Automated infor lawson migration assessment for hospitals and universities. Crawls LSF, the IPA repository, the Mongoose catalog, Smart Notification subscriptions, LBI reports and the underlying DB2/SQL/Oracle backend. Sized 5x faster than consultant-led discovery, with a finance-grade scope document at week three.
The Lawson estate that's been running since 2002 has accumulated a customisation footprint that nobody can describe accurately from memory. Without a properly tooled infor lawson migration assessment, the SOW is built on hope.
Lawson S3 has been running in US hospitals and universities for 15–25 years in most installed deployments. The original 4GL form mods were made by developers who have long since retired. The IPA flows that automated the AP three-way match were built in 2011 by a consultant nobody can reach. The Mongoose screen that handles the nursing-float-pool scheduling was a 3-week project in 2014 that became business-critical. Smart Notifications that alert the materials manager when an OR supply hits reorder point are layered three deep. Nobody — not even the Lawson admin team — has a complete picture.
Consultant-led discovery responds by spending 12–16 weeks interviewing functional users, manually walking the LSF configuration, opening every IPA flow in Process Designer to read what it does, and asking long-tenured staff what custom screens they use. The output is incomplete and the project plan that comes from it is incomplete.
Syntra ETL inverts the sequence. Automated crawlers read LSF, the IPA repository, the Mongoose catalog, the Smart Notification subscriptions and the LBI report inventory directly. In 2–3 weeks the infor lawson migration assessment produces a complete customisation inventory, a sized data-volume estimate, a target-state Fusion design and a phased migration plan — backed by a risk register and a budget envelope. Finance signs off before SOW work begins.
The hidden complexity in a 20-year-old Lawson estate. These are the things that surprise the consultant-led project at month four.
Lawson permits extensive DB-level trigger logic, particularly in older deployments where 4GL extension capacity ran out. Triggers implement business rules invisible to the standard repository — the assessment crawls trigger metadata directly per data area.
IPA Process Designer flows often contain inline JavaScript implementing business rules invisible to the repository inventory. The assessment parses every flow XML, surfaces every embedded script, and flags for OIC re-platforming.
Mongoose framework lets users build entire mini-applications (custom screens, custom DB tables, custom workflows) outside the productlines. Accumulate over years, often mission-critical — Mongoose catalog crawl finds them all.
Hundreds of Smart Notifications subscribing materials managers, AP clerks, payroll supervisors to events. Each one is a Fusion Workflow design decision. The assessment lists every subscription, every trigger, every recipient.
Lawson Business Intelligence (and Birst content for newer deployments) carry the reports finance and HR actually use. Inventoried with usage frequency — most are duplicates or low-value, but the 15–20% mission-critical reports drive OTBI/BI Publisher rebuild scope.
GHX supplier exchange, MMIS state Medicaid, Epic / Cerner / MEDITECH patient accounting, 340B drug pricing, charge-master integration — every healthcare touchpoint catalogued for OIC remap.
2–3 weeks elapsed. Mostly automated crawlers with structured functional validation sessions.
Define productlines in scope (Financials, SCM, HR, Payroll), provision read-only DB user on the Lawson backend (DB2 / SQL Server / Oracle), provision LSF and IPA repository read-only access, scope the assessment with finance, HR and IT leadership.
Automated crawler profiles GLMASTER, APINVOICE, ARCUST, HRPER, PAEMPLOYEE, INVMASTER and the long tail. Output: GB per productline per fiscal year, peak transaction rates, retention-relevant volumes per HIPAA / state law.
Crawlers read LSF configuration, IPA repository, Mongoose catalog, Smart Notification subscriptions, LBI report registry, database trigger metadata. Output: complete customisation inventory classified by business value and Fusion replacement strategy.
Inventory every IPA flow with input/output catalog, every Smart Notification subscriber, every external touchpoint (GHX, MMIS, ADP, Kronos, EHR), every flat-file interface, every Mongoose-built integration. Output: integration topology diagram with OIC remap recommendations.
HIPAA 6-year covered-data inventory, state payroll retention requirements per employee location, ELC/COBRA benefits history preservation, Joint Commission and CMS evidence requirements, higher-ed FFATA grant reporting. Output: compliance evidence plan.
Fusion target-state recommendation per productline, phased migration plan with timeline, risk register, budget envelope. Walkthrough with finance, HR, supply chain, IT leadership. Sign-off on the assessment document before SOW work begins.
Five finance-grade documents — every one signed off before the migration SOW is drafted.
Every 4GL form mod, Mongoose page, IPA flow, Smart Notification, LBI report — classified by business value (retire / replace with VBCS / replace with OIC / keep) and Fusion replacement strategy.
GB per Lawson productline per fiscal year, with Fusion sizing implication. Drives the FBDI batch design, the staging storage estimate and the long-term archive cost model.
Sized list of project risks (data quality gaps, integration complexity, change-management exposure, regulatory deadlines) with mitigation strategy and named owner.
Realistic timeline with workstream dependencies. Typically 4–8 months for hospitals (Financials → SCM → HR → Payroll waves), 6–12 months for higher ed.
Cost-per-workstream estimate broken down by Syntra ETL platform fee, customer team effort and integration partner cost. Finance reviews and approves before SOW.
Recommended Fusion module mapping per Lawson productline, recommended Fusion native capability replacements for specific customisations, recommended custom-build scope where Fusion gaps exist.
An infor lawson migration assessment is the structured discovery exercise that catalogs everything in your Lawson S3 estate — Lawson Financials (GLMASTER, APINVOICE, ARCUST), Supply Chain Management (PURCHORDER, ITEM, INVMASTER), Human Resources and Payroll (HRPER, HRDEPT, EMDEDMASTR, PAEMPLOYEE), the LSF (Lawson System Foundation) configuration, every Smart Notification subscription, every IPA (Infor Process Automation) flow, every Mongoose-built screen, every Birst/LBI report, every Cobol-era custom 4GL form — and produces a sized, risk-rated migration plan. Without a proper infor lawson migration assessment, healthcare and higher-ed customers consistently underestimate by 40–70%, because the customisation footprint accumulated over 15–25 years is invisible until something formally surveys it. Syntra ETL's automated assessment runs against LSF, the underlying database (DB2, SQL Server, or Oracle depending on tenant), the IPA repository and the Mongoose catalog in 2–3 weeks and produces a finance-grade scope document.
Syntra ETL's automated infor lawson migration assessment runs in 2–3 weeks for a typical US hospital network or higher-ed institution carrying 12–20 years of Lawson S3 history, hundreds of Smart Notifications, dozens of IPA flows, and 30–80 Mongoose customisations. Consultant-led discovery on the same estate routinely consumes 12–16 weeks because the team spends most of that time interviewing functional users, manually walking the LSF configuration, and reverse-engineering 4GL form modifications nobody documented when the original developer retired in 2014. The 5x acceleration comes from automated crawlers that read LSF, the IPA repository, the Mongoose catalog, the Smart Notification subscriptions and the LBI report inventory directly — no interviews needed for the inventory step.
Six dimensions. (1) Data volumes: GLMASTER row counts per accounting unit per year, APINVOICE history depth, ARCUST customer count, HRPER/PAEMPLOYEE active and terminated populations, INVMASTER SKU count — sized in GB per Lawson productline. (2) Customisation footprint: 4GL form modifications, custom Mongoose pages and workflows, IPA flow inventory with input/output catalog. (3) Integration topology: every inbound/outbound IPA flow, every Smart Notification subscriber, every LBI report, every external system touchpoint (GHX for hospital supply chain, MMIS state Medicaid, ADP/Kronos timekeeping). (4) Compliance obligations: HIPAA 6-year minimum, state payroll retention (CA 4-yr, NY 6-yr, others), ELC and COBRA benefits history. (5) Security model: every Lawson security class, every actor, every data area. (6) Operational data: open POs, open AP, payroll cycles in flight, benefits enrollments.
Healthcare is 60% of Lawson's installed base, so the assessment ships healthcare-specific catalogs. GHX integration mapping (Lawson Supply Chain → GHX → supplier exchange) inventoried for downstream OIC remap. MMIS state Medicaid AP flows catalogued. 340B drug pricing logic in Lawson Inventory Control identified and flagged for Fusion equivalent design. HIPAA covered-data inventory across HRPER, dependents tables and EMDEDMASTR benefits deductions. Patient-revenue-cycle touchpoints (Lawson AR linked to Epic / Cerner / MEDITECH patient accounting) catalogued. Joint Commission and CMS audit-trail evidence (Lawson activity logs, change records) inventoried for preservation strategy. Around 8 of 10 Lawson assessment engagements Syntra ETL runs are US hospital networks — the playbook is hospital-DNA.
Lawson is also strongly represented in US higher ed (universities, large research medical centres, community college systems). The assessment ships higher-ed catalogs: grants and fund accounting structure (Lawson GLMASTER accounting unit + project + grant attribution), student employment workflow (HRPER + PAEMPLOYEE for student workers and graduate assistants), F&A indirect cost recovery rate handling, sponsored research compliance evidence (FFATA reporting), tax-exempt status across multiple states, and the typical higher-ed Lawson customisation pattern (heavy 4GL form modification, Mongoose-built department-specific approval workflows). The output identifies which Fusion modules (Project Portfolio Management, Grants Management, ERP Foundation) replace which Lawson capabilities and flags the higher-ed-specific gaps that need IPA-to-OIC re-platforming.
Three categories consistently surprise teams. (1) Trigger-based business logic in the database: Lawson allows extensive trigger logic at the DB level, especially in older deployments where 4GL extension capacity ran out. The assessment crawls trigger metadata directly. (2) IPA flows with embedded JavaScript: IPA Process Designer flows often contain JavaScript snippets that implement business rules invisible to the standard repository inventory. The assessment parses every flow XML and surfaces embedded scripts. (3) Mongoose-built shadow systems: Mongoose framework lets users build entire mini-applications (custom screens, custom DB tables, custom workflows) outside the standard Lawson productlines. These accumulate over years and often hold mission-critical workflow nobody remembers exists. The Mongoose catalog crawl finds them all.
Yes. Every infor lawson migration assessment includes a target-state recommendation per Lawson productline: which Fusion modules replace it (Lawson Financials → Fusion Financials with the AU/AC structure mapped to Fusion's six-segment COA, Lawson HR → Fusion HCM with HRPER worker model mapped, Lawson Procurement → Fusion Procurement, Lawson Inventory → Fusion Inventory or Fusion SCM), which Fusion capabilities replace specific Lawson customisations (most Mongoose pages get replaced by VBCS extensions, most IPA flows by OIC orchestrations, most Smart Notifications by Fusion Workflow), and which functionality genuinely requires custom build versus comes free with Fusion's standard configuration. Output ties directly into the SOW for the next phase.
Five deliverables. (1) Customisation inventory: every 4GL form mod, Mongoose page, IPA flow, Smart Notification, LBI report — classified by business value and Fusion replacement strategy. (2) Data volume estimate: GB per productline per fiscal year, with Fusion sizing implication. (3) Risk register: sized list of project risks with mitigation strategy and owner. (4) Phased migration plan: realistic timeline with workstream dependencies (typically 4–8 month full migration for hospitals, 6–12 month for higher ed). (5) Budget envelope: cost-per-workstream estimate broken down by Syntra ETL platform fee, customer effort and integration partner cost. Finance and IT leadership sign off on a single document before SOW work begins.
Book a 30-minute scoping call. We'll walk through your Lawson productlines, your customisation footprint, your hospital or higher-ed integration topology, and lock in an assessment start date — typical engagement completes in 2–3 weeks.