Data Migration
Data migration is the process of moving data from one location to another, from one format to another, or from one application to another. Generally, this is the result of introducing a new system or location for the data.
The business driver is usually an application migration or consolidation in which legacy systems are replaced or augmented by new applications that will share the same dataset.
These days, data migrations are often initiated as firms move from on-premises infrastructure and applications to cloud-based storage and applications to optimize or transform their company.
One format to another, or one application to another. Generally, this is the result of introducing a new system or location for the data. The business driver is usually an application migration or consolidation in which legacy systems are replaced or augmented by new applications that will share the same dataset.
These days, data migrations are often initiated as firms move from on-premises infrastructure and applications to cloud-based storage and applications to optimize or transform their company.
There are numerous business advantages to upgrading systems or extending a data center into the cloud. For many firms, this is a very natural evolution.
Companies using the cloud are hoping that they can focus their staff on business priorities, fuel top-line growth, increase agility, reduce capital expenses, and pay for only what they need on demand.
However, the type of migration undertaken will determine how much IT staff time can be freed to work on other projects.
Typically, data migration occurs during an upgrade of existing hardware or a transfer to a completely new system. Examples include migration to or from a hardware platform; upgrading a database or migrating to new software; or company mergers when the parallel systems in the two companies need to be merged into one.
The amount of data today’s businesses deal with is tremendous, and there’s no sign of this data explosion slowing down. The growth of data has been exponential, and this has brought some serious data management issues along with incredible opportunities.
As long as we continue to work in the integrated circuit era, where data doesn’t simply move across systems, data migration is going to remain a worrisome issue.
Businesses, irrespective of their industry vertical or size, now collect and store large amounts of data about their finances, products, employees, operations, customers, and more.
As a business entity, you would essentially need to migrate data every time you move to new technology, server infrastructure, or database. As old systems become outdated, moving business-critical data becomes indispensable.
Data migration is something that needs to be performed with the utmost care, and a plan should be laid out before even attempting the task. A concrete plan for moving, validating, and testing the data would make sure you wouldn’t end up losing or damaging the data. In this post, we have outlined the prerequisites for performing data migration the right way.
Data migration becomes a necessity in a variety of circumstances, some of them are:
- Server or storage hardware replacements
- Maintenance
- Upgradation of the system
- Application migration
- Datacenter relocation
- Website consolidation
Planning the Data Migration
The first step in data migration is planning, and the very first thing to check off is understanding the source and the target. You should have a comprehensive understanding of the systems, including where the data is coming from and where it’s going.
Once you’re familiar with the source and target, you can begin by mapping out the process. Having a clear understanding of the technology environment you are dealing with will help you make quick decisions and can greatly enhance the speed and scope of the process, thereby minimizing the chances of encountering problems.
It’s also necessary to align the migration process with your business objectives. Although it might be tempting to switch to a new system, if the new system does not fully complement your business objectives, the final result can be a disaster.
This is why you should include a representative from different teams while planning the migration. This will make sure that the migration process happens in a way that’s favorable to all the stakeholders.
There are some inherent risks with any data migration process. Common risks include a mismatch of form structures and data profiles in the old and new systems. This could mean that the data can get duplicated or distorted during the migration. If your testing mechanism is unable to translate real data, you might want to adjust your API configuration.
Another major aspect to factor in is the cost associated with the migration. You might have to invest in new software or tools to carry on with the migration.
While considering the cost of the new software environment you are moving to, it is imperative to include the cost of migration too. Depending on the complexity, the migration process itself could contribute to a large share of the cost, and ignoring this could lead to funding shortages during the process.
If you want to migrate data from legacy / traditional systems to newer technology, then I can make it happen from any cross-platform.