Considering a telecom system migration? Make sure to weigh on these 10 common challenges:

By Vikram Dhaddha Zenith System Solutions CEO

Migration of telecom billing and charging systems is a complex and business-critical process. While it's necessary to keep up with evolving industry technologies and products, there are several potential pitfalls that can hinder migration success. Being aware of these challenges can help plan and execute a smooth migration.

1. Insufficient planning and analysis: Current operational system customizations are mostly routine and seldom documented. A failure to properly analyze and plan the migration's scope, additional requirements, timeline, as well as the impact on a dual-run ecosystem in the case of a phased migration, can result in missed deadlines, resource allocation issues, budget allocation issues, and unexpected challenges.

2. Inadequate stakeholder engagement: Leaving out crucial stakeholders (such as system administrators, infrastructure teams, vendors, Subject Matter Experts, developers, revenue assurance business teams and end-users) from the beginning of the migration process can result in miscommunication, unmet expectations, dissatisfaction, and even more so impact on business continuity.

3. Poor data management: Ensuring data integrity and consistency throughout the migration process is essential. Ineffective data extraction, transformation, and validation can lead to data loss, corruption, or discrepancies. These impacts business operations and customer satisfaction as well. Any migration project depends on bulk data migration accuracy and performance.

4. Overlooking customizations and integrations: Migrating custom-built features and third-party integrations can be complicated. Sizing the upgraded infrastructure is a critical step that should be reviewed very early in the project phase. Neglecting these aspects during the migration can lead to loss of functionality or extended downtime.

5. Poor user training and adoption: Insufficient training on the upgraded system features and functionalities can result in user resistance, low adoption rates, and ultimately decreased productivity.

6. Lack of testing and validation: Failing to perform rigorous functional and integration testing, as well as validation throughout the migration process can lead to system instability, performance issues, and data discrepancies. Any tools and frameworks developed for legacy systems should also be included in the migration program. This would ensure that the productivity gains achieved for legacy systems are carried forward. Performance testing is usually left to the tail end of the project and may add to the risk especially on large migration projects.

7. A misaligned business and migration strategy: the business must be aligned with the whole migration strategy, including system and data migration strategy is key to ensure business continuity, customer experience and brand impact.

8. Lack of ongoing monitoring and optimization: Business operations can be negatively impacted if new billing and charging systems are not constantly monitored for a variety of factors, including functionality, integration, performance, security, and stability.

9. Inefficient decommissioning of the old system: Failing to properly backup, archive, and decommission the old billing and charging system can lead to data loss or security vulnerabilities, operational costs, and redundant infrastructure.

10. Underestimating the migration complexity: Telecom billing and charging system migrations are often more complex than anticipated. Underestimating the challenges and risks involved and mitigating them with the right experience and methodology can lead to a poorly executed migration. This can impact business operations, project delays, potential revenue, and customer satisfaction.

To summarize, the first step in planning and executing any migration is to be aware of the challenges above along with adhering to best practices. This can help mitigate future risks and streamline transitions to an upgraded billing and charging system. However, telecom customers often find it more complex than they imagined and contact Zenith experts to manage and handle these complex migration projects. Having over 20 years' experience in the telecom industry assures our customers that their migration projects will be delivered efficiently and at lower risk.

Would you like to learn more about how Zenith can help you migrate your Telecom billing and charging system? Get in touch with us, we'd be happy to hear from you.