data has been accurately converted to the target system. It
is a comprehensive process that rigorously tests the data as it is migrated
through different stages to determine whether the converted data is a true
representation of the data that exists in the legacy data sources. Error:
Reference source not found illustrates the different checkpoints that are

Figure 81: data validation & reconciliation CHECKPOINTS

essential to data validation and reconciliation.
The data validation and reconciliation process verifies the validity of the
converted data and the conversion metrics. These metrics are the counts of
records converted and the summations of critical numeric values such as
annual deposit totals, quarterly account balances, etc.
Furthermore, the data validation and reconciliation process ensures that all
records to be converted are accounted for and that the critical numeric
amounts are either the same in the target system as they are in the legacy
systems or any variance is a result of adjustment and transformation rules

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

approved by the business via documented decisions. This includes

accounting for records that are not converted, either intentionally or
unintentionally, and the reasons for the failures. Error: Reference source not
found is an example of a data validation and reconciliation report.

[The objectives of data validation and reconciliation should be to:

o Ensure that critical conversion errors are discovered and corrected
early.
o Ensure that the data needed to support the target application
functionality is converted and validated for correctness prior to
system cutover and during the application user acceptance testing
cycle.
o Ensure that all pertinent records and other information is correctly
transformed and converted including all of the relationships among
the various data elements.
o Ensure that all pertinent records and other information is completely
transformed and converted and provides project leadership with the
confidence that no information is lost in the process.

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 DATA CONVERSION PLAN

o Provide input to the formal and final data certification of the

converted data which is to confirm whether data conversion meets

Figure 82: dATA VALIDATION & RECONCILIATION REPORT

the established acceptance criteria.
Since data validation and reconciliation has significant downstream impact
to the organization and the organization data owners in terms of data
quality, integrity, completeness, and usability, it is highly recommended that
the department own this important responsibility to ensure that integrity and
completeness of the lifeblood of the organization (data) are l preserved
through the conversion process. Furthermore, data validation and
reconciliation should be an independent effort and all of its validation and
reconciliation processes should be 100% automated (if at all possible) in
order to support multiple iterations and ultimately to complete validation
and reconciliation of the entire converted data volumes within the timeframe
allotted for both data conversion and validation at cutover.

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Since accurately converted data is essential to successful system

implementation, DVR should be performed thoroughly and iteratively.
Ideally, data validation and reconciliation efforts should be initiated early in
the process to derive and document validation and reconciliation
requirements via data conversion scope, business requirements and
expectations for data, acceptance criteria, business domains, business
process priority, conversion design decisions, business rules, and
transformation rules. It is recommended that a separate data validation and
reconciliation plan be developed to ensure that all essential aspects of DVR
are covered. Like any software development project, the data validation and
reconciliation effort should be carefully planned and followed. Furthermore,
data validation and reconciliation requirements should be the driver of all
validation and reconciliation activities.]
[Describe the approach that will be used to ensure that all data to
be migrated are accurately converted compared to source and
compatible with the target application system. The following
suggested questions can help guide you in creating a DVR plan for
your project:
What is your overall strategy concerning ongoing data validation and
reconciliation during the development and testing phases of data
conversion?
What is the strategy you will use to ensure critical conversion errors
are discovered and corrected early?
What is your approach to data anomaly resolution?
What is your approach to meeting expectations, requirements and/or
commitments of the business, project leadership, data cleansing,
system user acceptance test, and data conversion teams such as
schedules, data validation and reconciliation performance, reporting,
etc.?
What is your strategy for validating and reconciling full mock
conversions? How much time are you allowed to complete the data
validation and reconciliation of a full mock conversion?
What information (i.e., volume metrics) are you required to capture?
What resources (i.e., DVR tools, staffing level, expertise,
environments, system access, etc.) do you need in order to meet
these expectations or requirements?]

8.5. DATA ERROR RESOLUTION PROCESS

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This section describes the process that will be used to identify, escalate, and
resolve data errors during the data conversion process.
[Each conversion dataset or data domain will have its own set of unique data
errors that will require resolution during conversion testing, mock
conversions, and even during final go-live conversions. Therefore, it is
recommended that a data error resolution process be developed for each
business function in order to effectively address its own unique data errors.
The following are the two common types of errors specific to conversion data
loads.
Critical data errors are those that prevent a record from being loaded
into the target data storage and/or cause data integrity errors. These
types of data errors should be identified and addressed as soon as
possible. If possible, these types of data errors should be corrected in
the legacy system prior to subsequent extracts and loads. Critical
data errors will more than likely prevent continuing with other
conversion loads that are dependent on the failed records and must be
resolved quickly or the records have to be skipped or removed from
subsequent conversions until fixed.
Non-Critical data errors are those that have invalid values or missing
configuration data which will not prevent a record from being loaded.
These types of errors should be identified and reported for resolution.
[Describe the process that will be used to identify, escalate, and
resolve data errors during the data conversion process and the
roles and responsibilities required to facilitate the process including
but not limited to, the following items:
Define process to report any new data defect/issue.
Define mechanism to track issues and resolution.
Define process to identify data defects and exceptions during the ETL
process.
Define process to isolate defective records.
Define process to escalate defective records for resolution either in the
legacy source or in a separate defect resolution environment.
Define process to identify functionality impacted by data defects.
Define process to incorporate corrected records into the ETL process.]

9.CONVERSION IMPLEMENTATION

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This section discusses the implementation approach, conversion cutover

process, implementation planning and considerations, and data certification
process that will be used to facilitate conversion implementation.
9.1. APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION
This section discusses the conversion implementation approach that will be
used for this data conversion effort. It also discusses the pros and cons of
this approach, the risks associated with the selected implementation
approach, as well as the strategies required to mitigate those risks.
[Essentially there are two approaches for transferring the source data, which
has been transformed, cleansed, tested, and validated, to the production
environment of the target system. Depending on business needs, one of the
two approaches may be a better fit for the project than the other. However,
each approach does come with pros and cons. For this reason, special
consideration should be given to each approach before the final decision is
made. Please note, parallel option requires both the legacy systems and the
newly implemented system to run concurrently for the duration of the
agreed time in order to allow business the opportunity to test drive and
validate the new system before signing off on its acceptability.
1. The big bang cutover (with or without parallel option)
This approach, in concept, requires all the source data to be extracted,
transformed, and migrated all in one process during the time span of
the cutover window.
Pros:
- No two systems running simultaneously
- No synchronization between systems to deal with
- With parallel option
Allows business time to fully validate and sign-off the
new system
Cons:
- Risks associated with having a limited time-frame
- Rollback strategies may be challenging
- Business downtime
- With parallel option
Risks and costs associated with keeping data current
in both systems
Dual-keying for system users
Requires more resources

2. The Incremental cutover (with or without parallel option)

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This approach reduces the risk of a big bang approach by extracting,

transforming, and migrating discrete parts of the business and
associated data. This approach, in concept, sounds great but it can be
very challenging to execute effectively due to the complexity of the
underlying data structure, application architecture, data, and the
interwoven business processes.
Pros:
- Fewer risks associated with having a limited time-frame
- Rollback strategies may be less challenging
- Less business downtime
- With parallel option
Allows business time to fully validate and sign-off on
the new system

Cons:
- Extremely difficult to manage all the risks associated with intricate
relationships between business processes and the underlying data
associated with those business processes
- With parallel option
Risks and costs associated with keeping data current
in both systems
Dual-keying for system users
Requires more resources
Business needs must be the primary driver in determining the best-fit data
conversion implementation strategy for the project. Different business needs
require different implementation approaches and it pays to fully understand
each approach as well as its associated pros and cons so the right decisions
can be made and work can be planned at the outset of the project.]
[Describe the data conversion implementation approach that will be
used for this data conversion project and discuss the pros, cons,
and risks associated with the selected implementation approach
from the business perspective. Consider the following items when
developing the detailed conversion cutover plan for your project.
Depending on the selected implementation approach, some items
may be less applicable than others.
Timing and span of the conversion cutover window.
The need for a plan for freezing the legacy physical data structures.
Data retention requirements for legacy data file extracts and staging
databases.

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Steps for migrating data to the target environment at conversion

cutover.]

9.2. CONVERSION CUTOVER PROCESS

This section discusses the approach to extracting, transforming, and loading
legacy data to the target production environment. Also, it discusses the data
retention requirements for certain data conversion artifacts concerning
legacy system data and the conversion cutover window.

FIGURE 9-12: DATA CONVERSION CUTOVER STEPS

The following describes the activities shown in Figure 9-12 which must be
completed before the legacy data can be loaded to the target system:
1. Legacy System Closedown
Freeze all input - At this point in time, no data input should be
allowed into any of the legacy systems, from which source data will be
extracted, either by direct entry or through the various interfaces.
Complete all data processing - At this stage, verify that all
background data processing jobs such end-of-day financial
reconciliation or posting processes are complete.
Freeze the data - Once all background data processing jobs are
complete, legacy data will be frozen and no data changes will be
allowed until data conversion process is complete and the target
system is operational.

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Start data conversion process - During this stage, data conversion

process will follow the conversion run book developed during the mock conversions.
2. Extract and Load Legacy Data to Staging
3. Apply Data Transformation Rules
4. Extract and Load Staging Data to Target
5. Execute Data Validation and Reconciliation Process
6. Verify Acceptance Criteria Are Met
7. Obtain Business Acceptance and Sign-off

9.3. IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING & CONSIDERATIONS

This section discusses the implementation planning and considerations that
will be used specifically for <<static data, archive data, document images,
and dynamic data>>.
[The main consideration in a data conversion schedule is the time allocated
for the cutover window on the date of the conversion. The cutover window is
the time allotment in which legacy production data is extracted, converted,
and migrated to the target production environment. Typically, the project
team will need to consult with the business to carefully determine the timing
and span of the conversion cutover window such that downtime and
disruptions to business services are minimized. Therefore, this should be
defined up front and targeted throughout the data conversion process to
ensure that it is achievable. In order to ensure that the entire data
conversion process (extract, transform, and load) can be completed within
the timeframe allotted for data conversion cutover, it is important for the
project team to actively look for ways to reduce the data amount that must
be migrated at the time of conversion cutover and also to minimize the time
it takes to complete the entire data conversion process. Some areas to
consider:
Mock conversions one or more may be needed depending on the
criticality of the project. A mock conversion is a controlled dress
rehearsal of all the execution activities required to migrate data from
the source system to the target system. Each mock conversion
simulates the real conversion cutover process with actual data
volumes.

The purpose of mock conversions is to identify and resolve any

conversion program issues and configuration problems ahead of time.
Also, it provides opportunities for independent data validation of the
actual data volumes, assessment of data conversion readiness, and

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ensures that the entire data conversion process can be finished within
the timeframe allocated for data conversion cutover.
Conversion programs optimization This consists of keeping track
of all the details associated with each mock conversion, actively fine
tuning and optimizing data conversion programs, and making sure that
a data conversion run book is built, kept current, and the order of
execution for each conversion program is continuously monitored and
optimized.
Data categorization and prioritization special consideration
should be given to the following data categories with respect to
conversion cutover:
o Static data- data that will remain unaltered such as prior fiscal
year data.
o Archive data data that is no longer actively used which is
stored on a separate data storage device for long-term retention.
o Document images paper documents that were scanned and
converted to digital images.
o Dynamic data data that is actively being used, updated, or
newly generated.
o Open data transaction a business transaction that has not
completed its process cycle (e.g., a workflow item or a service
ticket that remains open with additional activities required prior
to being closed).
o Closed data transaction a business transaction that has
completed its business cycle and is subsequently used for
information purposes only, for example a service ticket with all
related activities completed and a ticket status of closed.
o Datasets that require manual conversion.
o Datasets that can be extracted, transformed, and loaded to the
target system ahead of time before the final cutover.
o Datasets that can be migrated incrementally.
O Datasets that can only be migrated at the time of cutover.]

[Describe the implementation planning and considerations that will

be used for conversion cutover with respect to archive data,
dynamic data, etc.]

9.4. DATA CERTIFICATION

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This section describes the approach that will be used for determining
whether data conversion meets the established acceptance criteria.
[Data certification is the process by which the state department verifies that
the converted data is of sufficient quality to enter data conversion cutover
and enable initial system implementation. In other words, data certification
is the data conversion readiness verification process.
The data stored within the current legacy systems is the lifeblood of the
state department business and therefore plays a significant role in meeting
business functionality in the new system. Without accurately converted
data, the new solution, regardless of its new look and feel and technology
uplift, will be of limited use to the department business and potential public

relations incidents may result.

Figure 9-13 illustrates a conceptual approach to data certification. In that, it

lists the key inputs or potential artifacts and information that are essential to
determining whether data conversion meets the established acceptance
criteria. It also outlines the key steps that will be used during the data
certification process. Furthermore, Error: Reference source not found
provides an example of a data validation and reconciliation report with
relevant detailed information to support the data certification process.

FIGURE 9-13: CERTIFICATION OF DATA CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

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Figure 93: DVR as key input to data certification

[Describe the approach to be used for data certification.

Specifically describe what key inputs or information will be needed
in certifying the converted data, what steps will be carried out in
the data certification process, and finally what acceptance criteria
the converted data will be certified against.]

10. POST-CONVERSION SUPPORT

This section describes the approach to be used for identifying and addressing
data issues discovered in the target system after conversion implementation.

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[Inevitably, after the data conversion cutover, data issues will be uncovered
and maybe greater than originally anticipated. Furthermore, there is a steep
learning curve and tremendous pressure to overcome in order for anyone to
become effective in addressing data issues especially during the post-
conversion period, as it requires knowledge and understanding of the source
data and data structure, the target data and data structure, and all the
transformation rules that were applied to the source data during conversion.
Therefore, the project/department ought to plan to retain the data
conversion teams, who have been intimately involved with data conversion,
to continue providing production support during post-conversion period. The
retention period will be determined by many factors, some of which may be:
Number of data errors, types of data errors, severity level, and priority
Growth rate of data errors vs. number of data errors resolved by the
team within a given period
Knowledge transfer and training]

10.1. IDENTIFY POST-CONVERSION DATA ISSUES

This section describes the approach to be used for identifying and classifying
data issues.
[Describe the approach to be used for identifying and classifying
poste-conversion data issues. The following are some common
types of data conversion related issues:
Data issues not cleansed in the source data at the time of cutover.
Data conversion bugs not fixed at the time of cutover.
New data issues discovered in the target system after cutover.]

10.2. RESOLVE POST-CONVERSION DATA ISSUES

This section describes the approach to be used for prioritizing and resolving
data issues.
[Describe the approach to be used for prioritizing and resolving
data issues, particularly the types of data issues as outlined below:
Data issues not cleansed in the source data at the time of
cutover:
These are known data issues in the source data that were not resolved at
cutover.
Data issues caused by conversion bugs not fixed at the time of

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cutover:
These are data issues resulting from bugs in the data conversion
programming code discovered during various stages of testing and
validation.
New data issues discovered in the target system after cutover:
These are data issues which are unknown at the time of cutover, and are
discovered after the new system goes live.]

10.3. DECOMMISSIONING AND MONITORING

This section discusses the strategy to be used for decommissioning staging
data after conversion implementation is complete.
[If staging area and pre-production data storage will be created as part of
the data conversion process, the project team needs to work with the key
data stakeholders to formulate strategies to be used for managing data in
the staging area once data conversion cutover is complete.]
[Describe the strategy to be used for managing the data in the
staging area (if used) once data conversion cutover is complete. The
strategy should address the following:
What data to retain.

Where and how to retain the data.

What pre-conditions are required to be met before the system and its data can be
decommissioned? Be sure that these conditions are fully documented and agreed upon
early on so the project can begin confirming that the data conversion has met these
conditions.
How the ownership of the data environment and the monitoring of the data environment
will be handed over.]

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APPENDIX A. CONSIDERATIONS FOR COTS,

MOTS, and CUSTOM
CONSIDERATIONS FOR COTS, MOTS, and CUSTOM IMPLEMENTATION

COTS Data conversion/conversion may result in the loss of information if the

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) target data structure has or requires
fewer features or data elements than the source format.
Sufficiency of skilled staff in both business and IT functions affected by
the COTS Product implementation. (general)
As-is requirements must be derived from the current business
processes
MOTS As-is requirements must be derived from the departments current
business processes
To-be requirements are defined by a set of business processes on
which the COTS production was designed PLUS the gap identified
between the business processes supported by existing systems and
those supported by the COTS product. This is the basis for the
Modified Off The Shelf (MOTS) selection.
Most of the COTS products require extensive customization in order to
meet the needs and requirements of current business processes.
Since no COTS product was specifically designed to meet the
department's unique requirements, there will be a gap between the
business processes supported by the departments existing systems
and those supported by the COTS product. Thus, the department
should understand and clearly define this gap well before the MOTS
implementation commences. In addition, the department should clearly
define the level of customization required for the COTS product
baseline to adequately address current needs and requirements.
CUSTOM Comprehensive analysis of the current environment should be
performed prior to finalizing the project planning and scope.
Data conversion should be done as a separate and independent
project.
Data conversion acceptance criteria and expectations should be
clearly articulated and documented at the outset and managed
throughout the data conversion process.
Validation of converted data should be independently performed by a
separate team.

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CONSIDERATIONS FOR COTS, MOTS, and CUSTOM IMPLEMENTATION

Individuals, including IT staff, with institutional knowledge and
expertise of legacy data should be identified and actively involved
throughout the project.
It is recommended that the department have a dedicated team to
address legacy data issues that will not work properly in the target
application as soon as possible.

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APPENDIX B. LIST OF ARTIFACTS

A.1. Conversion Design Decision template
A.2. Data Conversion Terms and Definitions
A.3. Data Dictionary Template
A.4. Data Mapping Template
A.5. Data Quality Issue Log template

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APPENDIX C. DATA CONVERSION TEAM

A.6. Conversion Roles and Responsibilities - Definition
A.7. Conversion Roles and Responsibilities RACI Chart

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APPENDIX D. TABLE OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1-1: DATA CONVERSION PROCESS OVERVIEW...............................................2
FIGURE 1-2: DATA CONVERSION METHODOLOGY FRAMEWORK..................................3
FIGURE 2-1: DATA CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA..........................................11
FIGURE 2-2: DEFINITION OF DATA ERROR SEVERITY LEVELS....................................12
FIGURE 2-3: DATA CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA..........................................13
FIGURE 3-1: TECHNOLOGY & INFRASTRUCTURE CONSIDERATIONS..........................23
FIGURE 4-1: DATA PROFILING REPORT......................................................................27
FIGURE 5-1: DATA CLEANSING FRAMEWORK...........................................................29
FIGURE 5-2: DETAILED DATA CLEANSING PROCESS..................................................30
FIGURE 6-1: DATA CONVERSION PROCESS OVERVIEW..............................................32
FIGURE 6-2: DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THE MAPPING PROCESS....................................34
FIGURE 6-3: EXTRACTION & STAGING CONCEPTUAL PROCESS.................................36
FIGURE 6-4: TRANSFORMATION & LOADING PROCESS..............................................38
FIGURE 8-1: DATA VALIDATION & RECONCILIATION CHECKPOINTS...........................53
FIGURE 8-2: DATA VALIDATION & RECONCILIATION REPORT.....................................54
FIGURE 9-1: DATA CONVERSION CUTOVER STEPS....................................................59
FIGURE 9-2: CERTIFICATION OF DATA CONVERSION ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA............62

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