Heroku Migration: Move Tickets and Repos Without Losing Trust
Migrate into Heroku with an inventory, field map, pilot import, dual-run week, and validation — so history survives and operators trust the new system.
Quick answer
Migrate into Heroku with an inventory of tickets, repos, monitors, or accounts as relevant, a field map, a pilot import, a dual-run week, and validation with the people who live in the data — so history survives and the team trusts the new system.
- Inventory source objects
- Map fields before bulk load
- Pilot one site / one role / one team
- Dual-run for a week
- Validate with sceptic users
Heroku migration rules
- Inventory first — Typical objects: tickets, repos, monitors, or accounts as relevant.
- Pilot beats big-bang — Prove a small Heroku import before you move everything.
- Integrations after the pilot — Research names Github and API access on the Heroku side — confirm the connectors your IT loop depends on.
- Do not migrate the wrong job — Heroku is IT operations or development platform. Do not import a git host or an observability suite and expect it to become IT operations or development platform.
Heroku migration map
1. Inventory and map
List tickets, repos, monitors, or accounts as relevant. Map required fields and owners. Never invent list prices here — confirm seats, hosts, ingest, and quote terms on /pricing/heroku/. Worked example: Harbor IT (weekly operators) discovers duplicate employee IDs in the spreadsheet before the first import — and fixes identity before volume.
2. Pilot import
Import one site, one role, or one team. Run complete one real IT job a non-admin can repeat on the pilot set. Worked example: Harbor IT (weekly operators) will not schedule a cutover until the pilot can finish the loop without an admin.
3. Dual-run and cutover
Run old and new in parallel for a week. Spot-check records sceptic users care about, then freeze the legacy source. Worked example: Harbor IT (weekly operators) keeps the old export for tickets, repos, or monitors until Heroku matches for seven consecutive days.
Heroku checklist
Bring these questions to every demo
Ask vendors to show the workflow live, not just describe it.
- 1Inventory source objectstickets, repos, monitors, or accounts as relevant
- 2Run a pilot importOne segment first; fix mapping before bulk.
- 3Validate with operatorsSpot-check records they care about before cutover.
4. Inventory what must move into Heroku
List users, historical records, templates, and integrations that must survive migration. Mark nice-to-have exports you can leave behind.
Worked example: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic list price always-on floor migrates active records only and archives the rest as read-only exports.
5. Run parallel cutover with a rollback path
Keep the old system read-only until Heroku passes non-admin proof. Name a rollback owner and maximum parallel window.
Worked example: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic list price always-on floor caps parallel run at two weeks with daily checkpoint notes.
6. Verify counts and permissions after import
Reconcile user counts, role permissions, and a sample of migrated records. Research lists Github and API access for Heroku. Confirm which are native vs API before go-live.
7. Inventory what must move into Heroku
List users, historical records, templates, and integrations that must survive migration. Mark nice-to-have exports you can leave behind.
Worked example: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic list price always-on floor migrates active records only and archives the rest as read-only exports.
8. Run parallel cutover with a rollback path
Keep the old system read-only until Heroku passes non-admin proof. Name a rollback owner and maximum parallel window.
Worked example: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic list price always-on floor caps parallel run at two weeks with daily checkpoint notes.
9. Verify counts and permissions after import
Reconcile user counts, role permissions, and a sample of migrated records. Research lists Github and API access for Heroku. Confirm which are native vs API before go-live.
10. Inventory what must move into Heroku
List users, historical records, templates, and integrations that must survive migration. Mark nice-to-have exports you can leave behind.
Worked example: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic list price always-on floor migrates active records only and archives the rest as read-only exports.
11. Run parallel cutover with a rollback path
Keep the old system read-only until Heroku passes non-admin proof. Name a rollback owner and maximum parallel window.
Worked example: Teams that want Salesforce-backed Cedar dynos with a published Basic list price always-on floor caps parallel run at two weeks with daily checkpoint notes.
12. Verify counts and permissions after import
Reconcile user counts, role permissions, and a sample of migrated records. Research lists Github and API access for Heroku. Confirm which are native vs API before go-live.
13. Before you sign with Heroku
Confirm the qualifying plan, non-admin proof, and integration owners in writing. Store quotes next to /pricing/heroku/ and the evaluation scorecard so finance can audit the same assumptions at renewal.
14. Write the decision memo
Name the job, the qualifying Heroku configuration, and what you are not buying yet. If stakeholders cannot explain why an alternative lost, the trial was not fair.
Frequently asked questions
Can we skip the dual-run?
Only if the dataset is tiny and reversible. Most SMB/mid teams regret skipping a week of parallel use.
What if history will not map cleanly?
Import active records first. Archive messy history as files rather than poisoning the new system of record.
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