A large, publicly traded water utility company faced significant challenges during a complex ERP system implementation. The company’s non-regulated homeowner services division had customers on two different platforms.
They needed to migrate critical data from Microsoft Dynamics onto the new Oracle system while managing a high volume of data inconsistencies and system defects. With multiple layers of complexity and pressure to complete the system conversion as soon as possible, the company turned to On-Demand by RGP for assistance.
During the multi-year project, we provided several high-level consultants who could take on complex roles and support the company’s data migration and stabilization efforts through multiple stages. This allowed our client to focus on the technical conversion while we managed the data cleanup and ensured readiness for the Oracle migration.
01.
Stabilizing a Defective System
The homeowner services division, which sells and manages warranty services such as sewer and water line protection, had thousands of customer accounts. Many of these customer records were inaccurate due to defects in the existing Microsoft Dynamics system.
In the first phase of the project, under the supervision of the ERP client lead, our team stepped in to address these defects and collaborated with our client’s IT team to help stabilize the system prior to conversion to Oracle. This involved identifying system errors, implementing fixes, and ensuring that financial data, customer accounts and enrollments, and other critical information were accurate.
02.
Comprehensive Data Cleanup and Successful Migration
In the next phase of work, our team worked with our client’s ERP lead, to migrate data from MS Dynamics to the new Oracle system. We meticulously cleaned and scrubbed tens of thousands of accounts to prepare for the migration, ensuring data integrity and preventing a “garbage in, garbage out” scenario.
Under the client’s leadership, the On-Demand by RGP also oversaw an eight-person team from multiple firms to clean up customer data through a combination of detailed review and bulk analysis. She personally handled the more complex accounts, managed, trained, and reviewed the team’s work, and prepared summary reports for management.
All told, the team cleaned up over 100,000 customer accounts through detailed review and bulk analysis.
03.
Reconciling Banking Information and Payment Processes
Because of the system defects and data issues, customer payments had not been processed and posted properly, creating costly trickle-down effects: Not only was the company missing out on money it was owed but there were also customer service issues because of billing errors and enrollment problems.
So in the third phase, we worked with a credit card processor and bank to obtain the necessary information to prepare bank reconciliations going back to the inception of the MS Dynamics system. This included identifying and correcting missing payments, duplicate payment posting, and other items impacting cash and customer balances. After our client transitioned to a new payment processing vendor, we set up the bank reconciliation process for the new platform.
04.
Ongoing Support Through Acquisition Transitions
On-Demand helped keep business-as-usual running smoothly through multiple company transitions, including the acquisition of a warranty business and the eventual sale of the entire homeowner services division to a private equity firm. Our team played a critical role in managing these transitions, ensuring that data and systems were well-prepared for growth and expansion under new ownership.
Financial impact: Our team’s work to correct payment processing issues enabled our client to identify a half million dollars in missed payments and ensure that customer accounts were accurate and up to date.
Business continuity & customer satisfaction: By stabilizing the defective Microsoft Dynamics system and ensuring accurate data migration, we enabled the company to maintain strong customer relationships and partnership agreements.
05.
Positioned for Growth
Our ability to provide expert data migration and cleanup services over the course of this lengthy and complex ERP implementation was instrumental in enabling the client to transition smoothly through acquisitions. With the system stabilized and data cleaned, the client is now well-positioned for expansion under new private equity ownership.
The private equity firm plans to grow the business by expanding into new markets, offering more products, and forming new utility partnerships—growth that would not have been possible without our team’s foundational data and systems work.
