Moving to ARTERNAL: What the Migration Process Is Really Like

If the word “migration” makes you tense up a little, you’re not alone. Moving years of inventory, contacts, and sales history into a new system sounds risky, time-consuming, and honestly pretty stressful for a lot of galleries and art businesses.

The good news is that moving to ARTERNAL is usually easier than people think, and you don’t have to do it all by yourself.

Why migrations seem scary (and why they don’t have to be)

Most migration anxiety comes from a few common concerns: Will we lose information? Will this get in the way of everyday work? How long will this really take? What if our files are a mess?

All of these are valid worries. Art data is complicated, personal, and often stored in spreadsheets, old systems, PDFs, and email threads. We understand. That’s why we don’t just give you an import tool and hope for the best. Migrations at ARTERNAL are based on how your business works and are done with the help of others.

What the migration process actually looks like

At a high level, migrations follow a clear and predictable flow:

We start by understanding your data. Before we do anything, we take the time to learn about the things you’re working with, like your inventory fields, contacts, sales history, locations, and images. We’ll go over what you want to bring over and help you decide what’s most important. Just this one step makes everything else go more smoothly.

We prepare your files together. Clean data moves faster. If your files need light cleanup or restructuring, we’ll walk you through it. If things are already in good shape, even better. Either way, you’re not guessing or doing it blind.

We review and validate after import. We check your data in ARTERNAL to make sure everything is where it should be. This is where we catch small mistakes early, before you start using the system every day and are fully live.

You’re up and running. Most migrations take about two to three weeks to finish, but this can change depending on how complicated the data is and how quickly it responds. Some go faster. Some take longer when the data needs extra care. We’ll always be clear about timing and what comes next, no matter what.

Fast doesn’t mean rushed

We won’t sugarcoat it: migrations can happen quickly, but not because we cut corner. They go smoothly because we’ve done this a lot and we focus on what’s really important.

Taking a little time to look over your data at the beginning saves time in the long run. It cuts down on the need to do things over again, stops confusion later on, and helps make sure ARTERNAL is a true reflection of how you run your business.

Hands-on support, the whole way through

This is not a “here’s a template, good luck” kind of thing.

There will be real people there to answer your questions, look over your files, point out possible problems early on, and make changes based on how you work. We work through things together if something unexpected comes up, like formatting problems or old bugs.

A good start sets you up for the long run

Migration isn’t just about moving data from one place to another. It’s about laying the groundwork for how you’ll use ARTERNAL in the future. When you set up your inventory, contacts, and records in a smart way from the start, everything else is easier, from Online Viewing Rooms to reporting and follow-ups.

Thinking about migrating?

You don’t need perfect files, and you don’t have to do it alone. Schedule a demo and we’ll walk you through exactly how the process works for your gallery.

Book a Demo →