Extrieve BLOG

Executive Summary 

The migration from a Legacy DMS to PowerFile DMS enabled a 70% reduction in storage requirements, improved data organization for faster search and retrieval, and eliminated duplicate documents. The transition resulted in a streamlined system with enhanced performance, reliability, and scalability—providing a robust platform for future integrations. 

Challenges vs. Key Achievements 

Overview 

A financial institution sought a seamless transition from their Legacy Document Management System (DMS) to PowerFile DMS. The primary objective was to ensure full accessibility to approximately 230 million case documents in the new system while maintaining operational continuity. This required migrating a massive volume of documents from the older archival system to PowerFile’s optimized storage infrastructure. 

Approach 

The migration was carried out using a phased and systematic strategy: 

• Phased Migration: 
  • Initial focus was on transferring documents from the most recent year. 
  • Documents were categorized by Record ID, allowing some to remain accessible in the old DMS while others transitioned to PowerFile DMS. 
• Compression and Reconciliation: 
  • Documents were downloaded, compressed, and reconciled to ensure the document count in the new system matched the old system for each Record ID. 
• Minimizing Impact on Production: 
  • Migration operations were executed during non-production hours to mitigate the impact on the legacy system’s APIs and ensure business continuity. 

Solution 

A customized PowerFile DMS Migration Assistant was deployed to manage the migration process efficiently. Key elements of the solution included: 

• Automated Migration Workflow: 
  • The Migration Assistant connected directly to the legacy system, staged yearly data into a database table, and automated document transfers to PowerFile DMS. 
• Parallel Processing for Efficiency: 
  • Multiple instances of the migration agent were configured to run during non-production hours, significantly increasing migration throughput. 
• Data Validation and Reconciliation: 
  • A document reconciliation step ensured that the number of documents matched between the old and new systems. 
  • Migration logs were maintained for each Record ID, marking migration statuses as “success” or “failed” based on document accuracy. 
• Standardization and Optimization: 
  • Documents were compressed and converted to consistent formats. 
  • Duplicate files were eliminated, and documents were reorganized into Document Groups and Document Types for streamlined search and integration. 

Results 

The migration delivered substantial improvements across multiple areas: 

• Storage Efficiency: 
  • The total storage size was reduced from 65 TB to under 20 TB, achieving a 70% reduction in storage requirements. 
• Elimination of Duplicates: 
  • Duplicate documents were omitted, ensuring clean and standardized data. 
• Improved Organization: 
  • Documents were categorized into Document Groups and Types, enhancing searchability and API-based integrations. 
• Performance Gains: 
  • The new system demonstrated significantly improved response times and operational uptime, positively impacting business efficiency. 

Conclusion

The migration from the legacy DMS to PowerFile DMS not only addressed the institution’s immediate needs for accessible and standardized data but also laid the foundation for future scalability and integration. The PowerFile DMS Migration Assistant proved to be an effective tool for managing large-scale migrations with minimal disruption, ensuring both accuracy and efficiency in data transition. 

For more details on the PowerFile DMS Migration Assistant, visit: Effortless DMS Migration – PowerFile Migration Assistant