Answers
Can you switch advisory platforms mid-year? Yes, in the gaps.
The question firms ask is about data. The risk is about the client. A migration that loses a spreadsheet is recoverable in an afternoon; a client asked to learn a second portal in the middle of an engagement, or who opens the new one and finds no history, is a renewal conversation you did not need. Sequence it around each client's review cycle and nobody experiences a gap.
- Set up with your plan
- Unlimited users
- 30-day pilot
What actually goes wrong
Not the export. The seam.
Firms plan the migration and forget that the client is a participant in it. Three failures, none of them technical.
Three ways a switch is felt
The client logs in and the history is gone
Even when every objective came across, a portal with no past reviews in it reads as starting again. Bring the prior quarters or tell the client plainly where to find them.
Two tools live at once
Half the book on the old platform and half on the new, for a quarter. The firm can hold that. The person covering a colleague’s clients cannot, and that is when something gets missed.
The switch lands on their busy month
Moving a client in the week of their board meeting or their year end turns a neutral change into an imposition, whatever the platform is like.
The sequence
Firm first, then clients one cycle at a time.
How it works
Move the firm before you move a client
Your own templates, your reporting formats and your internal plan go first, with nobody outside the firm involved. You find what is missing on your own time, and the first client to arrive lands in something that already works rather than in a half-configured system.- Templates and internal plan first
- Nobody external sees this stage
- Find the gaps before a client does
Then clients, in the gap after each review
The window between one quarterly review and the next is the only time a client is not mid-cycle. Move them there, with their plan and their history in place before they are told. A client whose next review simply happens somewhere better has not been migrated, from their point of view.- One client per gap, not a big-bang weekend
- History in place before you announce it
- Their next review is the first they see of it
What comes across
The migration service moves plans, KPIs, client lists and templates, from spreadsheets, decks or any other tool. It is included on annual billing and A$990 on monthly. There is also a 30-day free pilot on your chosen plan, card required and nothing charged for 30 days, which is long enough to run one real client through a full cycle before you commit the book.Before you start
Six things worth settling first.
Most of a switch going badly traces to one of these not being decided in advance.
The checklist
What happens to the old history?
Brought across, archived as documents, or left in the old tool with access kept. Any of the three is fine. Not deciding is not.
Who tells the client, and when?
After their data is in place, not before. An early heads-up invites a question you cannot answer yet.
Which client goes first?
One where the relationship is solid and the next review is a few weeks out. Not the biggest, and not the one already unhappy.
How long will both run?
Set an end date for the old platform before you start, or it quietly runs for a year.
Who covers during the overlap?
The person who picks up someone else’s clients needs to know which tool each one is in.
What does the client have to do?
If the honest answer is more than log in once, the sequencing is wrong and it is worth fixing before you move anyone.
Questions
Questions about switching platforms
Can we switch advisory platforms without disrupting clients?
Yes, by moving the firm first and then each client in the gap after their review rather than all at once. A client whose next review simply happens somewhere better has not experienced a migration, which is the outcome you are aiming for.
What gets migrated?
Plans, KPIs, client lists and templates, from spreadsheets, decks or any other tool. The migration service is included on annual billing and A$990 on monthly billing.
Should we move the whole book at once?
No. A single weekend cutover means every client is mid-cycle for at least some of them, and it removes your ability to learn from the first one. One client per review gap is slower on paper and faster in practice.
What about the history on the old platform?
Decide between bringing it across, archiving it as documents, or keeping read access to the old tool, and decide before you start. A client opening a new portal with no past reviews in it reads that as starting from scratch even when every objective came across.
Can we trial it on one client before committing?
That is what the 30-day free pilot is for. It runs on your chosen plan with a card required and nothing charged for 30 days, which is long enough to take one real client through a full review cycle before you move the rest.
When should we not switch?
Not in the middle of a client’s review cycle, not during their year end or board season, and not while a major engagement is at a critical stage. If most of your book is mid-cycle right now, the switch is a month away rather than today, and that is a better answer than forcing it.
Planning a move? Ask ANI and get a straight answer.
Move one client and see.
Start free for 30 days, take a single client through a full review cycle, and decide with evidence rather than a demo.