Migration Anxiety 1

It’s not uncommon for IT organizations to have a mixed bag of workload automation (WLA) and scheduling software. In fact, 60% of organizations say they are using more than one WLA tool, according to a new survey of IT and business professionals by industry analysts EMA.

This accumulation of WLA tools builds up over the years through mergers, acquisitions, or different departments making their own product selections in isolation. But these siloed islands of automation store up all kinds of technical debt and inefficiencies that impact the business.

Ditching this mixed bag of legacy tools for a modern cloud-based WLA solution such as RunMyJobs by Redwood® scheduling eliminates risk from process downtime, reduces costs as on-premises installations are switched off, and removes the need for the customer to update and patch systems – we take care of that for you.

But as compelling as these benefits are, WLA migration can seem daunting. This migration anxiety is understandable given the need to untangle years of ad-hoc automation, scripts, processes and dependencies. Not to mention the importance of preserving data integrity, downtime and security.

That mixed bag of legacy schedulers still works – on the surface, at least – and staying put can feel like the safer option, right?

Wrong. The EMA research shows that the risks of staying with your current WLA products may be higher than the risks of migrating.

The perceived risks of migrating are certainly higher than the actual risks. Forty-six percent of those migrating to new WLA software said they found it easier than expected or a non-event.

Almost the same number of respondents (45%) admitted that the migration was more difficult than expected or disruptive. But here’s the rub – they also said that disruption was worth the effort. They were still glad they did it. In other words, the benefits outweighed the risks.

One of the reasons migrating to a modern WLA solution is easier than you might think is the use of workload conversion capabilities that automate and take the manual pain out of the switch.

At Redwood we go even further. Our Migration Factory provides a four-step collaborative process to make migration fast, easy and effective:

  • We work with you to create a clear overview of the existing WLA environment.
  • We use automated migration tools to demonstrate the conversion process and present a tailor-made RunMyJobs implementation and migration plan.
  • As a combined team, we deliver your solution into a test environment. Then it’s tuned to fit perfectly for your needs. Training and enablement follow.
  • Finally, we implement to the production environment using a go-live checklist and a monitored first production period. Together we’ll plan support and outline future projects.

Redwood understands the migration concerns our customers have. That’s why we created our proven process to deliver fast, simple and easy-to-understand conversions.

With Redwood, it’s no sweat.

Find out more about how Redwood can help you make the move to a modern cloud-based WLA.

About The Author

Devin Gharibian-Saki's Avatar

Devin Gharibian-Saki

Devin Gharibian-Saki brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise on enterprise IT, the SAP ecosystem and business process automation to his current role as SVP of Business Development and Strategy at Redwood Software. Experience within product marketing, product management and enterprise software sales enables Devin to drive strategic initiatives and alliances for the organization and unlock new business models and go-to-market strategies. Acting as an executive advocate for the customer, Devin is passionate about delivering the best solutions to make the most out of a customer’s environment. His approach centers on connecting with customers, prospects and partners to better understand how Redwood can help their digital transformation initiatives, improving their automation roadmaps by leveraging a combination of his SAP and process optimization proficiencies.

Prior to working for Redwood, Devin was an SAP Technology Consultant, working directly at SAP and at EnBW, the third-largest utility in Germany. Devin holds a diploma in Mathematics from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, as well as two patents.

1 GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. 2 Magic Quadrant is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.