The data can surely be brought over, it's just a matter of how much work it takes to make it happen.
Don't let your IT guy tell you otherwise.
I've helped to migrate over boards where we didn't even have access to the administration section anymore, and we were able to retain all the users accounts and posts. The only things we couldn't keep were the users passwords (we had to reset them all, send out an email to each user and have them login with the new password), and users who had signed up with an invalid email address because we couldn't send the "we moved, here's how to login" email to them.
I'm looking foward to the SOCOM board finally being up. :)
I know I'm just some random internet stranger Marty, but if there's anything I can do to help with the transition you're free to PM me or email me.