It is the end of the year in Wayne County and the renewal notice for your old software just landed. You already chose something better, but your customer history, open jobs and years of notes are trapped in the old system and nobody on the team has the hours to move them.
With a planned migration, the old data gets exported, cleaned and mapped field by field into the new system. Duplicates get merged, open jobs and balances get checked, and your team practices in the new software before the old one turns off.
Switch day is quiet. The phone rings, the customer history is there, and the only thing your team notices is that the new system is easier. The old subscription gets cancelled on time.