Migrations Fail When Teams Are Misaligned
Platform migrations are often driven by ecommerce or marketing needs. But the platform connects to everything: warehouses, customer service, finance, ERP. Teams that are not involved in planning get surprised at launch.
Alignment before migration prevents operational failures after.
Identify Affected Teams
Map who is affected by a platform change.
Warehouse and fulfillment
Order data format changes. Integrations need rebuilding. Shipping label generation may differ. Picking processes may need adjustment.
Customer service
New admin interface to learn. Customer account changes to explain. Different order modification capabilities. Updated tools and integrations.
Finance
Revenue recognition may change. Tax handling differs. Reconciliation processes update. Reporting changes.
IT/Technical
All integrations require attention. Security review needed. New systems to monitor. Support processes to establish.
Requirements Gathering Across Teams
Each team has requirements that should inform the project.
Current state documentation
Before imagining the future, document the present. How do orders currently flow? What integrations exist? What manual workarounds are in place?
Pain points
What does not work well now? Migration is an opportunity to fix problems, not just replicate them on a new platform.
Must-haves vs nice-to-haves
Distinguish between requirements that are non-negotiable and improvements that would be nice. Not everything can happen in the initial migration.
Timeline constraints
Does any team have timing constraints? Warehouse management changes, peak season, contract renewals?
Common Disconnects
Patterns that cause problems.
Integration assumptions
Ecommerce assumes the ERP integration will just work. Operations discovers the integration needs complete rebuilding. Timeline explodes.
Workflow changes
The new platform changes how orders are processed. Warehouse team is not trained. Fulfillment errors spike at launch.
Data format differences
Order data structures change. Downstream systems expect old formats. Data transformation needed that was not scoped.
Testing gaps
End-to-end testing with operations is skipped. Issues surface in production affecting real customers.
Creating Alignment
Practical steps for alignment.
Kickoff with all stakeholders
Start the project with everyone in the room. Establish shared understanding of goals, timeline, and each team's role.
Regular cross-team updates
Do not let teams go into silos. Regular updates surface issues before they become crises.
Joint testing
Operations teams participate in testing. They verify the system works for their use cases, not just the ecommerce team's use cases.
Training before launch
All affected teams are trained on new processes before launch day. Launch is not the time to learn.
Clear escalation paths
When issues arise, everyone knows how to escalate. Problems do not get stuck waiting for decisions.
Document Decisions
Alignment is not just conversations. It is documented decisions.
Integration specifications
What data flows where, in what format, at what frequency. Operations and ecommerce agree on specs.
Process documentation
How will new processes work? Written, reviewed, and agreed by affected teams.
Responsibility matrix
Who owns what? Clarity prevents gaps and conflicts.
For migration planning, see Shopify migration.
Working with LiftKit Digital
LiftKit Digital facilitates cross-team alignment as part of migration projects. We bring the right conversations early so launches go smoothly.
To discuss your migration, get in touch.