Migration → ConnectWise
Migrating off ConnectWise Manage to OriginPSA
A four-week cutover plan most MSPs follow. Data import via guided CSV with our help the first time. ConnectBooster replaced by native Stripe (cards + ACH) with no per-tenant plug-in. QuickBooks continuity via two-way sync with drift detection. Customer-portal cutover that doesn't scare your customers.
Why MSPs leave ConnectWise
ConnectWise Manage is a workhorse, but the seam costs add up: ConnectBooster for payments, ConnectWise Sell for quotes, third-party CRM bolt-ons, separate identity stores, and a UI that's been accreting features for 20 years. Most departing MSPs cite three reasons: seat costs across the bundled stack, separate vendor management for adjacent tools, and customer portal limitations.
OriginPSA collapses CW + ConnectBooster + ConnectWise Sell + customer portal into one product, one bill, one auth model. The four-week cutover plan below is what actually works in practice — not the marketing-deck two-day promise.
The four-week cutover plan
Week 1: Discovery + data export
- Export from ConnectWise: customers, contacts, agreements, tickets (open + 12 mo history), time entries, invoices, products, vendors. Most exports are CSV-able via the ConnectWise reporting module; closed-ticket history can stay archived in CW and be read-only-referenced from OriginPSA.
- Identify your QuickBooks state: which version, what's the truth source (CW or QB), open AR, customer/item mappings. We need this before invoice history flows.
- Tag agreements to OriginPSA's billing modes: recurring monthly → recurring invoice template; T&M agreement → standard ticket billing; fixed-fee project → project record with milestones.
- Decide on ConnectBooster (or stay-with-Stripe-on-OriginPSA): native Stripe in OriginPSA covers cards + US bank ACH out of the box with no per-tenant plug-in.
Week 2: Staging import + parallel run
- Import customers + contacts + agreements + vendors into a staging OriginPSA tenant via the guided CSV importer.
- Parallel-run period: tickets created in CW continue there; new tickets start in OriginPSA. Customers see no change yet.
- QuickBooks: connect OriginPSA's QBO or QBD integration. Map customers + items. Sync runs verify; we use the drift-detection banner to catch anything that diverged during the parallel period.
- Stripe: paste the OriginPSA Stripe keys + webhook URL. Save customer payment methods (manual entry for ACH if you can't migrate them; cards re-collected at next payment).
Week 3: Customer-portal cutover + go-live
- Stand up the customer portal: brand it with your firm's logo + colors. Pre-create portal logins for the customer admin contacts.
- Send welcome emails: "Your customer portal has moved to OriginPSA, here's your login." Most customers want exactly one URL bookmarked + one set of credentials — the portal-welcome email handles both.
- Cut new ticket creation to OriginPSA. CW becomes read-only for the open-ticket cleanup + historical reference.
- Recurring billing run on OriginPSA — the first invoice goes out from OriginPSA. QBO/QBD sync verifies. Stripe collects.
Week 4+: Hypercare + decommission
- Hypercare: we're on-call for the first invoice cycle to catch any mapping issues. The drift-detection banner on QBO/QBD invoices flags anything that didn't reconcile.
- Decommission CW: 90 days read-only, then archive. CSV export of the historical ticket + invoice data goes to your long-term storage. You can keep a wind-down ConnectWise seat for archive-only access if needed.
- Reduce ConnectBooster + CW seat count: stop billing for the parts of the legacy stack you're no longer using.
What OriginPSA replaces in the legacy stack
| You currently pay for | OriginPSA includes |
|---|---|
| ConnectWise Manage (PSA core) | OriginPSA full feature parity — CRM, ticketing, projects, billing, inventory, reporting |
| ConnectBooster (payment processing) | OriginPSA native Stripe — cards + ACH, auto-charge recurring, no per-tenant plug-in |
| ConnectWise Sell (CPQ + quotes) | OriginPSA estimates with e-signature (SignNow / PandaDoc / BoldSign) |
| ConnectWise Marketplace add-ons (where overlap exists) | OriginPSA native integrations for QuickBooks, M365, RMM, telephony, e-sign, shipping, eCommerce |
| Third-party customer portal (Zendesk, etc.) | OriginPSA native customer portal — tickets, invoices, estimates, payments, projects |
What you keep
- ConnectWise Automate / Continuum RMM. Integrate to OriginPSA via NinjaOne-style RMM bridge or outbound webhooks. We don't replace RMM.
- Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace. Native integration; no migration.
- CIPP for M365 tenant management. Native integration.
- Your QuickBooks file. QBO + QBD both supported with two-way sync.
- Your e-sign provider. SignNow + PandaDoc + BoldSign all supported.
The honest caveats
- Historical ticket data: closed tickets older than 12 months are usually not worth migrating into OriginPSA. Keep them in a read-only ConnectWise export or your archive system; the day-to-day data you actually reference lives in OriginPSA.
- Customer portal credentials:if customers had logins in the old CW portal, they get fresh credentials in the OriginPSA portal. We send a welcome email automatically; the customer's first login is the credential reset.
- Stored credit cards:we can't migrate ConnectBooster card tokens to Stripe — that's a card-network limitation, not a software one. Customers re-save payment methods at first use after cutover. ACH bank connections re-verify the same way.
- QuickBooks history:we don't migrate historical invoice + payment data into QuickBooks; we sync FROM the cutover date forward. Pre-cutover data stays in QuickBooks as the truth source.