Migrating Data to New Core Systems
SUMMARY
- Client
- O2
As part of O2’s Simple Online Company project, Profinit handled data migrations from 10 legacy systems to 7 new ones. This included complex data transformations to align with new system logic, simplified product structures, and updated tariffs and customer packages.
Results
Project Background
O2, the largest Czech operator, faced major challenges due to years of mergers and a complex legacy IT landscape. The intricate systems made launching new products slow and unpredictable, prompting O2 to launch the largest transformation in its history — the Simple Online Company (SOC) project.
SOC aimed to rebuild O2’s IT from the ground up while keeping legacy systems running. Step by step, new systems were deployed by customer and product group. In 2015, the first phase went live with new CRM and charging systems, migrating all prepaid users in CZ and SK, including virtual operators, to the new environment.
Challenge
O2 faced the immense challenge of transforming its complex legacy IT systems into a modern architecture as part of the SOC (Simple Online Company) project. The first migration wave affected 60 interconnected systems and involved consolidating data from 10 outdated or modified applications into 7 new ones, all while keeping services running for millions of customers. The complexity lay not only in the sheer scale but in the need for perfect coordination across all systems and stakeholders.
Compounding the challenge was the live nature of the migration: customer data had to be moved and transformed while customers were actively using O2 services. There was no room for post-launch corrections, meaning data integrity and system stability had to be guaranteed upfront. The entire process required deep planning, including a minute-by-minute cutover plan, test waves, and thousands of test scenarios to avoid disruption.
Business Needs
- Ensure seamless migration of live customer data without service interruption.
- Simplify the product portfolio by retiring outdated tariffs and services.
- Replace legacy systems with modern, efficient architecture.
- Coordinate multiple teams and systems for a smooth transformation.
- Maintain data quality, integrity, and accuracy under strict timelines.
Solution & Results
Profinit designed and delivered a highly detailed data migration plan, including a 55-hour cutover, coordinating 110 people from 12 organizations. We created a transformation logic layer to consolidate and clean data from all sources before loading it into the target systems. Over 5.25 million customers and their services were migrated successfully across four waves, with no interruption to operations.
Due to the quality of this first migration phase, Profinit continued to play a leading role in later stages of the SOC program — not only executing migrations but overseeing governance for all involved teams and phases.
HEAR FROM THE CLIENT
It was the most extensive IT project ever in the history of our company, thanks to which we have simplified the architecture, saved the old systems and, above all, made it possible for our business colleagues to reduce TTM. Although Profinit didn’t provide any of the source or target systems, they successfully managed both the technical and organisational aspects of the data migration, which are always the riskiest parts of a project of this type.
