When do we need data migration?

The tech world is stormed with volumes of data hence when an organization plans to upgrade its traditional system with robust technology, it needs to migrate its data from the old system to the new one in a planned manner to avoid confusion and downtime. Data migration is common during the up-gradation of legacy systems like moving data from the on-premise system to the cloud-based systems and during the adoption of completely a new technology like upgrading the database to the latest version.

Does data migration need planning?

Data migration can be simple if planned in the correct manner. To move data, ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) tool is used. Hence, choosing an appropriate ETL tool is also a task. A successful migration plan will be able to finally determine the success of the project. Now, the question is, how to plan data migration in a way so that, the process becomes seamless and error-free.

Planning to ensure flawless migration

To execute a plan, one needs to focus on the goal to focus on the requirement of the project. Hence, the first step should be to create an extensive list of business requirements and then get it reviewed by the stakeholders. This helps to develop clarity on the business and design solutions accordingly. As a part of the initial phase of planning, one can also consider the measure of success by defining the entire process of whether the systems should remain working while the data migration is in progress.

Secondly, it is essential to gauge the applications available to meet the project requirements and how far the systems and applications are prepared to withstand the transition process. Based on the gap analysis, an organization can predefine the prerequisites of data migration to ensure its success. Before data migration is programmed, one needs to confirm that the existing data is in a manageable state. Hence, profiling of data is mandatory before migrating it so that, in the process of transition, duplication can be avoided.

Finally comes the phase, where the actual planning begins, to strategize migration. Big organizations dealing with large data pool store data in a format called “schema”. While migrating, matching the schema of source data with the target system is necessary to ensure compatibility. Also, while migrating, the data type needs to be transformed and cleansed to reduce downtime and errors.

Simplifying the process!

While planning data migration, organizations should also focus on the recovery plan to successfully extract, transform and load data. Hence, migrating data in batches can ensure safe recovery if needed. Also, a test plan is required before executing the actual plan. This will help to verify the data quality to avoid errors. Finally, the system needs to be prepared under the monitoring of a trained professional and the data must be migrated in a secured environment. Security planning included in the migration strategy can benefit an enterprise immensely. Thus, it can be concluded that the complex task of data migration can be simplified through appropriate planning.

- Kathakali Basu
Content Writer
Infoholic Research