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What You'll Learn
The global data migration is predicted to reach a market value of $25.2 billion by 2030. North America is dominating the data migration market owing to rising preferences for cloud-based solutions. Is it time that you consider data migration too?
The blog will cover all critical details about the importance of data migration for modern enterprises, the best ways to do it, and the leading migration tools to use.
What is Data Migration?
Data migration is the process where you move your data from one storage system, application, or computing environment to another. The key business driver for data migration is the need to consolidate data from scattered sources and the need to switch from legacy systems to cloud storage and application solutions.
Ways in which organizations perform data migration:
- Relocating data centers
- Implementing new applications
- Moving to cloud-based storage solutions
- Upgrading databases
- Consolidating data sources
Data Migration is the process of selecting, preparing, extracting, and transforming data and permanently transferring it from one computer storage to another
Examples of data assets that are usually migrated include files stored across various locations, relational databases like PostgreSQL and MySQL, unstructured databases like Neo4j, data lakes, and more.
Types of Data Migrations
While every business requirement and data migration project is unique, data migration is generally classified into below five categories:
1. Storage Migration
This migration is said to be the most basic type of data migration. Here, you migrate your data from your current storage device to a new or different repository or device. Storage migration can be of different types. One is where your data center is far away.
Another type is when your new storage device is of a different kind. Example: Switching from a hard disk to a solid-state drive. Storage migration also includes migrating from one cloud service provider to another. If you are an organization looking to upgrade to modern technology, storage migration will make sense for you.
2. Database Migration
In database migration, you migrate from your current database management system to a new, modern database management system. Database migration can also mean migrating from the current version of your existing database management system to a new version of the same system. This type of migration is typically complex because not only is your data transferred but also undergoes format changes.
Database migration is important for businesses that are looking to upgrade their database software, migrate their database to the cloud, or change their database management system service provider.
3. Application Migration
This type of data migration involves moving your software applications such as ERP and CRM systems from one computing environment to a new one. Application migration requires you to transform the data as it moves from one data model to another.
It can involve other migrations such as databases and storage migration. You need to relocate the databases that your existing application is using. It is likely that you’ll have to modify the data into a format that can fit into a new data model.
4. Cloud Migration
Cloud migration can be of two types – one where you move your data, application, or other business element from the current on-premises system to the cloud and the other where you move data from one cloud environment to another. The extent of your migration to the cloud can vary depending on your unique business requirements.
This means that you can either opt for a cloud migration that involves the movement of all data, applications, and services to the cloud or go for a migration that involves only data or application migration. There’s one more type of migration that happens here – cloud exit. This is when you move your data or application from the public cloud back to your on-premises data system.
5. Business Process Migration
When you transfer a database or application containing data associated with customers, products, or business operations, it is called business process migration. This type of migration is done if you want to reorganize or optimize the way you run your business. It is also done in scenarios where you want to differentiate yourself in the market, launch a new product or service, or participate in a merger or acquisition.
Data Migration Approach
There are two popular types of data migration strategies that you can use for your data migration project:
Big Bang Data Migration
Using this approach, you transfer all your data from source to destination in one go. It is quick and less complex as there’s only one single operation involved. All your systems will be down for users during data migration when you opt for the big bang approach.
We recommend doing big bang data migration during public holidays or weekends when users are not interacting with the applications or databases involved in the migration process. This type of migration approach is best for small businesses or data migration projects that involve small chunks of data.
Trickle Data Migration Approach
Trickle data migration is a phased data migration approach where agile methods are used for migrating data. The whole migration is divided into small phases and every phase will have its own timeline and objectives. One of the best advantages of trickle data migration is there’s usually no downtime and it’s perfect for organizations that need to access data 24 x 7.
However, as migration is done in phases, it makes the approach complex and extends the tenure of your data migration project. The trickle data migration approach is best for organizations that have large amounts of data to work with as there are less chances of system failure or downtime.
Data Migration Process & Project Plan
Data migration might sound simple, but it requires a well-crafted plan for ensuring that your data remains integrated and secure. Typically, a data migration project plan will have three critical steps:
- Data Extraction
- Data Transformation
- Data Loading
The above migration process is the ETL process. There are many ETL processes available in the market. One leading example is Informatica that provides industry-leading data integration solutions to give you a codeless, AI-powered cloud-native data integration. Whether you opt for the big bang approach or trickle data migration method, the data migration process will be the same.
Data Migration Plan – Best Steps
Your data migration plan will mostly consist of three phases: Plan, Implement, Validate. Let’s cover each of them one by one.
1. Plan
This is the first and most critical part of your migration project where you need to assess and clean your data sources, analyze business needs, and design and test migration scenarios.
You begin by identifying the amount and format of data you wish to move. We recommend performing a complete audit on your source data and once the audit is complete, you need to clean your data.
Doing the audit helps you identify what data needs to be migrated, what budget you want to allocate to the migration, the timeline for the project, and the critical tools and resources you need to make your project a success.
Another important aspect of this step is to inform stakeholders about the key objectives of the project and what milestones you plan to achieve with it. Once all of this is done, you can start coding the migration logic for ETL into the new destination. Make sure to test the code before implementing your plan.
2. Implement
Once your planning is completed and tests are performed, you could start with the implementation process. Make sure that your team monitors every step of the data migration process. Before you start migrating your data, you should check if it’s of high quality and free of inconsistencies & duplicates.
Remember, you do not monitor the migration in the actual production environment to make changes. The idea is to check for issues during the testing you do on sample scenarios before the real migration.
3. Validate
Once the actual migration is completed, you begin to check if your data is configured properly in the new destination and validate if the data transferred is accurate and of high quality. If the validation goes well, you can get rid of your old data configuration.
Data Migration Tools
A modern data migration tool helps you simplify your data migration processes. It helps you with data movement between sources, formats, systems, and platforms. Some critical tasks performed by data migration tools include data consolidation, data replication for data discovery, data encryption, and many more.
There are different types of data migration tools available in the market including on-premises data migration tools, cloud-based data migration tools, and open-source data migration tools.
Informatica, Fivetran, Snowflake Snowpipe, and AWS Database Migration Service are some of the top data migration tools available on the market. If we were to talk about one or two top features of Informatica, it would be its zero-code data integration tools with AI-based recommendation engine and real-time data replication and streaming analytics.
For Fivetran, it will be its automated replication and synchronization of files to the cloud. To learn more about the features and pricing of the tools, read our recent blog post about the best data migration tools to consider for your business. Here, you will also find quick tips to choose the right data migration tool for your business.
Get the Best Data Migration Services with LumenData
We are the leading data migration service providers in the US with multi-skilled delivery teams in both US and India locations. Our solid partner ecosystem involving top data platforms and unique data migration utility help us stand out from the crowd.
Right from tool selection to deployment, governance, and security, our data migration services cover it all. Here are some top reasons to choose LumenData as your data migration services provider:
- 270+ certifications by platforms such as Informatica, Snowflake, Databricks, and several others.
- Cutting-edge SaaS extensions for data migration and modernization such as accelerators for migration from Informatica on-premises to Informatica SaaS MDM, hyperscaler warehouse to Snowflake, and more.
- Faster technology deployments than any other data migration service provider with 95% risk mitigation.
- On-demand and scheduled support to implement and optimize your data migration
- Experience in Informatica x Snowflake, Informatica x Databricks, and more
Schedule a free one-hour discovery call with our technical consultants today.
About LumenData:
LumenData is a leading provider of Enterprise Data Management, Cloud and Analytics solutions and helps businesses handle data silos, discover their potential, and prepare for end-to-end digital transformation. Founded in 2008, the company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with locations in India.
With 150+ Technical and Functional Consultants, LumenData forms strong client partnerships to drive high-quality outcomes. Their work across multiple industries and with prestigious clients like Versant Health, Boston Consulting Group, FDA, Department of Labor, Kroger, Nissan, Autodesk, Bayer, Bausch & Lomb, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Cummins, Gilead, HP, Nintendo, PC Connection, Starbucks, University of Colorado, Weight Watchers, KAO, HealthEdge, Amylyx, Brinks, Clara Analytics, and Royal Caribbean Group, speaks to their capabilities.
For media inquiries, please contact: marketing@lumendata.com.
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