Conversion Methods

A direct conversion is when a company stops using the old system and starts using the new system at a specific point in time. This can be risky because even with sufficient testing, it is impossible to make sure there are no issues with the new system.

Phased conversion is a conversion that is slowly integrated with the new and slowly removes the old. An example of this is a school with a new system to manage sports and each team’s athletes. The old system is paper and pencil. Over time, a new system is introduced to manage students, their teams, seasons, and their coaches. At first, the new system manages teams. Then the new system manages seasons (and school terms). When users are familiar with that process, the system is expanded to include the management of coaches, players, and events. At the end of implementation, the new system manages everything related to student athletics and the old paper and pencil system is no longer used.

The new system is introduced while the old one is still in use. Both systems process all activity and the results are compared. Once there is confidence that the new one operates properly, the old one is shut down.

Pilot Conversions are when part of an organization uses the new system while the rest of it continues to use the old. This localizes problems to the pilot group so support resources can focus on it. However, there can be interface issues where organizational units share data.