Cloud Readiness Check for Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise

Before a cloud migration can be properly planned, the current Infor LN landscape should be fully mapped. This includes the versions, modules, tenants, companies, and locations in use, as well as existing system and operational documentation.

Important Questions:

• Which version of Infor and which release or patch level are currently in use?
• Which modules are currently in production use?
• Which companies, plants, clients, or locations are affected?
• Is there any up-to-date documentation on system architecture, operations, and process usage?
• Is it clear which parts of the landscape are business-critical?

Particularly with Infor LN systems that have been in use for many years, the number of customizations is often a key factor in determining the effort involved, the risks, and the migration strategy.

Important Questions:

• What modifications and in-house developments have been implemented over the years?
• Which of these are business-critical today?
• Which adjustments have developed over time without providing any real added value?
• Which requirements can be met in the future through standard-based solutions or through appropriate extension concepts?
• Which adjustments have a particularly significant impact on upgradeability, testing efforts, or operations?

When evaluating customizations, it’s particularly worthwhile to consider the future standard process. The Infor Industry Process Catalog enables a structured assessment of which current processes already align closely with the standard, where there are genuine business-specific differences, and where ad-hoc solutions that have evolved over time unnecessarily complicate cloud readiness.

Not every existing dataset needs to be migrated to the new cloud environment. A common mistake is failing to clearly separate operational and historical data.

Important Questions:

• What master and transaction data is available in the system?
• What data is actually needed for day-to-day operations?
• What data is historical and does not need to be maintained for operational purposes?
• Where are there duplicates, inconsistencies, and areas requiring cleanup?
• What is the data quality like for items, bills of materials, work instructions, customers, suppliers, or financial data?

Tax and regulatory requirements must be considered early on, especially when it comes to financial documents and accounting data. This is not just a matter of what can be migrated from a technical standpoint, but also of what must remain available and traceable.

Important Questions:

• What retention periods apply to tax-related documents and accounting data?
• What information must remain available in an audit-proof manner?
• Which data must be available in the new environment, and which does not need to be?
• Is an archiving or information retrieval plan sufficient for certain historical data?
• Who is responsible for the technical assessment from Finance, Tax, or Compliance?

A cloud migration affects more than just the ERP system itself. It is also crucial to consider how Infor LN communicates with other applications and how business-critical these connections are.

Important Questions:

• Which systems are connected to Infor LN?
• How does communication currently take place—file-based, direct, via middleware, API-based, or via batch processing?
• Which interfaces are time-critical or business-critical?
• Which connected systems run on-premises, in the data center, or already in the cloud?
• How well are integrations, data flows, and technical dependencies documented?

Even if the target application is hosted in the cloud, site connectivity, access quality, and stability remain critical success factors—especially in distributed manufacturing environments.

Important Questions:

• Is Internet access sufficiently scaled at all relevant locations?
• Are there any bottlenecks in terms of bandwidth or stability?
• What impact would the use of a cloud-based ERP system have on plants, warehouses, or branch offices?
• Are there any production areas with specific requirements regarding availability or response times?
• Are the access and security strategies aligned with the target vision?

The effort involved in a migration depends not only on the technology and architecture, but also on the scope of the business objects and processes that are actively affected.

Important Questions:

• How many active customers, suppliers, or other business partners are affected?
• How many ongoing projects, orders, or open transactions are currently in progress?
• Which orders, inventory levels, production orders, or financial transactions must be available by go-live?
• Which projects or processes have been completed and are now only relevant for historical purposes?
• Which companies, locations, or business units must be included in the scope?

A robust readiness check is not purely an IT task. In addition to ERP and IT managers, functional departments, process owners, infrastructure teams, finance, and—depending on the situation—compliance or external specialists should generally be involved. It is crucial that both the technical baseline and the data, processes, retention requirements, and organizational dependencies be assessed realistically.

In established ERP environments, this is the rule rather than the exception. It is important to identify this gap early on and not to continue working based on unspoken assumptions. A readiness check is particularly helpful in systematically uncovering a lack of transparency regarding versions, customizations, data flows, or interfaces, and in gradually completing the documentation.

No. The purpose of a Cloud Readiness Check is precisely to establish a solid foundation for future decisions. Companies do not need to have every target scenario defined in detail at the outset. What is more important is gaining clarity about the current system landscape, the need for action, and critical dependencies.

Typical indicators include a large number of customizations, unclear data quality, a lack of transparency regarding integrations, unresolved data retention requirements, or unclear organizational responsibilities. Weak site integration or significant differences in processes between plants and companies may also indicate that it makes sense to conduct preliminary projects before proceeding with the actual migration.