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Colgate-Palmolive ran everything through SAP - from factory floors to dentist offices. When I led their migration, one thing was clear: this wasn’t just about moving systems. It was about keeping a global supply chain alive. Back in the early 2000s, I was consulting on one of the most high-stakes SAP migrations I’d ever faced. Colgate’s global operations depended on a single truth: If SAP goes down, so does everything else. Toothpaste doesn’t show up on shelves. Distribution centers stall. Orders to Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS? Delayed. The supply chain goes silent. I remember thinking, “This isn’t about software anymore. This is a logistics problem with a technical disguise.” So before we moved a single bit of data, we did what most teams skip. Here’s what our playbook looked like: 1. Inventory the unknowns We scanned every system — not just for size, but interdependencies. You can’t move System A if B, C, and D are chained to it. 2. Model the risk How much data? How long would each copy take? Where were the bottlenecks — disk IO, network bandwidth, or just legacy bloat? 3. Rank criticality by impact, not size Some “small” systems had outsized business value. Like the one tracking global SKUs. Touch that wrong, and orders get lost in translation. 4. Simulate the move — multiple times We did dry runs. Timed every process. Tweaked our scripts. Even ran scenarios for “What if this breaks mid-flight?” 5. Coordinate like air traffic control Every migration phase was mapped like a flight plan. Timelines, dependencies, failovers. No guesswork. No egos. That project worked. No disruptions. No delays. No headlines (which, in IT, is a win). It also planted the seed for what would eventually become IT-Conductor Inc. Because I realized: Migrations aren’t about tools or timelines. They’re about orchestration. And orchestration starts with a brutally honest assessment. If you're facing a cloud migration and feel unsure where to start — start there. That’s what separates a clean cutover from a career-defining disaster.