Switching project management platforms

A platform switch requires two decisions: what must remain available from the old workspace, and when the new workspace becomes the place people update work.

Inventory the records, check the transfer route, trial it on a completed project, then reconcile active work at a stated cutover time. Keep access to anything that has not reached its agreed destination.

Decide what needs to move

Classify projects as active, needed for reference, or no longer needed in the working system.

For active projects, record the next deliverable, task owner, status, due date and information needed to act. For completed projects, decide whether people need selected files, a searchable record or a working copy.

List tasks, subtasks, comments, attachments, decisions, dates, statuses and user identities. Give each an intended destination.

A transfer can create every task while leaving a decision in an old comment or an attachment as a link to an account due to close.

Check the route against the records

An export for safekeeping and an importer that creates tasks serve different purposes.

Trello board JSON includes the 1,000 most recent actions, including comments; its Premium board CSV omits comments and omits archived cards.

Trello's Premium Workspace export can capture all comments and, if a Workspace admin selects the option, raw attachments. Trello says its JSON or CSV exports cannot be imported to recreate a board.

Check the exact source, destination, plan, permissions and settings before choosing a route. Reconciling an export record by record is a separate exercise covered in its own article.

Hand over active work at cutover

Trialling the route on a completed project is covered in a separate article.

Before the cutover, set a source cut-off and assign someone to reconcile edits made after the snapshot. Compare open tasks by project, owner and next action; matching totals alone cannot establish that people can continue their work.

State the cutover time and time zone. Tell contributors where to update tasks on either side of it, where to report missing records and who resolves conflicts. Ask project leads to confirm their active work in the new workspace before treating it as authoritative.

Coordinate export access

Confirm who can produce the required Trello files before setting the cutover. All board members can export a board as JSON, but only Workspace admins can create and download Workspace exports.

An admin can find the Workspace in Trello's left-hand navigation, select Settings, then Export, and choose an existing export or create a new one.

Treat board-level JSON as a technical file rather than a handover document: Trello says it is not easily read by people.

Firefox or a dedicated JSON viewer can make the JSON easier to inspect, while CSV files can be opened in spreadsheet programs.

Check for records outside boards before the old workspace is handed over. Trello Inbox cards cannot be exported directly; move them to a board first.

If archived cards need to be included in a Trello CSV, Atlassian's documented route is to add .csv to the board link in the browser address bar and press Enter.

Retire the old workspace deliberately

Keep an exception register for missing records, unmatched users and links that still depend on the old account. Give each exception an owner and a resolution.

Archive the relevant old work only once the agreed gate conditions are met; how that archive gate is applied is set out in a separate article.

Record the archive location and retrieval owner. Deletion or account cancellation requires its own decision.

Platform Migration Success Factors