Migration from legacy to the next-generation platform
Key benefits
- Access to next-generation microservice that includes IBM Sterling Inventory Visibility and the next-generation IBM Sterling Store Engagement. Eligibility to consume additional services such as IBM Sterling Intelligent Promising.
- Elastic or Auto Scaling capability to minimize the impact during peak season with the Sterling Order Management next-generation platform.
- Ability to isolate scaling of individual modules or customization.
- Use the Self Service
tool for the following tasks:
- Accelerate CICD deployment by using the CLI tool.
- Manage your own firewall policy and signed certificate without contacting IBM support.
- Monitor unified real-time server logs in the Graylog interface.
- Migrate CDTs.
To schedule your migration to the next-generation platform, contact IBM Support. IBM then works with you to align the migration schedule with your project plans.
IBM recommends that you first migrate Sterling Order Management from the legacy to the next-generation platform and then migrate Sterling Inventory Visibility and Store Engagement to avoid the complexity of troubleshooting issues that might occur during the migration process.
Order Hub access is provisioned after successful migration of Sterling Order Management.
Responsibilities of IBM
- Migrate all application components.
- Copy configuration and transaction data from all environments (Development, QA, Non-Production, and Production).
- Migrate catalog search indexes.
- Migrate server configurations.
- Migrate queue definitions.
- Export the latest customization .jar files and configurations.
- Move all reports from Sterling Order Management Pre-Production and Production environments.
Preparation tips
- Purge data wherever possible on all the V1 environments. For more information, see Available purges.
- Collect and document all the inbound and outbound integrations for Sterling Order Managementenvironments (Host/IP).
- Plan an approach for managing client certificates by using one of the following ways:
- Using a Mobile Device Management (MDM) to distribute and manage certificate distribution to all devices.
- Using a reverse proxy server. For more information about configuring reverse proxy, see Configuring reverse proxy with NGINX.
- Consolidate or combine smaller agent servers into a single agent, which reduces the JVM memory footprint and boosts resource utilization and management in V2.
Your responsibilities
- Perform smoke testing and performance testing by using embedded monitoring tools.
- In addition to IBM verifying the data, perform spot check of migrated data and configuration.
- Reconfigure inbound and outbound firewall policy by using the Self Service tool.
- Forward external system communication to the next-generation platform.
- Verify and install new certificate by using the Self Service tool. You must proactively clean up any unused certificate after the migration.
- Get accustom to triaging and monitor issues by using the Graylog interface from the Self Service tool.
Migration process
- IBM confirms the migration start date and you sign off.
- IBM provides three environment types: Development and QA, Pre-Production, and Production.
Phase Task Approximate duration Phase 1 IBM provides a Development /QA environment on the migration start date to perform preliminary testing. 1 - 4 weeks Phase 2 IBM provides Pre-Production and Production environments. You perform the testing.
4 - 6 weeks Phase 3 You complete the testing and then contact the assigned IBM Support team to initiate a production cutover. IBM provides the cutover.
1 week of lead time to schedule the cutover. Phase 4 IBM cleans up your data on the legacy platform. 1 week from the date of successful cutover. - Based on your regression testing plan, the entire migration process can take 6 - 12 weeks to complete.
- During the migration period, IBM support closely works with you to resolve any open issue on any of the environments.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I initiate the Sterling Order
Management migration process from the legacy platform
to the next-generation platform?
Answer - Contact IBM Support to book the migration timeline.
- Can I migrate to the Sterling Order
Management next-generation platform for each
organization at different times?
Answer - No. All organizations on the instance must be upgraded at the same time to prevent data discrepancy.
- How long is the migration process for migrating from Sterling Order
Management legacy
platform to the Sterling Order
Management next-generation platform?
Answer: - The migration process can take 6 - 12 weeks based on the outcome and confidence of your regression testing.
- What happens after the Production cutover?
Answer: IBM disconnects the traffic to the legacy platform and all new traffic is diverted to the next-generation platform of Sterling Order Management.
- How long is my data retained on the legacy platform after my migration to the next-generation
platform?
Answer - IBM schedules a purge after 1 week from the date of successful cutover.
- Will my external service that is integrated with Sterling Order
Management work during the
migration process?
Answer - To ensure that your integrated external system continues to connect to Sterling Order Management, use the Self Service tool to update your firewall and certificate policies. It is recommended that you cover all integration testing as part of your regressions.
- When will each of my environment on the legacy platform be unavailable?
Answer - All environments on the legacy platform are unavailable after the final production cutover is initiated. You can access all environments on your legacy platform until the cutover.
- Will I be able to access my Sterling Order
Management Cognos data during the migration to
the next-generation platform?
Answer - You can continue to access your Sterling Order Management analytical data on the legacy environment until the production level cutover date. IBM is responsible to provision the Cognos database on the next-generation environments one week in advance. On the cutover date, data integrity validation on the Cognos database is performed by IBM and during this time, you cannot access your Cognos instance. The duration of this validation is approximately 24 hours.