How to migrate active M2M subscriptions to a new CMP?
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Artur Rihvk
Recently, we've written about licensing the 1oT Terminal and shared our customers' success stories. We've learned that the most significant obstacle when moving away from a legacy platform are the existing SIM cards that have previously been sold to customers.
Even if the current connectivity management platform no longer meets the company's needs, it's challenging to move to a new platform because active SIM cards are managed through the current platform.
We've seen and heard this argument multiple times.
Therefore in this blog post, we will look at migrating existing SIM cards to 1oT's platform in more depth.
M2M SIM cards are generally managed through a connectivity management platform. That's where SIM management takes place, and billing is handled. If a telecom were to move to a new platform, they have two options:
- Only bring new subscriptions to a new platform and keep the old SIM cards as they are
- Bring all new subscriptions over and migrate the legacy SIM cards regularly to drop the old system eventually
Clearly, the first option means maintaining two systems and higher operational costs. That's why we always advise our customers to slowly yet steadily migrate all SIM cards over to the 1oT Terminal.
While this sounds scary, it's very much doable. 1oT has experience migrating tens of thousands of M2M SIM cards to the 1oT Terminal.
Here are the steps to successfully carry out a migration project.
- Identify the customers who require a more modern platform for SIM management. Agree on the SIMs to be migrated and the timeline of the project.
- On the new platform, create the data packages (rate plans) and SIM network configuration (APN, IP addresses, data/SMS/voice barring parameters etc.)
- Receive a list of SIM cards to be migrated. Add them to the new platform with the aforementioned billing and network parameters.
- Terminate the subscriptions on the old platform and close the billing cycle on the agreed date.
- At the same time, activate the new SIM cards on the new platform. To avoid downtime or loss of connectivity, steps #4 and #5 must be executed simultaneously.
- Test thoroughly! Often, a cellular module requires a restart to properly attach to the network.
Step #7 is to repeat until all SIM cards are migrated from the old platform to the 1oT Terminal.
This process requires careful planning from the customer, the MNO, and 1oT to ensure it goes smoothly. But our experience suggests that it's nothing to fear and worth carrying out. Otherwise, the telecom is indefinitely left with two systems and won't be able to take advantage of 1oT Terminal's intuitive platform for all their customers.
Learn more about licensing our platform or get in touch with us by writing to licensing@1oT.com.
