# Moving Banner to Ellucian SaaS: A Practical Migration Plan

Source: https://www.itcadence.com/blog/banner-saas-migration-plan
Category: Cloud | Published: 2026-09-24 | Updated: 2026-09-24 | Publisher: ITCadence

A SaaS move changes how you customise, report and integrate. A five-phase plan that avoids the common surprises.

**Short answer:** Plan a Banner SaaS migration in five phases: inventory everything that touches Banner, classify each item (retire, reconfigure, rebuild or re-platform), rebuild integrations on Ethos APIs, rehearse the cutover with data validation at least twice, and run a hypercare period while the team adopts the new operating model.

More institutions are moving Banner from on-premises data centres to Ellucian SaaS. The appeal is clear: continuous updates, less infrastructure and a smaller patching burden. But SaaS also changes the rules for customisation, reporting and integration. See [Banner SaaS vs on-premise](https://www.itcadence.com/blog/banner-saas-vs-on-premise) for the comparison.

![Five-phase Banner SaaS migration plan](https://www.itcadence.com/images/diagrams/saas-phases.svg "Inventory, classify, rebuild, rehearse, hypercare")

## Phase 1: Inventory everything that touches Banner

- Local modifications to baseline pages, packages and tables
- Custom PL/SQL, Pro\*C and shell jobs in job submission
- Direct database connections from reporting tools, scripts and third parties
- File-based feeds in and out (bank files, LMS, ID cards, housing)

In SaaS, direct database access and arbitrary server-side code are generally restricted, so each item needs a new home.

## Phase 2: Classify and decide

1. **Retire**: no longer used or replaced by delivered functionality.
2. **Reconfigure**: achievable with baseline rules and settings.
3. **Rebuild**: move to Banner Extensibility, Experience or Ethos APIs.
4. **Re-platform**: shift reporting to a supported analytics approach.

> **Note:** Expect the inventory to be larger than anyone estimates. Undocumented scripts on a forgotten server are a migration classic.

## Phase 3: Rebuild integrations on APIs

Integrations that read tables directly should move to [Ethos APIs](https://www.itcadence.com/blog/what-is-ellucian-ethos) and change notifications. API-based integrations survive updates far better.

## Phase 4: Rehearse the cutover

Run at least two full mock migrations with validation scripts that compare record counts and key balances. Time each rehearsal; that becomes your cutover estimate.

## Phase 5: Hypercare and a new operating model

After go-live, your team shifts from running infrastructure to managing a service: tracking Ellucian's update schedule, regression testing and owning configuration. Budget for hypercare and retraining.

> Migrating to SaaS is not a lift-and-shift. It is an opportunity to pay down a decade of technical debt.

ITCadence supports assessment, rebuild and hypercare. [Start with a readiness assessment](https://www.itcadence.com/#contact).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the biggest risk in a Banner SaaS migration?

Underestimating the inventory: undocumented scripts, direct database connections and modifications that must be rebuilt.

### How many mock migrations should we run?

At least two full rehearsals with validation scripts, timed so you can estimate the real cutover window.