Read what the contract says about the business’s records.
Start with the documents. The master agreement, order form, online terms, and any data processing addendum usually say whether the customer can export its records, in what form, for how long after termination, and whether the vendor charges for help. Some agreements promise an export on request; others offer only what the product’s standard tools provide. Knowing which applies shapes the whole plan.
Look for the post-termination window. Many agreements give the customer a limited period after the contract ends to retrieve records before they are deleted. Treat that window as an emergency fallback, not the plan. Once the contract ends, the vendor has less reason to help, and a missing field or attachment may be impossible to recover from a system you can no longer reach.
Ask your counsel to review the terms that govern export, deletion, and transition assistance, and put any open questions to the vendor in writing. Useful questions include whether a full database export is available, which formats are supported, whether attachments and audit history are included, and what transition assistance costs. The answers become part of the exit plan.
Find every route the product offers for getting data out.
Most products offer several routes, each with limits. Built-in exports, usually to spreadsheet files, are easy to use but often cover one record type at a time and leave out history, attachments, or custom fields. Reports can be exported too, but they show summarized data rather than the records underneath. Neither is usually enough for a full migration.
An API gives programmatic access to records and is often the most complete route, though it may have rate limits, missing endpoints, or restrictions on older data. Some vendors provide a full database backup or a bulk export service on request, and others offer transition assistance as a paid service. List every route, what it includes, and what it costs.
Combine routes where needed. A common approach uses the API for structured records, a bulk download for files and attachments, and exported reports as a check on totals. Document which route supplies which data, so the final export can be repeated reliably and anyone reviewing the migration can see where each record came from.
Check that the export is complete, not only that it opens.
A complete export includes every record type the business uses, all the fields on each record including custom fields, the notes and history attached to them, file attachments, and the identifiers that connect records to each other. Without those identifiers, an invoice can no longer be tied to its customer, or a document to the job it belongs to.
Check the formats. Structured formats such as CSV, JSON, or a standard database dump can be loaded into another system. Proprietary formats or PDF copies of records can be read by people but are hard to migrate. Check dates, currencies, time zones, and status codes, since each vendor stores these slightly differently and the replacement must interpret them correctly.
Reconcile the export against the live system. Compare record counts for each type, totals for financial fields, and a sample of individual records checked by the people who use them. Write down the results. A reconciled export is evidence that the move was done properly, and it gives the finance and operations teams confidence in the new system from the start.
Ask for transition assistance early and in writing.
Transition assistance is help from the vendor in moving to another system: a full export, explanations of the data model, answers about how fields are used, and sometimes continued read access for a period after the term ends. Some contracts include it, others offer it for a fee, and some say nothing. Ask what is available before giving notice, while the account is in ordinary standing.
Be specific. Ask for a data dictionary that explains each field and code, for the relationships between record types, and for any calculated values the product derives rather than stores. Ask whether read-only access can continue after the term ends, and on what terms. Specific requests get more useful answers than a general request for help with a migration.
Keep the conversation professional and documented. Vendors handle departing customers routinely, and most will provide what the contract requires. Written requests and written answers make it clear what was agreed, which matters if the export later turns out to be incomplete. Ask your counsel to review any new terms or fees the vendor proposes before accepting them.
Set up the next system so that exports are routine.
The best time to plan the next exit is when choosing the next system. Whether the business moves to another product or to custom software, confirm before signing that full exports are available in structured formats, that attachments and history are included, and that the process can run on a schedule without asking the vendor each time.
Consider a scheduled export into a reporting database or archive under the business’s control. It supports reporting across systems, provides a backup that is independent of any vendor, and turns the next migration into a routine task rather than a project. It also changes vendor conversations, because leaving becomes a realistic option instead of a threat nobody believes.
Baybloom builds these exports and migrations as part of replacing vendor software in phases, with reconciliation at each step. The same principles hold whatever the next system is: know what the contract allows, test the export early, check it for completeness, and keep a copy of the records that does not depend on any single vendor’s cooperation.
Put it into practice
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