Getting Your Data Out

Every contract ends. The export becomes urgent at exactly the moment the vendor has least reason to help, which is why it belongs in the negotiation.

What you need out

Time entries, complete, with all fields.

The audit trail: every edit with who, when, old and new.

Created-at timestamps, original.

Approval history.

Reference data: people, projects, cost centres, with identifiers.

Rules and their versions, or you cannot explain historical calculations.

Attachments, where the product holds them.

Most exports cover the first item well and the rest variably.

Specify it before signing

A named format — not "CSV", which describes nothing about structure.

A documented schema, so a successor system can read it.

Completeness stated: which of the items above are included.

A delivery timescale after termination, in days.

At no additional charge, or at a stated charge. Discovering an export fee during an exit is a common and avoidable annoyance.

Continued access for a stated period after termination, so the export can be verified before the account closes.

Test it while the relationship is good

In the first year, not at renewal.

Export a period, load it somewhere else, and answer a real question from it: produce one person's month, including edits.

Time it.

Note what is missing. Whatever is missing now will be missing at exit, when there is no time to negotiate.

Repeat after major upgrades, because export completeness changes with the product.

What you usually cannot take

Configuration. Rules, roles and workflows are expressed in the vendor's model and do not transfer.

Calculated values with their provenance, unless the product records rule versions.

Interface history: who looked at what, which some products hold and few export.

Accept this and plan for it: the destination system will need its rules configured from your documentation, which is a reason to maintain that documentation independently of the product.

At termination

Export, verify, then confirm deletion on the vendor's side in writing.

Ask what remains in backups and for how long.

Keep the export as a frozen archive with its own retention, which is the same arrangement as any other migration.

And check the statutory retention against the deletion date before agreeing to it, because the obligation outlives the contract.

Test it in year one

Not at renewal, when there is no time to negotiate.

Export a period. Load it somewhere else. Answer a real question: produce one person's month including edits.

Time it.

Note what is missing. Whatever is missing now will be missing at exit.

Repeat after major upgrades, because export completeness changes with the product.

This also gives you the extract for analytical reporting, which solves two problems with one job.

Export connected references too

A time export without external identifiers is difficult to reuse. This integration example illustrates why project and customer references belong in an exit test.