Data is an essential component in the success of many businesses. Whether you have a small company with a bit of crucial information or a massive corporation with terabytes of data, you need to make sure your data is in the best system possible. Of course, this will sometimes facilitate the need for a system change. If this might be the case for your business, consider what businesses should know about data migration.
What Is Data Migration?
Simply put, data migration is the transfer of data from your current system to a new system. Data migration occurs when an organization needs to upgrade its database, create a new data warehouse, overhaul its system, or incorporate new data after an acquisition. Changing data storage is an important skill to learn because doing it wrong can leave you with redundancies and unknowns.
Why Do You Need a Strategy?
Without a proper data migration strategy, you may be left with superfluous information that gets in the way more than it helps. While data migration may seem simple, an unfocused migration may leave you with more problems than before. A great strategy will take you through every step of the process and be carefully thought out, including everything from timelines to budgets.
The first step to any migration is understanding the data being migrated; without a data audit, you may not catch issues before they grow into larger problems. After the audit, you will need to perform a cleanup of the data to resolve any issues.
Big Bang vs. Trickle Migration
Once you’re confident the migration process can begin, you need to decide whether you’ll use big bang or trickle migration. Big bang migration completes the data transfer within a set window, during which your systems will experience downtime. Your business will need to operate without one of your core systems for a certain amount of time, but the process will finish more quickly.
On the other hand, trickle migration transfers data in phases, during which the old and new systems run in parallel. This strategy is preferred because it limits downtime and generally reduces risks.
Now that you understand what businesses should know about data migration, you can set yourself up for a successful move and a great future for your company.
