I recently worked on a data migration and it was challenging and complex to say the least. I have listed out the key (but not all) issues and actions that had to be carried as part of the migration.
- Comparing and analysing the new data set to the old data set to find any discrepancies to make sure the new data contained all the required fields or information.
- Making sure the new data set was uploaded correctly and people were on hand to deal with any issues that could occur when it was loaded in.
- Checking if the system could be rolled back if the data migration caused a lot of issues when it was completed.
- Also looking at how the new data set was structured and how the different segments or categories connected to each other and if this was any different from how the old data sets segments or categories linked to each (this in itself brought up some issues that had to be resolved).
From this I can honestly say it’s so important for organisations to keep on top of the data that they use and store. It must be kept tidy, audited, organised and well maintained. So often this does not happen and it gets pushed to one side because of other business priorities. Then once a data migration is required or a new system needs to use the data there can often be all types of issues that come up that have to be resolved, and that can cost more money than properly maintaining the data to begin with.
Here is also an interesting article from information week on data migration: 10 Big Data Migration mistakes
Chris Mitchell 