Top 5 Tips for Successful IP Docketing Data Migration
Posted by Jerry Lamigo on Mon, Feb 08, 2010
Imagine being two weeks away from your go-live, when suddenly out of nowhere comes a value (or a lack of a value) in a column that just shouldn't be there. Paranoia kicks in!
The success of any IP management software project implementation is highly dependent on successful data migration. This is however, one of the most overlooked aspects of an IP management implementation project. This is partly because so much emphasis is placed on re-engineering the business processes that the quality and accuracy of data often takes a lesser priority. And when the data is critical, even small errors or delays can impede or shut down operations, leading to a frustrated team and lost productivity.
Data migration is a complex operation, and because it is so complicated, many migrations run into issues. The following 5 tips will help you to avoid hidden issues and prepare for a successful IP management data migration.
Tip 1: Establish a multi-disciplinary Team
While an experienced patent paralegal can easily interpret the data quality anomalies associated with a docket, it is essential to assign a senior IP counsel to oversee the entire data. If you are graduating from legacy patent docketing software to an enterprise-wide IP management system, there's a good chance that the business units, technology areas, products, and other field values are not current.
Ensure that you have firm commitments from the entire patent team. Also, ask your IP management vendor to provide you the most qualified and experienced resources who can help you with preparation. If you take the time to prepare, importing your data from your existing patent docketing system into the new IP asset management system will be less painful.
Tip 2: Invest time to improve data quality
From our experience, we know that most legacy patent docketing systems have quality issues. Different people have entered the data differently in the same fields. The extent and complexity of these may not be fully understood. "Our data is good enough" or "we don't have the time for a big data-cleanse" can often leave docketing data quality on the back burner. You should put a data quality framework in place right from the outset. Share your concerns openly with your IP management vendor from the start and ask them for suggestions on data cleansing. There are several tools available for improving data quality; The proper use of spreadsheets can also get the work done.
Tip 3: Walk before you run
The approach of executing data migration "over a weekend" into your new IP management system creates a rigid, inflexible framework. It will likely fail to cope with the inevitable changes and problems that invariably arise.
The IP department should opt for an agile, iterative delivery approach. An iterative cycle of learning and delivery makes it far easier to plan the project in well defined segments.
It is advisable however to limit these iterations to 3 or less.
Tip 4: Learn to hit a moving target
It is vital that you start the IP docketing data migration project in parallel with the rest of the project. The data migration team must be updated with all changes and updates as they happen to avoid reworking costs. Although the final system may be different from "out-of-the-box", you can still develop a large amount of migration functionality by agreeing to a "common model".
Tip 5: Documentation
Most IP departments have poor quality or non-existent documentation on how their legacy patent systems and docketing data models were designed and are currently being used. Without this knowledge, mistakes in data mapping and transformation can cause data defects to flow into the new IP management system.
After your data is migrated to the new IP management system, start working on the documentation. This will help you save a lot of time for future data migrations.
Lecorpio has an excellent track record of successful IP asset management project implementations. Lecorpio's professional services use a powerful combination of strategic insight and superior execution to optimize the cost and efficiency of our client's IP operations. Feel free to contact us if you need more information on best practices for IP management data migration.
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