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Cloud Migration Timeline for Tampa Bay Dental Practices
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Ezra Angelo
- • August 6, 2026
Cloud PMS migrations are one of the most consequential IT projects a Tampa Bay dental practice undertakes. A well-executed cloud migration takes eight to sixteen weeks from initial planning through go-live, and practices that try to compress that timeline are the ones that experience data issues, imaging archive problems, and staff confusion that affect patient care on opening day in the new system.
Ekim IT Solutions is the dental-exclusive IT provider serving Tampa Bay from our office at 600 N Westshore Blvd, Suite 701, Tampa, FL 33609.
Here is the actual timeline Ekim IT Solutions uses for Tampa Bay dental practice cloud migrations, with the rationale for each phase.
The most common cause of cloud migration problems at Tampa Bay dental practices is not a technical failure during the migration. It is inadequate preparation in the weeks before the migration window opens: imaging archives not inventoried, BAAs not executed with the new PMS vendor, internet connectivity not upgraded to support the cloud platform’s requirements.
Phase 1: Assessment and Preparation (Weeks 1 to 4)
The assessment phase begins with a complete inventory of the practice’s current PMS database, imaging archive, software integrations, and vendor relationships, identifying the data migration scope, the imaging archive size and format, the integrations that must be reconfigured, and the BAAs that must be executed with the cloud PMS vendor before any patient data enters the new system. Internet connectivity is assessed against the cloud platform’s bandwidth requirements and upgraded where necessary, and LTE failover is designed for the go-live period when the practice will be fully dependent on internet access to reach the cloud PMS.
Phase 2: Test Migration and Staff Preparation (Weeks 5 to 10)
The test migration phase runs the migration in a non-production environment and prepares staff for the new system.
The cloud PMS vendor’s conversion team runs a test migration populating the new platform with the practice’s data.
Ekim IT Solutions verifies that patient demographics, treatment history, financial records, and scheduling data have transferred correctly before the test migration is approved.
The imaging archive migration path is confirmed. For practices with large CBCT or historical imaging archives, this step identifies whether the imaging data can transfer directly or requires vendor-assisted conversion.
Imaging migrations discovered to need conversion assistance during the final migration window cause the most significant delays.
Front desk, clinical, and billing staff are trained on the new cloud platform before go-live.
Key workflows including patient check-in, scheduling, treatment planning, and billing are tested in the test environment so staff are not learning the new system on patients.
Phase 3: Final Migration and Go-Live (Weeks 11 to 16)
The final migration runs during a defined downtime window, typically over a weekend or scheduled low-volume period: the production database is migrated, imaging archives are transferred, integrations with patient communication platforms and third-party tools are reconfigured, and every workstation is verified to connect correctly to the new cloud PMS before the first patient appointment. Ekim IT Solutions is on-site or available remotely throughout the go-live day to resolve any connection or configuration issues that surface during the transition from the test environment to the production environment.
When Would You Go Live?
Pick a planning start date to see your realistic go-live window.
Practices that compress this window are the ones that run into data issues, imaging archive problems, and staff confusion on opening day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ekim IT Solutions serves Tampa Bay from our office at 600 N Westshore Blvd, Suite 701. We run the eight to sixteen week migration timeline that catches data and imaging archive issues before they become opening-day problems.
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- • August 6, 2026
