“Data is the new oil”

This very famous quote by Clive Humby, a British mathematician, clearly depicts the importance of data for a company or for that matter the entire digital world itself. Confidentiality, Authenticity and ACID properties i.e. Atomicity, Consistency, Integrity, Durability are the basic and the most important characteristics of the data.  Considering its significance, data and information ought to be dealt with caution regarding these characteristics during the storage and migration, else it might prompt big damage for an organization. In comparison to the storage, data migration is more vulnerable to the mishandling of data. Hence, before you hop into Data Migration you must comprehend the prerequisites and even be on the safer side you can take assistance from the companies which have expertise in data handling. Now, the question that rings a bell is that What exactly Data Migration is? Data Migration, by its name, somehow suggests its meaning that is the relocation of data, which may sound a basic term. However, it is substantially more than what it reflects. This process follows a 3-step ladder that is Extract, Transform and Load, which basically begins with the extraction of the data from the databases and the other sources, following which modification of the data is done as per the requirement of the destined location, and once the datasets are remolded successfully, it is loaded on the desired location. This relocation can be done in any of the two methods:

  • migrating the data in phases, or,
  • migrating it all at once depending upon your requirement.

No matter what method you chose for your company, you should pay really good attention to the nitty-gritty of this process. In fact, if you are planning for Data Migration, so rather than wondering, just go through and follow these practices:

Best Practices for Data Migration

  • Migration Preparations:

    Before heading towards the migration of the data, you need to prepare the background for that. The preparations have to be regarding data, roles of employees, migration highlights as well as risk management.

    • Data Analysis and Standardisation: First of all, you need to analyze the data for its intricacy, cleanse the data as well as check its accuracy and confidentiality level, based on which, the structure and storage of the data are decided. Also, you need to standardize our data in compliance with the company’s protocol so that along with effective migration, the user also has hassle-free experience while working on it.
    • Migration Highlights: After data analysis and standardization, you also need to take care of certain migration highlights such as deciding the new format of the data, checking the status of the new storage location, analyzing the target user of the data and deciding the schedule of migration.
    •  Risk Management Risk management is a very crucial step in the Data Migration process. You need to devise the risk management plan for the data, so that if the things do not go as expected then how would you prevent the data loss as well as the consequences associated with it.

  • Tool Selection:

    Once all the preparations are done you will have to decide the appropriate tool for the migration of the data. The tools come under three categories:

    • In-place Migration Tools: When you do not want the data migration on the cloud, rather you want to do it in your organization itself. You can consider the following tools: IBM Infosphere, Microsoft SQL, etc
    • Open-Source Migration Tools: There are various open-source data migration tools available in the market. These types of tools come with limited features in comparison with the paid ones. Some of them are Apache NiFi, Pentaho, etc.
    • Cloud-based Migration Tools: If you are willing to do the data migration on the cloud, you can go for these tools. Well, these tools deliver very diverse data migration services covering from smallest i.e. application data to the largest i.e cloud-cloud migration. The tools are Fivetran, SnapLogic, etc.

  • Migration of the Data:

    With the help of Data Migration tools and vendors as per your preference, you can begin with the process of migration in the desired state and to the desired location. If you find it difficult to do it yourself or you do not have any specialized candidate for this, so, you can outsource to a specialized company. 

  • Testing and Validationhttp:

    When you are done with the migration of the data, testing has to be performed to validate the migrated data for its authenticity, standards, redundancy, and completeness. On the basis of the test results further step is decided that whether you need to wrap it up and move ahead with the training process or some more changes are required on which you need to work upon.

  • Training of the Employees:

    To adapt to the new data system and maintain its integrity and quality, a  training program should be conducted in order to introduce the employees with the new developments and changes made in the databases.

Conclusion

If you are planning for data migration, so hopefully, this article has guided you well about all the important aspects of this process. In case you face any difficulty in migrating your data, feel free to approach our Ace developers, who have successfully leveraged so many migration projects and services including data migration as well.