Data migration projects may be challenging, following these practices will minimize the risk and ensure that your project runs smoothly from start to finish.

FRANCE, September 12, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Data migration projects often bring complex challenges. Several factors can derail migration from legacy systems to inconsistent data formats and portability issues to in-house or third-party vendors. However, proper planning can minimize the risk and guarantee a successful migration. Let’s look at the steps you should take before and during your migration project.

But before we start with the best practices, it’s important to define data migration.

A data migration strategy typically focuses on changing how data exists within the company. The main goal is to change the location or format of the data. The project may require moving from on-premises to the cloud or within the cloud (tenant-to-tenant) and converting data. Data migration projects are often extended to the whole technology infrastructure, which may impact the entire organization and the employee experience. The reason why the projects can be challenging is that they involve a lot of moving parts, often interconnected.

They are typically led by a dedicated project manager and involve different teams. The migration team itself may include business analysts, project managers, data architects, database developers, and data migration specialists.
While data migration projects are essential, they are typically not considered the most important project within a company. However, since data migration typically involves a large amount of data, they can often be complicated to accomplish without careful planning.

Here are the best practices to consider before undertaking a data migration project:

1. Create a plan, and map out the entire process
Planning for the data that needs to be moved, where it needs to go, and how it will get there is essential. Who should have access to the information is something else your plan should address. Your strategy should detail every step of the migration and the people involved. You should think about the potential system downtime, in addition to any technical or compatibility issues.
You need to consider the network bandwidth and other restrictions, the essential cloud migration tool features, and understand the difference between cutover migration and staged migration. If you’re planning a data transfer, security and privacy must be top priorities, so make sure to address these areas in your data migration methodology.

2. Inspect and classify your data
Carefully inspect the data that will be sent. More specifically, you need to define if you migrate mailboxes, files (e.g., Google Drive, OneDrive documents), Teams migration, SharePoint sites, etc.
List the number of users, shared mailboxes and resources (rooms and equipment), Teams, site collections, subsites, the total size in GB of each, etc.
Look for old, irrelevant, or unnecessary information. Aside from streamlining the relocation process, separating the data for deletion will provide your team with a clean dataset to work with. However, it is essential to adhere to best practices for data archiving, and preservation since certain types of data need specialized retention policies for compliance reasons.

3. Create a clear data migration policy
Having a plan in place is insufficient. The entire organization needs a set of guidelines and controls for migrating data.
Your data migration policy should ensure that information is transmitted to the right place and is kept secure while in transit. Additionally, the policy should address data ownership and security. These elements are important, especially in the event of a data breach.
Finally, your policy should refer to your process, service-level agreements (SLAs), and timelines.
Every cloud resource comes with a contractual agreement, known as a service level agreement (SLA), outlining what the provider is delivering and the customer’s responsibilities.

4. Have backup copies of your data
Having a copy of the data you’ll be moving is worthwhile. If you have a copy of the data stored elsewhere, you will be sure that your primary files will not be lost in transit. The most up-to-date copy of the backup should be used if the efficacy of the migration is in dispute.
Scheduled and closely managed data backup is essential. If something goes wrong, your users will experience less downtime if you have a backup in place.

5. Always test your data after the migration
After completing the migration, double-check that everything is where it should be and perform data migration testing.
Check the migration process, the data’s quality, and verify that the data is correct and properly formatted.
During the migration testing, you should evaluate whether setting modifications are required to the migration tools, or if data changed, requiring a new migration, knowing the delta pass mechanism.
Testing is also essential for security reasons. In addition to checking that the data is properly migrated, check that everything has been properly encrypted.

Don’t forget to keep a complete record of the procedure, your compliance staff will appreciate your work documenting everything when the job is done.
Depending on your industry, regulators may want evidence that you’ve taken reasonable precautions to protect private information like credit card numbers or medical records. Auditing the process will not only offer verification that everything was done successfully, but it will also help you discover areas for improvement in future migration.

You are not alone. Several cloud migration tools provide consulting services. Managing your migration project with a team of experts to ensure your migration process from start to finish will save you time. You can receive help defining the scope of your project, and the migration strategy, tracking your migration and generating relevant migration reports to ensure the success of your project.
Data migration projects can consume a lot of time and resources. But with proper planning, you can minimize the risk and ensure a successful project.

Christophe Margaine
Cloudiway
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