ERP migrations are rarely simple. Between reconfiguring workflows, retraining your team, and moving data, it’s easy to forget about some crucial questions: what do you do with your historical data, and how can you manage historical data correctly?
Why This is More Complicated Than it Looks
Not all data moves to a new ERP. Using a tool like SmartConnect, you would move active records like customer data, open transactions, and your chart of accounts over to your new system. But historical data doesn’t move. Old transactions may reference employees who’ve left the company, items that no longer exist, or a chart of accounts that has been completely rebuilt. Trying to import that into a new system is expensive, time-consuming, and unnecessary.
A better approach is to store that historical data in a place purpose-built to handle it, and use Popdock to keep it accessible. The real question is, where should that data live?
1.) Leave it in the Current System
For organizations that want the easiest path forward, this option requires no migration and no new infrastructure. Your legacy system stays in place, and Popdock pulls data from it as needed. It’s a practical choice when reporting demands are minimal, and the priority is keeping the migration itself as simple as possible.
The tradeoff is cost over time. A system that exists only to house old data still requires ongoing maintenance, security patches, and compliance checks, and those costs add up quickly.
This may be the best fit if: Your team just needs occasional visibility into old records and isn’t ready to take on additional platforms.
2.) Cloud Storage or Data Lake
This is usually the most economical option for companies sitting on years of historical records. Data gets exported into cloud storage, like Azure Blob, Amazon S3, or Google Cloud Storage, as either CSV or Parquet files.
CSV files are readable and straightforward, but slow to query at a meaningful scale. Adding a SQL layer on top addresses that limitation and allows you to filter and retrieve only the data you need more efficiently.
Parquet files organize data in a way that makes it more efficient to compress and search, though you’ll need a tool like Popdock to read and work with it. For bulk historical records, Parquet files are the most efficient option.
This may be the best fit if: You’re archiving a decade or more of data and already have a presence in one of the major cloud environments.
3.) A Hosted Database
A managed SQL database like Asure SQL, AWS RDS, or Google Cloud SQL, offers more structure and query flexibility than flat file storage. The cloud vendor handles infrastructure management, and the setup integrates naturally with most BI tools. If your reporting requirements are more complex, or your team is already familiar with SQL, this option delivers on both fronts.
The downside is that with this option, you’re probably paying for more features than you need. For smaller organizations that only need read-only archiving and don’t have heavy reporting needs, the cost is hard to justify.
This may be the best fit if: Your BI tools expect a SQL connection and your team has the database skills to manage it.
4.) A Modern Data Platform
Cloud-native warehouses, like Snowflake or Microsoft Fabric, are built for scale, analytics, and enterprise-grade data management. If your organization is already running one of these platforms, adding in your historical ERP data is a natural step.
For companies consolidating records from multiple ERPs or treating analytics as a core business function, this is where the investment pays off. For everyone else, the high cost and high complexity make this option overkill.
This may be the best fit if: You have a dedicated BI team and are already standardizing on one of these environments.
Finding the Right Fit to Manage Historical Data
Your data volume, budget, and internal capabilities will point you toward the right option. Whichever route you take, Popdock connects to all four, keeping your historical records searchable and accessible from within the platforms your team already uses. SmartConnect handles the data migration itself.
Don’t let historical data become the biggest headache during ERP migration. Contact us to discuss your options with a team that’s navigated this before.
