Migration
From desktop software to the web
Most agencies in Turkey run desktop software more than ten years old. The hard part of moving is not the software but the habits — which is why the screens were deliberately kept familiar.
Rota was written from scratch but not from a blank page: the manual and source code of a working Hajj and Umrah product were read line by line. Field order, shortcuts, report contents and business rules came from there. What changed is the technology and the constraints it imposes — not the domain knowledge.
| Desktop software | Rota | |
|---|---|---|
| Changing the year | Requires closing and reopening the program | Instantly, from the period selector at the top |
| Installation | Per-machine install, drivers and a licence key | A browser is enough; updates happen by themselves |
| Working remotely | A separate remote desktop arrangement for out-of-office access | From anywhere, phone included |
| Backups | Year-end file copying into an archive folder | Continuous backup; closing a period freezes its records |
| Mistakes | Deleting a plan or auto-assigning rooms cannot be undone | Undo and soft delete |
| Branches and dealers | Dealer permissions in a single text box; the filtering happens on the user's own computer | The boundary sits in the data itself; a dealer cannot reach another's passengers by any route |
| Visa portals | Thirteen portals, browser automation, CAPTCHAs solved by an operator | A desktop helper that drives each portal on the agency's own account, one compartment per portal |
| Costing sheet | One table with a hundred and sixty columns; amounts stored as text, currency buried in the column name | Line items, each amount with its own currency and rate |
| Hijri calendar | Calculated by adding a fixed offset to the year | Real conversion based on Umm al-Qura |
| Passwords | Plain text in the database | Stored so nobody can read them; provider credentials protected too |
How the migration runs
- 1
1 · Sample run
A sample of your existing data is taken and what can be migrated is measured. At the end of this step, what moves and what has to be entered by hand is in writing — the surprises end here.
- 2
2 · Definitions
Hotels, programmes, document types, staff and dealers are entered. What can be migrated is migrated; the rest is completed together.
- 3
3 · Parallel period
One departure runs in both systems at once. If the figures agree the migration is safe; if they do not, the reason is found before going live.
- 4
4 · Handover
New departures open only in Rota. The old program stays readable for a while; nobody burns the bridge overnight.
All questions
Can we switch mid-season?
It is possible but not advised. The right moment is between seasons: open departures finish in the old system and new ones open in Rota. Switching mid-season means keeping records in two systems at once.
Does all of our old data move?
Not all of it, and saying so up front is more honest. Passengers, files, ledger movements and collections can move. Old report templates and machine-specific settings do not — they have no equivalent in the new structure and are rebuilt instead.
Do we have to shut down the old program?
No. Keeping it readable during the migration is normal and recommended. Only new records need to open in one place, otherwise the two systems drift apart.
How many days does it take?
It depends on the number of definitions. A few days for a single-branch agency, a few weeks for a multi-dealer operator. The parallel period is the longest item and shortening it is not advised.
Let's set it up together
Tell us how your tours, pricing and team are structured; we will show the demo on a setup that resembles your own data.