7 Data Migration Mistakes
We’ve all been there, sitting in our cubicle, trying to migrate data from one server to another. Most of the time, everything works as expected. But sometimes, data migrations don’t work at all. That’s because there is more to a data migration than just the data or database. Being able to migrate schema and data between endpoints is but one part of an entire migration process.
Ask any data professional about mistakes they have witnessed on data migration projects and you’ll get back a long list of items. I’ve put together the top seven data migration mistakes (or missteps) I’ve witnessed through the years.
As always, you’re welcome.
This is also filed under “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Migration projects often involve a lot of different teams. Your project plan must account for the scope of applications and related objects involved. You might think “lift and shift” is an easy answer, but reality will tell you otherwise. With a plethora of upstream and downstream systems, coordinating all those different stakeholders will take time. And don’t forget that moving the data itself takes time, too.
More than once, I’ve seen migration projects stall because the teams tried to do too much at once. An example of this is when a database migration occurs and another team decides to deploy a bunch of code changes at the same time. This is often a disaster, as you can’t unwind whether the issue is with the code changes, the migration, the new hardware, etc.
Migration projects are a great time to clean out your data closet and get rid of the data you don’t need anymore. And by “get rid of,” I mean “archive properly.” Data lasts longer than code — treat it right. Don’t just throw it away or ignore it. But if you are doing a migration project, take the time to evaluate the value of the data versus the volume you are migrating. Take the time to do some data quality checks and make certain it is correct prior to the migration.
There are a plethora of migration tools and techniques available these days. It is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security that your tools do everything you need. The most common issue is with dependencies.
