Monday.com's spreadsheet-like board structure, rows as items, columns as customizable data types, is flexible enough that teams often build fairly elaborate setups on top of it: automations, formula columns, connected boards referencing each other. That flexibility is exactly what makes migration worth planning carefully, a straight export-and-import tends to capture the raw data but lose the automation logic and cross-board relationships that made the original setup actually work.

Step 1: Export Your Boards

Monday.com supports Excel export per board, which captures items, column values, and basic structure. This export won't include automations, board relationships (Connect Boards columns), or dashboard configurations, those need to be documented separately before migration, since they exist as logic and settings rather than exportable row data.

Step 2: Document Your Automations Before You Migrate Anything

This is the step teams most often skip, and it's the one that causes the most post-migration frustration. List out every automation currently running, status changes triggering notifications, due date reminders, item creation rules, and note what each one is actually supposed to accomplish. You'll need to recreate the underlying logic using Sanplex's workflow and process configuration rather than expecting it to transfer automatically, since automation logic isn't part of any standard board export.

Step 3: Map Column Types to Sanplex Fields

Monday.com's column types, status, people, timeline, formula, dropdown, each need a corresponding field type on the Sanplex side. Status and people columns map fairly directly. Formula columns need more thought, since the underlying calculation logic needs to be recreated explicitly rather than assumed to carry over, formulas are computed values, not raw data, and most exports only capture the last computed result, not the formula itself.

Step 4: Rebuild Connected Board Relationships Deliberately

If your Monday.com setup uses Connect Boards columns to link items across different boards (a common pattern for linking tasks to a master project list, or linking requests to a client record), this relational structure needs explicit rebuilding. Sanplex's Program, Project, Product, and Execution structure is actually built to represent these kinds of hierarchical relationships more natively than Monday's board-to-board linking, which is worth treating as an opportunity to build the relationship properly rather than just replicating the old linking pattern.

Step 5: Recreate Dashboards Based on What People Actually Checked

Monday.com dashboards aggregating data across boards are a common feature to lean on heavily, and also one of the easiest to over-recreate out of habit. Before rebuilding every dashboard, check with the team about which ones were actually opened regularly versus set up once and rarely revisited, and prioritize rebuilding those first.

Step 6: Run Both Systems in Parallel, Then Cut Over on a Set Date

Keep Monday.com accessible in read-only mode for historical reference during a short transition window, while active work happens in Sanplex, with a firm date to fully retire the old boards. An open-ended parallel period tends to mean automations nobody rebuilt yet keep pulling people back to check the old system.

Common Migration Mistakes to Avoid

Assuming automations and formulas transfer with the data export is the most common and costly mistake, they don't, and discovering this after cutover means scrambling to rebuild critical logic under pressure. A close second is replicating Monday's flat board-to-board linking instead of taking advantage of Sanplex's native multi-level structure. And rebuilding every dashboard indiscriminately wastes setup time better spent on the few that actually mattered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Monday.com automations transfer automatically?

No, automation logic isn't part of a standard board export. Document each automation's purpose beforehand and recreate the logic manually in Sanplex.

What happens to formula columns during export?

Most exports capture only the last computed value, not the formula itself. The calculation logic needs to be recreated explicitly on the new side.

Can Connect Boards relationships be preserved?

Not automatically through export. These relationships need to be rebuilt deliberately, and Sanplex's multi-level structure often represents them more natively than replicating the original board-linking pattern.

Should every Monday.com dashboard be recreated?

Only the ones the team actually used regularly. Check usage before investing setup time in dashboards that were rarely opened.

How long should the parallel-running period last?

Typically a few weeks, long enough to confirm rebuilt automations work correctly, with a firm cutover date to avoid an indefinite dual-system habit.

Want help planning your specific migration from Monday.com?

Book a demo and bring your current boards and automations to the conversation.