Who do you want to do your migration?
basic
Do It Yourself
For organizations with available IT personnel.
starts at
$3,500
USD
what.you.need
An IT Person who knows SQL
A dedicated computer for migrations
what.you.get
Access to the Universal Migrator software
Prebuilt mappings and training
Unlimited 9/5 Support
Direct access to developers
recommended
Hire a Partner
For organizations who just want to get it done.
full-service, starts at
$4,500
USD
what.you.need
Pick a partner (we'll recommend one)
Pick a migration date
what.you.get
A vetted partner ideal for your project
Confidence your project is handled right
The easiest migration you've ever had
Most partners deliver within 72 hours
What a Migration Specialist Should Know
about
Smokeball
Smokeball runs as a:
Hybrid Application
This means Smokeball typically runs as a desktop app on employees' PCs that store data in cloud-based databases and APIs that are run by Smokeball.
Smokeball is used as a:
General Practice Management System
General practice management systems store a wide variety of data instrumental to running many kinds of law firms.
Universal Migrator extracts data from Smokeball via:
Non-API Connections
Other Notes:
Document Name Humanization
In Smokeball's backend, documents often have illegible file names like "1357219.pdf". Universal Migrator will automatically humanize these names to familiar ones, like "Motion for Private Process.pdf", ensuring firm members see the same human-readable names post-migration as they do when viewing documents directly through Smokeball.
The following credentials are required:
Admin Smokeball Credentials
The Migration Specialist will need an Administrator username and password into Smokeball in order to extract your data.
The computer used to migrate from Smokeball:
Can be located Anywhere
Because data is extracted from Smokeball via the internet, the migration can be run from any suitable location.
In order to migrate from Smokeball:
The Firm Administrator must complete a User Mapping spreadsheet.
A member of the firm will need to complete a small spreadsheet mapping users from Smokeball to users in the new system.
Backing up documents from Smokeball includes:
Documents saved under Matters
Copies of Invoices / Statements
The following people are required for a migration from Smokeball:
Migration Specialist
The Migration Specialist is the person who will be performing this migration. They may be a member of Universal Migrator's own Internal Migration Team or any IT professional who has completed the Universal Consultant training program.
Firm Administrator
The Firm Administrator is a member of the law firm who can serve as a dedicated point of contact, make decisions, and answer any questions the Migration Consultant may have. This person should be readily available and is typically the managing partner or office manager of the firm.
To migrate from Smokeball, the Migration Specialist needs:
A Universal Migrator Subscription
Smokeball is associated with the following other applications:
Multiple Apps with the same Name
triConvey and Smokeball are the same product distributed under different names.
Migration tools for Smokeball are available to:
IT Professionals with an active Diamond Migration Specialist subscription
IT Professionals with an active Gold Migration Specialist subscription
IT Professionals with an active Silver Migration Specialist subscription
Special warnings about Smokeball
Plan Your Migration Timeline Correctly
With certain vendors, submitting a Notice of Termination/Non-Renewal can prompt a shift in cooperation: some will restrict or revoke export and backup capabilities, or limit the volume of data you're able to download, making migration more difficult.
To guard against this, best practice with any vendor, including Smokeball, is to withhold notice until you've been fully live on your new system for at least 30 days. In practice, this means your migration should be complete approximately 45 days before your notice deadline.
Expect Challenges Creating Backups of Smokeball
Many consultants have reported experiencing disruptions when attempting to back up data from Smokeball. These disruptions can take various forms, including disabled user accounts, throttled download speeds, blocked IP addresses, and other unexpected obstacles.
Plan for delays you can't fully anticipate.
Exports Provided by Smokeball Cost Money and are Incomplete
Many firms migrating from Smokeball have reported that Smokeball offered them a paid backup of their data and then discovered the backup was delivered in a proprietary format, omitted key data, and was not suitable for use in a migration. We recommend declining this option and instead using the Universal Migrator software to acquire your data.
