Infor VISUAL ERP history: preserving it before a migration

What does a VISUAL migration usually leave behind?#

An Infor VISUAL migration usually leaves behind the closed history that made the system worth running: completed work orders, labor tickets, actual costs, closed purchase orders, shipped customer orders and old quotes. Conversion projects are scoped around go-live, and go-live needs open orders, part masters, current routings, customers, vendors and balances.

That choice is sensible for the cutover and costly for everything after it. Finance needs the old history for audits and disputes, quality needs it for recurring problems, and AI developers look for it when they study how production planning works in real plants.

Ask the implementation partner for a written list of every table or record type being converted, with the date range for each. Anything missing from that list needs an archive plan, and the table below shows where the gaps usually fall.

Preserve-before-migrate checklist#

Preserving VISUAL history before a migration takes ten steps, from inventorying the environment to a signed-off restore test, and the IT director and the CFO should own them together. The list assumes the old environment stays available until the last item is signed off, which is worth writing into the project plan.

One decision rule keeps the list honest: if a table or record type is not named on the partner's conversion list with a date range, assume it stays behind and archive it.

• 1Inventory the environment: VISUAL version, database platform, servers, sites and every module in use.
• 2Take a full database backup and record the date, version and who made it.
• 3Restore that backup on a separate machine and confirm it opens and reports correctly.
• 4Export each table family to flat files with primary and foreign keys intact: work orders, operations, labor tickets, inventory transactions, purchase orders, customer orders, shipments, quotes and engineering masters.
• 5Export lookup and configuration tables: resources, departments, part masters, unit of measure codes, status codes and user-defined field definitions.
• 6Copy document attachments and linked folders with the paths that tie them to records.
• 7Write a short data dictionary covering custom fields, macros, renamed fields and known quality gaps.
• 8Record retention requirements and any legal holds with finance and counsel.
• 9Store the archive in company-owned storage with access controls and a named owner.
• 10Sign off before servers, licenses or hosting are retired.

Which archive option should you choose?#

The right archive option for VISUAL history is usually a combination: a restorable backup for completeness and flat exports for everyday access. Keeping the old system running feels safest, but it carries license, server and security upkeep, and the knowledge needed to use it fades as staff leave.

Who decides how much history to keep?#

How much VISUAL history to keep is a joint decision for the CFO, IT and counsel. Finance sets the floor from tax, audit and contract retention needs; counsel adds legal holds and customer or government contract terms; IT confirms what can be exported and stored securely. Labor tickets deserve a specific check: where they fed payroll, wage-and-hour rules may apply. Federal rules, for example, require payroll records to be preserved for at least three years from the last entry, and some states require longer.

Value can justify keeping more than the floor. Older work orders and labor history support warranty claims, quality investigations and future cost models, and they show an acquirer how the plant performed over time. Retention also carries risk, so personal data and records with no purpose should follow the schedule.

Write the decision down. A one-page retention note listing what was archived, what was disposed of and why is far easier to defend later than a forgotten server in a closet.

Older installs, custom fields and Lilly-era data#

Older VISUAL installations, including databases from the years when users called it Lilly VISUAL after its original developer, often carry long runs of customization. User-defined fields, custom tables, macros and repurposed standard fields hold real information, but only the people who set them up know what it means.

Capture that knowledge while those people are still around. A field with a generic label might hold a customer revision level in one era and a heat treat lot number in another. Without notes, an export of that field is noise.

Also look for history outside VISUAL: quality spreadsheets keyed to work order IDs, shared folders of travelers, and email threads that cite order numbers. They are easier to join while the original IDs are still familiar to the team.

Illustrative: a fabricator archiving VISUAL before a cloud ERP#

Illustrative: a fictional structural and sheet metal fabricator has run VISUAL across its plants for many years and is moving to a cloud ERP. The partner's conversion scope covers open work orders, current part masters, customers, vendors and open balances.

The IT director restores a backup to a spare server, then exports closed work orders, operations, labor tickets, quotes and engineering changes with their keys. The controller documents retention needs and a legal hold on one disputed customer order. A long-time scheduler explains several user-defined fields, and the explanations go into the data dictionary.

Before the old server is retired, the team runs a restore test and traces a random sample of jobs end to end. The archive then supports a metadata-only fit check, and the CFO decides to explore licensing the labor and work order history, with customer drawings held in a separate restricted store.

Why an archived ERP history can be a licensable asset#

An archived VISUAL history can be a licensable asset because it records years of real production decisions: how orders were planned, which operations ran late, how actual labor compared with standards, and how purchasing reacted to shortages. AI developers building planning, scheduling and operations agents look for that kind of linked, outcome-bearing record.

Licensing does not mean handing the archive over. The data is licensed, not sold; the manufacturer keeps ownership, sets the scope and approves each step. Customer drawings, export-controlled work, personal details and confidential pricing are removed or transformed before anything is delivered.

SourceX's role starts after preservation is done, not before. The fit check is metadata only: the VISUAL version, date range, record families and known restrictions. SourceX never needs the old ERP running, and large archives stay in the manufacturer's own storage or ship on encrypted drives.

If the manufacturer proceeds, the package moves through the SourceX five-step transaction of Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery, with the supplier approving scope at each step. The SourceX Evidence Packet then gives finance a clear record of what was licensed and on what basis: provenance, licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization.