Data migration strategy
Type 2 Solutions uses a standard data migration approach for retrieving, transforming, validating and loading data.
We start with a preliminary study of the data migration with a data migration plan as deliverable.
The data migration plan includes:
- the data migration strategy,
- the action plan,
- a risk analysis,
- the data migration process,
- the control framework,
- the data quality optimization process,
- the planning and the required resources and tools.
Data migration approach
In order to be able to work with the new system(s), data will have to be migrated from the legacy systems.
There are two approaches for migrating the data: all at once in a single run (live with a big bang) or divided into multiple subsets over a period of time.
Live with a big bang
Migrating all data at once is called going live with a big bang. This is preferable from a data migration perspective. The initial situation only needs to be made consistent once, the check only needs to be done once, there is no need to take into account conflicting data in the target system and the fallback scenario is much simpler.
Advantages
Also, from a system perspective it seems obvious that the big bang scenario is preferable. Not only is the number of portals, interfaces and systems that have to be kept up and running during the transition phase of a divided migration much higher (100%), special processes, interfaces and perhaps systems have to be set up for the transition phase.
More transparent
Finally, the big bang scenario is often more transparent and straight forward for both the customer and the organization. During the migration period, both the legacy systems as the new system are unavailable. This means that it this period is critical and should be kept as short as possible.
For these reasons, several trial migrations are performed with representative data prior to the “real” data migration so that the lead times and data quality issues can be precisely determined. An additional advantage is that this data can be used during testing, so that the results of these test scenarios are representative of the final production situation.
Data migration example
John Wittekamp, Chief Technology Officer at DELTA Fiber Netherlands emphasizes the importance of test runs during a migration:
“In particular, performing another test run was typically something that was very much stimulated by Type 2 Solutions to ensure that you achieve the best quality you can deliver.”
Click on the above image to read more.
Migration in a 24/7 environment
A good example of the latter situation is the data migration at the N.V. Westerscheldetunnel. A big bang scenario was impossible here because the physical conversion per toll lane took several weeks, but the toll collection process in the other lanes had to continue as usual.
The entire migration did entail more than just the upgrade of the old lanes and the replacement of the existing hard- and software. It also comprised the conversion and migration of all data collected since the official opening of the tunnel in 2003.
The main provision was that the toll collection process had to carry on unimpeded 24 hours a day, and that no transactions could go missing. Further, only one lane would be allowed to be inoperative for upgrade in each direction at any given time. Finally, the migration plan had to be coordinated in a way that end users would not have to work with both back-office systems in parallel.
The migration was deemed the most precarious operation of the entire project.
Click on the above image to discover the case.
Which data migration strategy is right for you?
Based on a preliminary investigation of the data migration with a data migration plan as deliverable, we can provide you with the right answer.
A data migration plan includes: the data migration strategy, the action plan, a risk analysis, the data migration process, the control framework, the data quality optimization process, the planning and the required resources and tools.
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Type 2 Solutions has extensive experience with data migration, data integration and data optimization.
In addition to extensive experience with various database platforms, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2 and MySQL, T2S has experience in migrating data to and integrating data between various IT systems and software packages, such as SAP, Dynamics 365, AFAS and Exact.