The method, in full
Seven stages, each producing a concrete artefact and a decision gate. This is the sequence a fixed-price migration actually runs through — from the first guided estimate to a stabilized, operated system.
One controlled route
Assess, Map, Price, Port, Prove, Switch, Operate. Each stage below opens onto what it actually produces — not just a name on a rail.
What each stage actually produces
Capture the estate and the business reason for moving. The quick estimate is guided and self-reported; verification — or a paid Migration Assessment — captures the real structural inventory next.
Decision gate — is there enough evidence to classify mappings and quote scope, or does a Migration Assessment need to resolve material unknowns first?
Classify every in-scope component — Direct, Transform, Rebuild, Retire or Resolve. Not every workflow is worth rebuilding, and not every mapping is one-to-one.
Decision gate — do unresolved items exceed the materiality threshold? If so, they must be resolved — typically through a Migration Assessment — before scope can be quoted.
Resolve the material unknowns and lock a fixed quote against a versioned scope manifest — not a rough conversation.
Decision gate — does the verified scope fit inside a published package's caps — workflow count, complexity, critical-workflow count, custom code, environments? If not, it becomes a custom fixed quote or a Migration Assessment.
Build the destination in controlled waves, with documentation and configuration ownership recorded as you go — not a single big-bang rebuild.
Decision gate — has each wave passed internal review before it moves into acceptance testing?
Run the agreed tests and compare source and target outcomes where feasible. A workflow that “ran once” is not the same as an accepted outcome.
Decision gate — have all critical acceptance cases passed, or been explicitly waived by the named reviewer? Cutover does not proceed over unresolved failures.
Execute a cutover and rollback plan that was written in advance — not improvised on launch day.
Decision gate — if a rollback trigger fires inside the cutover window, the team reverts to source per the pre-agreed plan.
Monitor failures, support recovery and improve the estate through a defined stabilization window — and beyond it, if you choose FlowPorter Managed.
Decision gate — has the stabilization window closed without unresolved incidents, and is there a named operating owner going forward?
How confidence is built
A fixed price is only as honest as the evidence behind it. FlowPorter names the level explicitly rather than presenting every number with equal confidence.
Self-reported answers produce a recommendation — Move, Migration Assessment, Optimise First or Stay — and an indicative price band. Band width reflects stated confidence, never false precision. Directional only; never a binding quote.
FlowPorter confirms the real inventory, a mapping classification per workflow, and the dependency map. Enough to narrow the band and lock a fixed price for straightforward, well-documented estates.
A paid deliverable covering inventory, mapping, architecture, risk register, acceptance plan, cutover plan and a fixed implementation quote. Required whenever complexity, criticality or missing documentation would make a blind quote irresponsible.
The fixed-price lock point
A blind quote just transfers hidden risk into change requests or poor delivery later. FlowPorter uses a clearer sequence instead.
A band from your self-reported answers. Useful for direction, never binding.
We confirm the structural inventory, mappings, critical workflows and dependencies.
You approve the scope manifest, acceptance plan and fixed implementation price.
We absorb normal delivery variance inside the agreed scope.
Scope manifest anatomy
Not a one-line number. A locked quote is attached to a document you can read before you sign.
Illustrative anatomy — actual manifest content and layout vary by project.
Map
Five classifications — not a universal one-to-one promise.
The target has an equivalent pattern with limited configuration change.
The outcome is preserved but the workflow structure or field mapping changes.
Custom logic, state, approvals or platform-specific behaviour needs deliberate engineering.
The workflow is obsolete, duplicated, or better handled by a native feature at the destination.
Ownership, behaviour or dependency is unclear and must be verified before it can be quoted.
Prove
For every critical workflow, FlowPorter agrees what success means before Port begins. Representative inputs and known failure paths are tested, and side effects are reconciled. Where it is safe and practical, source and destination run in parallel before cutover; where parallel operation would risk duplicate payments, messages or records, the Migration Assessment defines another controlled proof method instead.
Illustrative evidence record — not a customer result.
Switch
The route from an estimate to an operated system branches at real decision points — including paths that do not end in a migration at all.
No migration is priced. You keep the reasoning and the conditions that would change the decision later.
A bounded rationalization pass fixes source hygiene, then the estate is re-estimated.
A paid deliverable resolves the material unknowns and itself produces a fixed quote.
Structural verification confirms scope for an adequately documented estate.
Migration Assessment and Verify both converge on the same locked scope manifest.
A failed acceptance case is fixed and re-tested — looping back into Port before cutover is considered again.
All critical cases pass. Cutover executes against the prepared rollback plan, then Stabilize → Operate.
Shared accountability
Illustrative
For a mid-sized estate moving through structural verification rather than a full Migration Assessment. Actual duration depends on verified scope, wave count and how quickly the customer can respond.
Guided estimate, then structural verification of the inventory and mappings.
Scope manifest, acceptance plan and fixed price reviewed and approved.
Rebuild in controlled waves against the approved scope manifest.
Agreed acceptance tests run; any failures are remediated and retested.
Cutover executes against the rollback plan; the stabilization window monitors the estate.
Illustrative timeline only — not a delivery commitment for any specific estate.
Questions, answered
We attach the fixed price to a verified scope manifest, not a rough conversation. The assessment identifies the size and complexity of the estate. Structural verification or a paid Migration Assessment resolves material unknowns, and the acceptance plan defines what completion means. Normal delivery variance inside that approved scope is FlowPorter's responsibility.
No. It's an indicative range based on the information you supply. A binding fixed quote follows structural verification and, where required, a paid Migration Assessment.
No. Some patterns map directly, some require transformation or rebuilding, and some should be retired. Our promise is a verified outcome — not a one-click conversion claim.
Often, but not always. Parallel operation can create duplicate side effects for actions such as payments, messages or record creation. The Migration Assessment defines where shadowing, suppression, test accounts, replay or another proof method is safe.
You receive the reasoning and the conditions that may change the decision later. FlowPorter is designed to support a sound switching decision, not to force every visitor into a project.
Start with evidence
Get a useful estimate now. Verify the scope when the business case makes sense.