Payroll and HR cloud migration: 5 tips for success

More and more teams are embracing payroll and HR cloud migration, freeing up valuable time and resources in the process. 

In fact, according to the latest ‘Future of Payroll’ report from the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, a significant 38% of respondents now class themselves as cloud users. Two out of three such users also confirm that the technology enables them to work in a more ‘value-added’ way. 

But once the decision has been taken to move your payroll and HR systems to the cloud, what do you need to think about to ensure you get the implementation right? Here are five key considerations: 

1. Understand your business aims

A key starting point is to understand how you would benefit from moving your systems to the cloud, and what you hope to achieve by doing so.  

This is important to get the most out of your migration. It’s not just about recreating what’s already in place using a different format. Instead, take the opportunity to step back, evaluate how you are doing things and try to do them in a more efficient way. Optimising your technology now could save you a lot of time, money, and effort later. 

2. Plan your payroll and HR cloud migration carefully

Planning is crucial. Part of this process entails, among other things, understanding which functionality you intend to use and what third-party integrations will be necessary. This could call for mapping out interfaces. You might also find that some features work differently, while functions like menu and reporting options could actually change.

3. Prepare for change

Yes, have a pre-arranged and scheduled timeline. But don’t forget to build in flexibility. The objective here is to accommodate unexpected change. This could mean shifts to project timelines.

4. Involve IT early

It’s vital to involve the IT team early on in the migration project, particularly if moving from an on-premise system.  

IT expertise will be key to supporting that all-important data migration, as it’s a technical process. IT professionals have a different but invaluable perspective on data security to that of payroll users. They will be able to offer their insights on how to get it right.

5. Allow ample time for testing 

Testing always takes longer than you think because even the most straightforward processes and systems will have anomalies. Be sufficiently thorough and assign enough time to do proper testing. This avoids hiccups later on.

Learn more about our cloud-based payroll and HR solution, Zellis HCM Cloud.