What Makes a Work Management Migration Truly Successful

When organisations migrate work management platforms - whether moving from Monday.com to Jira Work Management, Excel to Asana, or adopting a new ITSM system like HaloITSM or Freshworks - the assumption is often that it's simply a case of transferring data from A to B. But the truth is, a successful work management migration isn’t just a tool swap.

(Hint: It’s More Than Just Switching Tools!)

It’s a transformation.

At BDQ, we’ve delivered migrations and implementations for global businesses and specialist consultancies alike, across solutions like Atlassian, Asana, Zephyr, Monday.com, HaloITSM, Lexzur, Sonatype, Freshworks, and others. Through this experience, we’ve identified what separates a truly successful migration from one that simply ticks the boxes.

1. It Starts with Strategy, Not Software

Before clicking “export,” the most critical questions to answer are:

• What are your organisational goals?
• What are your pain points with the current system?
• Who are your users, and how do they work?

Take PartnerHero, for example. They migrated from Monday.com to Atlassian Jira Work Management to unify development and business teams. But instead of duplicating Monday structures, BDQ helped them redesign workflows in Jira that aligned with their actual work practices, reducing friction and enhancing reporting capabilities.

2. Understand That Adoption > Implementation

You could build the perfect system - but if no one uses it, it fails.

Successful migrations focus on change management as much as data migration. This means:

• Involving users early through discovery workshops.
• Creating champion users or "super users" for internal support.
• Providing training and tailored documentation.

With Universal Robots, for example, BDQ ran one-to-one sessions with team members, ensuring workflows in Asana were understood, adopted, and championed internally. The result? Increased ownership, streamlined collaboration, and 130% efficiency improvement.

3. Rebuild Processes, Don’t Just Recreate Structures

Every work management platform has its own strengths. Simply recreating your old workflows in a new tool often leads to frustration and missed opportunities.

Instead, optimise for the capabilities of the new platform. For example:

• Use custom forms and automation in HaloITSM or Jira to simplify service requests.
• Use Zephyr’s integrated test cycles to combine manual and automated testing results.
• Leverage Asana’s timeline and goal tracking to dynamically monitor strategic outcomes.

When BDQ worked with the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ), the goal wasn’t to duplicate spreadsheets in Asana. It was to build a goal tracking and reporting system that could evolve with their three-year planning cycles - improving collaboration and decision-making in the process.

4. Prioritise Reporting and Visibility

Modern platforms like Jira, Tempo, and Asana offer powerful dashboards, capacity planning, and dynamic reporting - but only if properly configured.

With tools like Tempo for Jira, for example, BDQ helps organisations track time for HMRC R&D claims, measure actual vs planned effort, and visualise workloads across teams.

Don’t stop at tracking “Done.” Track what matters - time spent, capacity, KPIs, blockers - and make this reporting accessible to stakeholders.

5. Think Beyond IT

While IT teams often lead the charge, work management touches every department - marketing, HR, operations, customer success. The best migrations account for cross-department needs and design solutions that scale.

We’ve helped clients roll out Jira Service Management not just for ITSM, but also for external event support, onboarding, and legal operations. Whether it’s Atomicwork, Lexzur, or Zephyr for test management, a unified work platform helps your entire organisation collaborate more effectively.

6. Don’t Migrate Alone

Complex data structures, automation dependencies, and integration points (e.g., email, CRMs, calendars) make work management migrations difficult to do internally without significant risk or effort.

Partnering with a product-agnostic specialist like BDQ means:

• Reduced internal burden.
• Faster delivery.
• Proven methodologies (like our AIM - Accelerated Implementation Methodology).
• A future-proof system tailored to your business.

Conclusion: More Than a Tool Swap

Migrating your work management platform isn’t about replicating what you had - it’s about improving how your teams work, collaborate, and deliver outcomes. That requires expertise, planning, and a deep understanding of both your organisation and the platform you’re adopting.

If any of this sounds familiar - if you're migrating platforms, consolidating systems, or struggling with adoption - we’d love to talk. Let BDQ help you get it right, the first time.

👉 Contact us today or email enquiries@bdq.cloud to start the conversation.