Tinubu’s Guide to Successful Surety Data Migration

Tinubu’s Guide to Successful Surety Data Migration

As Aite Novarica’s most recent Property/Casualty Policy Administration Systems Impact Report notes, many Surety carriers are moving to Cloud-based SaaS systems. Carriers are making the switch to take advantage of “better performance, improved scalability… the capability to pursue new opportunities… the ability to integrate with third-party applications seamlessly as part of the underwriting workflow, including analytics for underwriting risk scoring/fraud detection… and a desire to reduce the sizeable costs of maintaining legacy systems running on aging platforms.”

The report also notes that as “increased data accessibility demands such as BI and data analytics become a significant part of insurers’ strategic objectives, core system data must be available for analysis.” This means a carrier transitioning to a new Surety system will want to migrate their data to take full advantage of digitization, to effectively manage their transactions, and get the most out of their system. But for some carriers, data migration is a frightening prospect, and for  good reason.

Since 2020, more than 70% of new Tinubu clients have come to us due to failed implementations with other providers, and unsuccessful data migration has been, by and large, the main culprit.. Data migration without question is challenging. Tinubu has successfully undertaken numerous migrations. One recent migration included over 300,000 bonds, two million historical transactions with underwriting history, and 200,000 client accounts.

Let us share a few things we’ve learned along the way. 

Understand Data Migration Scope

Surety data migration is about more than bonds.

Tinubu works with each client to determine their migration requirements. We can migrate Obligees, Branches, Agencies, Agents, Accounts, and the full bond transaction history, including answers to underwriting questions. For Contract bonds we can migrate Project related data including Work In Progress data.

Tinubu understands that not all legacy systems have the concept of Accounts for Surety bonds. We can generate Accounts during the migration process, if required.

Testing Cycle 

Test Data Migrations are performed to ensure all data has been migrated accurately. Once the data migration has been verified, transactions are performed on the bonds to ensure the expected behavior is achieved in Tinubu. Each client knows their business best, and so testing with  Tinubu is a collaborative process.

Although this happens before going live, the testing cycle happens a number of times so that feedback can be incorporated and adjustments made as needed: it's an iterative process. Keep this in mind when considering timelines.

Decide Which Bonds to Migrate

In addition to migrating active bonds, decide which older bonds to bring over. This depends on your business needs and how much historical data is relevant to your operations. For many clients, it’s worth migrating bonds cancelled in the last year in case the customer wants to reinstate them: then you can do that easily without manually re-entering information. 

Consider the patterns that are unique to your organization: is it common for older cancelled bonds (those over a year old, for example) to be renewed? If so, consider migrating those. Are there historical bonds which might serve as templates or references for future business? This decision-making process streamlines the migration and ensures you only move useful data.

Choose Your Migration Approach

There are two primary approaches to data migration: “Big Bang” and “Phased.”

With a “Big Bang” approach you migrate all your data in one go.

Big Bang Pros

• Takes up less of your team’s time overall. 
• Reduces the need to run two systems in tandem (your legacy system for bonds/agencies not yet migrated, plus Tinubu). 

Big Bang Cons

• As your team adjusts to the new system, they’ll be doing so with all clients and data, which may be overwhelming.
• But Remember: Tinubu ensures data is fully validated before launch. The migration of two million historical transactions mentioned above was Big Bang, and because of Tinubu’s combination of iterative  testing with frequent team checkpoints, the migration was successful and went smoothly.

A “Phased” migration involves moving data in smaller parcels over a longer period of time. If you take this approach, consider first migrating the data from an agency or two that your company has a good working relationship with. That way, if your team has to make adjustments or faces challenges as it starts using the new system, this will only be felt by one or two friendly clients. 

Phased Launch Pros

• Your team can adjust to the new system with a more manageable data set.
• If there are initial challenges, they will be felt by less clients.
• If external users have feedback about the new system, this can be addressed before all partners are using it.

Phased Launch Cons

• More time consuming and disruptive to your day-to-day business: your team will have to restart the testing and user acceptance process for each data set.
• More time running two systems simultaneously.
• Consider: If you choose a Phased launch, consider following it with a Big Bang launch of the rest of your data once your new workflow is going smoothly. This requires less of your team’s time and gets you to market faster.  

Cleanse Your Data

Data cleansing involves ensuring that the data you’re migrating is complete and error-free. Doing this before you migrate saves time and complications post-migration, and it ensures you don’t waste resources moving data which is either redundant or inaccurate. Effective data cleansing reduces the risk of errors in the new system and makes it faster to start using the new system to its full potential. To cleanse data:

• Identify Duplicates: Look for variations in how data is entered. For example, “ABC Contracting, Inc.” and “ABC Contracting LLC” might refer to the same entity. If they do, consolidating these entries makes your data cleaner and easier to work with in the new system. It makes processes faster for your users, so they can search for a company, find just one result, and move forward with the click of a button.
• But Avoid False Positives: When looking for duplicates, don’t assume that people with the same or similar names are the same entity. If, for example, your system has several clients called “John Smith” check SSIs, phone numbers or addresses to find out whether or not they are the same person, then adjust your data accordingly.
• Check Relationships: Ensure that all data relationships are intact. For example, every bond should be linked to a valid account. If a bond references an account number that doesn’t exist or is incorrect, a new account can be created for it in your Tinubu system.
• Review Missing Data: Look for gaps in your data, such as missing account numbers or agencies, incomplete or incorrect contact information. Addressing these issues before migration will save time, and ensure the new system operates smoothly.

Collaborate

Early in the process, there will be a kickoff meeting where members of your organization will meet with Tinubu to go over the migration plan, determine what kind of migration will suit you best (Big Bang or Phased Launch) and what data will be migrated. 

Data migration is collaborative: for the initial meeting, bring decision-makers and also the team members who will work directly on the migration. This ensures everyone is on the same page and can address issues as they arise. (The number of participants for future meetings will probably be less.) Discuss how best to sync data migration timelines with your financial reporting cycles, if required. For a successful migration, a client’s business teams and IT teams must both be on board and working well together.

Also establish who will be running point on day-to-day decision making for the migration and leading communication with your Tinubu partner.

Be upfront about your goals, desired timelines, and any concerns you have. The more information your migration partner has, the better they can support you and the faster you can begin to use your new system.

Still have questions about data migration or moving to a new platform? Tinubu can help. Get in touch with us here suretysales@tinubu.com