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AfW Migration to AMS360

AfW Migration to AMS360. 25-Oct-2011. Migration Considerations. Business ROI Business Events Re-Organization, Acquisition, System Consolidation, Others Technology SQL 2000 de-support by Microsoft Other applications you use Backups In-House vs. Online Hardware Requirements

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AfW Migration to AMS360

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  1. AfW Migration to AMS360 25-Oct-2011 © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  2. Migration Considerations • Business ROI • Business Events • Re-Organization, Acquisition, System Consolidation, Others • Technology • SQL 2000 de-support by Microsoft • Other applications you use • Backups • In-House vs. Online • Hardware Requirements • Change Management • Data Clean Up • Staff Tenure • Process efficiencies • Growth initiative • AMS360 vs. Competitive Systems • AMS360 is the only conversion that will migrate your accounting data © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  3. What to do… • What are your concerns? • Discuss today? • Talk to Vertafore and fellow agents • What applications do you use today to run your business? • Are you using the latest version? • What are the hardware/network requirements for these? • Perform cost analysis • Cost of staying with AfW (upgrade) • In-House vs. Online • Expected efficiency gains – what is the value of this? • Tools • AMS360 demo site • Migration Assistant © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  4. The Process… • Example: AfW In House to AMS360 Online Migration • Typically an 8 week implementation process • First Steps • Contact your Sales Representative for AMS360 demonstration • Validate your workstations and network are ready • Sign migration contract • Vertafore will: • Assign a Project Leader to your implementation project and schedule your system live date • Introduction call to review the migration process and training timeline with you • Order and ship training workbooks to your agency • Ship a USB drive to your agency for data transfer to the Data Center • Register users in Vertafore University © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  5. Weeks 1 and 2 • Welcome call with your agency • Log into your training database • Run Migration Assistant • (Definition: Tool that analyzes your AfW data and reports issues that must be resolved prior to migration to AMS 360. The Migration Assistant also provides useful tools, such as a launch point for AFW Code Check Utility, Image Converter and Attachment Importer) • Assist with loading the AfW data onto a Vertafore USB drive for shipment to the Data Center • Data Center receives the USB drive • Perform test conversion of AfW to AMS360 • You are given access to the “Test” or “Preview” database • You complete the AMS360 Navigation and AfW Tasks 1 eLearning training from Vertafore University © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  6. Weeks 3 and 4 • Vertafore will: • Assist with importing Form Letters into your AMS360 Test Database • Train you in the AMS360 Setup tasks (more setup options than AfW) • You will: • Complete your AMS360 setups • Validate your migrated data (Vertafore suggests that your compare at least your top 10 clients between AfW and AMS360) • You complete the AfW Tasks 2 and AMS360 Tasks 1 eLearning training from Vertafore University © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  7. Weeks 5 and 6 • Vertafore will: • Train you in CSR Processes, Invoicing and Accounting • You will: • Attend training • Additional training available through Vertafore University and Free Training Friday sessions • Practice what you learned in training • Validate your converted data • Explore the system (it’s a Test database, kick the tires) • Ask questions • Run Migration Assistant weekly to ensure conflicts are cleared Note – the AMS360 Authentication Report will provide user logs for your agency’s use of AMS360 © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  8. Weeks 7 and 8 • Vertafore will: • Ship a USB drive to your agency for the final data transfer to the Data Center • Setup IVANS download information • Receive your final data extraction and perform the final conversion from AfW to AMS360 • Copy select setups from your Test database and apply them to your Production database • Assist you with download configuration • You will • Attend more training; Accounting, Download and TransactNOW • Continue practicing in the Test database • Complete AMS360 Tasks 2 eLearning at Vertafore University • Stop your AfW downloads • Run Migration Assistant to ensure it is clear one last time • Load the final AfW data extraction onto the USB drive and ship back to the Data Center • Log into your production database • Turn on AMS360 Downloads • Transact Insurance © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  9. AMS360 Technical Discussion

  10. AfW to AMS 360 Migrations – Technical Discussion • Topics: • Hardware • Software • Network • Bandwidth • Virtual Servers • Citrix / Terminal Servers © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  11. AMS 360 v6.0 Workstation Requirements - Hardware Recommended: • Processor: Multi-core: 2.4 Ghz or above • Memory: 3GB • Video: Resolution 1024x768 with 16 bit high color or better Minimum: • Processor: Core 2 Duo: 1.6 Ghz + or Single Core: 2.8 Ghz + • Memory: 2GB • Video: Resolution 1280x1024 Monitors • Two considered the norm • Set your workstation display to 1280 by 1024 pixels, or higher if possible.  • While AMS360 will run at a lower setting such as 1024 by 768 pixels, you may have to scroll to see the entire screen, and you may not have full use of all drop-down menus. **Reduced feature CPUs such as Celeron or AMD Sempron. Not Supported ** © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  12. AMS 360 v6.0 Workstation Requirements – Software Operating system: Vista Business edition Sp2 (32 or 64 bit) Windows 7 Professional or Enterprise (32 or 64 bit) Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word and Excel): Office 2010 (32 bit only) Office 2007 (32 or 64 bit) Internet Explorer: Minimum: Internet Explorer v8 (limited testing) Recommended: Internet Explorer v9 Microsoft .Net Framework Version 3.5 sp1 MAPI compliant e-mail Integration (other than Outlook) • AMS360 integrates with MAPI compliant e-mail products. Simple MAPI compliant e-mail packages provide some (inbox only) integration. Since web-based e-mail systems (Yahoo or Hotmail for example) are not MAPI compliant, AMS360 will not integrate with them. © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  13. AMS 360 v6.0 In House Requirements • AMS360 In House requires at least two servers dedicated to AMS360 • In some of the larger agencies, additional servers may be desired for optimal performance. • The AMS360 Database (SQL) Server houses your data and is a critical component for performance and reliability. • The AMS360 IIS/Web server runs the web-based portions of AMS360 and must be separate from the database server. • Both servers will be used exclusively by AMS360 and cannot house other software. © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  14. AMS 360 v6.0 Server Requirements – Hardware The following information is strictly a guideline and will differ depending on the number of users, size of database and usage. • Database (SQL) Server: • Processor: 3GHz Multi-Core / Xeon class Processors recommended • Memory: 8GB or more • Hard Drive: Hardware RAID 5 minimum *SATA drives are NOT recommended for database servers, SCSI is preferred* • Application (Web) Server: • Processor: 1.8 GHz or better • Memory: 4GB or more • Hard drive: 80GB min (RAID controller not required) *can be mirrored* **Please speak with Vertafore Technical Consultants to help configure your servers correctly** techconsulting@vertafore.com © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  15. AMS 360 v6.0 Server Requirements – Software • AMS 360 is fully 64-bit compatible and requires Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP 2 or R2 (Standard or Enterprise Editions only. No Small Business Server). • SQL Server 2008 SP 2 – Standard or Enterprise Edition only **Not yet supported on SQL Server 2008 R2** • .NET Framework versions 3.5 SP1 and 4.0 © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  16. © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  17. AMS 360 v6.0 Requirements - Network • Your network infrastructure will have a large impact on how AMS 360 performs. Questions to ask in preparation for the move to AMS 360: • Is there a bottleneck to slow the flow of traffic through your network? • Are you using a HUB instead of a business class Switch? • Is your Firewall and Router able to handle the amount of traffic that is being sent to and from? • What kind of wiring is in the walls of your buildings? Could they be slowing things down? How old this is wiring? • CAT3 = 10BaseT = Not fast enough for AMS 360 – Very Old • CAT5 = 100BaseT = Works well provided the wiring is in good shape. Can’t use gigabit network cards or switches. • CAT5 E (enhanced) = 10/100/1000 = Better • CAT6 = 10/100/1000/100000 = Best • AMS 360 was designed with Local Area Network (main office) and/or WAN (Branch / Remote Users) in mind. A branch office or remote employee can connect as easily as those in the main office. • You have multiple solutions to choose but there are pros and cons for each, whether it’s Citrix, VPN, SSL, Point to Point or MPLS. • Speak with one of the Vertafore Technical Consultants to help determine what solutions are best suited for your business and network infrastructure. © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  18. AMS 360 v6.0 Requirements - Bandwidth • AMS 360 requires a minimum of 256k for bandwidth. Depending on the type of business (PL and/or CL) will determine how much bandwidth is truly needed. • Upload is just as important as Download due to large CL clients and attachments. If the upload is too low, this will have a negative impact performance. • There are many types of connections for the internet now but a few are just not suitable: • Dialup – can be used but painfully slow • ISDN – doesn’t perform well • Satellite – Burst technology, high latency • The following can be used with the correct amount of available pipe. Synchronous is ideal but if not available, make sure you have enough upload as well as download. • DSL Cable • T1 Metro Ethernet • MPLS • How much bandwidth do you have available? Try this link to test your current bandwidth solution: • http://myspeed.amsservices.com • Remember: Quality of the internet link is just as important as available amount of bandwidth. • Vertafore’s Technical Consultants will be happy to help analyze the information you gather and identify how much bandwidth would be required for your agency. TechConsulting@Vertafore.com © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  19. Terminal Server/Citrix and Virtualization • AMS360 has been tested to be Citrix ready • You are fully responsible for the Citrix configuration. • While we do not support Citrix, we support our application and you may be required to troubleshoot outside of the Citrix environment. • AMS360 has not been tested in a virtual environment on any servers or workstations. • Vertafore does not recommend or support running AMS360 in this type of environment. • You will be asked to troubleshoot outside of the virtual environment. • Additionally, there are known I/O problems with running the database (SQL) server in a virtual environment. © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  20. Additional information • With that being said, a few words of advise: • Virtual Servers • Web Servers (IIS) works well in a properly configured Virtual Environment • Do not overload your virtual server with too many other servers. • Allocate a single network card for the Web Server. • Make sure the amount of resources are allotted to the Web Server instance • DO NOT run the Database server in a Virtual Environment. The impact on performance is significant. Please maintain a separate stand alone for the SQL Server. • Citrix / Terminal Servers • There are a few registry edits to successfully setup this environment. • The number of users on a multi-user environment is limited to the amount of resources (memory and processor) **Please speak with a Vertafore Technical Consultant for more details** © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

  21. AfW In House to AMS360 In House Considerations • Your AfW v5.x database server might meet the hardware and operating system requirements for AMS360. • If you are using AfW with Citrix/Terminal Server, you should be aware that the number of AMS360 workstations that can run on a terminal server is much fewer than the number of AfW workstations that can run on the same server. • Migrating from AfW to AMS360 require three times the size of the final AfW database in free space to process the migration. • This requirement takes into account copying the AfW database into SQL 2008, creating the new AMS360 database, and log file growth during the process. After migration completes, the SQL 2008 copy of AfW can be removed and the log file truncates back to normal size. • If you are planning to upgrade your workstation or office versions prior to migrating to AMS360 review the AfW Configuration guide appropriate to your version for important information on using AfW with Vista and Office 2007. © 2011 Vertafore, Inc. Proprietary

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