Is it R.I.P for the Big-Bang Data Migration?

Is it the end for the Big-Bang Data Migration Strategy?The “Big-Bang” data migration has served us well for decades now but I’m afraid the death knell is sounding. 

“What do you mean” I hear you cry: 

No more 48 hour sleepless shifts? No more frantic late night calls to ask operations for “just one more hour”? No post traumatic big-bang stress disorder? No more embarrassing system rollbacks? 

No. I think it’s time to say farewell to the Big-Bang data migration for a number of reasons. This post will look at why Big-Bang has had it’s day and more importantly, what are we going to replace it with? 

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Are your data migration sponsors creating another data quality halloween story?

If you’re project sponsor of a data migration then you’re aware that to create a successful project (i.e. data migration doesn’t fail + target system receives operational data) you need good quality data. This doesn’t magically happen of course, it requires a data quality management strategy of people, processes and technology.

You've got one of those right? No? Well let's see what you need and why it's critical to factor data quality management into your data migration project otherwise you'll find yourself with a new halloween horror story on your hands.

Cue scary music...

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How can you get business buy-in for your data migration?

I appeared on a panel at an Experian QAS event recently which had some great questions at the end of the session.

One of the questions asked how can a data migration project ensure business involvement?

I wanted to expand on this question because it is central to why so many data migrations fail. I also believe there are lots of different ways to skin this one so feel free to jump in on the comments below.

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Revised Edition of Practical Data Migration Now Available

The new and updated edition of Practical Data Migration, widely regarded as the industry bible for Data Migration Practitioners, is now available and it includes some substantial additions as Johny Morris' methodology has evolved to meet the demands of new technologies, techniques and customer demands.

In his words:

The new edition has been restructured around the main areas of activity within a data migration project and covers eight modules including: migration strategy and governance, landscape analysis, gap analysis and mapping, migration design and execution, legacy decommissioning, data quality rules, key data stakeholder management and system retirement plan.

I've had many a conversation (ok, beer) with John over where the industry is heading, what technologies are impacting and where our members need more insight.

I think he's done a stellar job of updating his original creation so it's highly recommended and will solve many of the questions we are frequently asked in our support forums here on Data Migration Pro.

To find out more click on the Amazon link below. 

Johny is crazy busy at the moment doing various media promos in St. Tropez, Monaco and New York but he's agreed to do an interview later in the month to talk through some of the new concepts in his book. (One of those last statements is false).

5 Questions for Your Data Migration Systems Integrator

I recently reviewed the approaches of a range of data migration system integrators and noticed a huge variety in approaches, particularly around methodology.

The challenge for many organisations is that they’re in a catch-22 situation. They know they need external expertise to help them deliver a successful data migration but they lack the data migration expertise to know which integrator is likely to deliver the best result. 

If you scratch below the surface of the slick PowerPoint presentations and fancy methodology graphics you can often find a great disparity in what the different integrators have on offer. There are some truly excellent providers out there but there are also many who don’t fully understand the distinct challenges that data migration poses and have a dubious delivery success rate. 

So what should you look for in a data migration systems integrator? 

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6 Classic Data Migration Mistakes Well Worth Avoiding

We’ve seen in the Data Migration Professionals forum on LinkedIn that data migration failures, overruns or budget blowouts are sadly not a distant memory for many organisations, they’re still a common occurrence for many organisations but the question is why?

Why do so many companies still fall into the trap of ignoring the need for essential resources in areas like data quality management, skilled leadership, appropriate technology and a solid methodology?

In this post I want to discuss some of the data migration failure causes that I’ve seen in the past in the hope that some companies will spot them and react before it’s too late.

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Data Migration Effort Estimation: Practical Techniques from Richard Trapp of Northfield Consulting Group

How do you cope with the uncertainty around data quality on data migration projects, particularly with budgeting and forecasting effort?

Please note, this post was first featured on our sister site Data Quality Pro in : How do you estimate impact of poor data quality on a data migration project?

In an excellent discussion on the IAIDQ LinkedIn forum Richard Trapp attempted to answer this very question posed by John Platten, long time expert panelist on Data Quality Pro and Data Migration Pro.

John Platten of Vivamex opened out the discussion for opinions from others on...

...what to do if you take on a migration lead role and it becomes clear after the contract is signed that the data is too poor, the budget too small...and you realise that the outcome is going to be compromised...

To which Richard Trapp responded:

John, I overcome the hurdle you mention by employing a very comprehensive parametric estimating model. All scope assumptions are clearly presented and approved prior to work starting. When/if assumptions turn out to not be true (number of objects, complexity, environmental constraints, etc.), the impacts to progress are documented and communicated (Earned Value Analysis) and decisions presented to the client to either reduce scope to meet current budget, or to add budget to meet the change in scope.

Intrigued, I asked Richard to expand and he kindly answered several questions that clarified his earlier comments with a detailed explanation.

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Data Migration Matters 4: Call for Papers

It's that time of year again. This excellent DMM4 conference event by author (and expert panelist) John Morris will be held at The BCS, London WC2E 7HA on Thursday 26th May 2010.

It is the only conference of its kind in the UK and is the fourth in the very successful Data Migration Matters series.

DMM4 brings together the leading authorities in the data migration field including industry analysts, experienced practitioners and senior managers, an incredible pool of expertise brought together for one day to help delegates learn new techniques, share past experiences and connect socially.

A call for papers from Data Migration Pro readers is now in effect.

If you would like to submit your proposal please follow this link:

Data Migration Matters 4: Call for papers

About the Event

For details about the event itself please visit the event website:

http://datamigrationmatters.co.uk/

4 Tips for Becoming a Better Data Migration Client

It’s all too easy to blame your data migration solution provider when your project hits the rails but are you really doing everything on your side of the fence to ensure project success?

Use these tips as a starting point for determining what your company should be doing to ensure project success for all concerned with the implementation

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How to Implement an Effective Data Migration Testing Strategy

Creating an effective data migration testing strategy is critical to reducing risk and delivering a successful migration.

In this article, David Katzoff, Managing Director of Valiance Partners, a specialist data migration technology and service provider, outlines a blueprint for designing an effective data migration testing strategy.

David rounds off the article with a useful checklist of recommendations that the reader can use to benchmark their own approach.

TIP: Data Quality plays a pivotal role to data migration testing so be sure to check out Data Quality Pro, our sister site with the largest collection of hands-on tutorials, data quality guides and expert support for Data Quality on the internet.   

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TM Forum Launches Data Migration Survey

Data Migration Pro is launching a programme to understand how enterprises in different vertical markets are tackling the real challenges of Data Migration. 

To kick this off, we are examining the Communications and Media sector, as represented by the global TM Forum organization’s Data Migration Community.  

The TM Forum data migration community is led by Tony Sceales (also a member of our expert panel), Celona’s CTO and other senior industry figures, the group is in the process of building out an understanding of Best Practice in Data Migration. 

The first step in this process is to survey the TM Forum’s 45,000 members to understand their perspective on what the key issues and drivers for success are, as well as to ask about their experience and capability in Data Migration.

Your views are also extremely valuable, and any Data Migration Pro member can also complete the survey at http://www.tmforum.org/Source/550/home.html.

You will contribute to a crucially important study for our profession.

Please also feel free to join the TM Forum Community and contribute your thoughts and experiences.

Webinar: How to prevent your data migration spiralling out of control

This Wednesday 26th August at 1pm (British Summer Time, 12:00pm GMT), Data Migration Pro will host a webinar with John Morris, author of Practical Data Migration.

Attendees will learn practical techniques to help prevent their project heading for failure or delay.

The approximate running time of the webinar will be 30-45 minutes and if attendees use a VoiP headset then the webinar is completely free. There are local toll numbers available for thos who are dialing in.

To register for the webinar please click the following link:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/916140523

Please note that we will be publishing the webinar in this post after the presentation has completed.

Best Practices for Content Data Migration : Interview with David Katzoff from Valiance Partners

Data migration is not solely the domain of database-to-database data transition, it can often involve complex content migrations of documents and unstructured data.

But how do these migrations differ to the more conventional relational database style data migrations? What is the right strategy? What techniques are involved? What are the pitfalls?

We recently caught up with one of our members, David Katzoff, Managing Director of Valiance Partners,  a specialist data migration technology and service provider operating in this space. Dave has kindly answered a few burning questions on this topic.

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Some recent data migration lessons

Recently, I've been consulting with a mid-sized organisation who are embarking on an initiative to implement a new inventory system.

With just a few days in there have been some serious lessons learned by the organisation on how to approach data migration in the right way.

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Data Migration Matters2 - Call For Papers

The Data Migration Matters organisers have announced an all day data migration event for the 1st October 2009 in London.

Details will shortly follow of how to attend the event but DMM2 is inviting IT professionals or senior managers with experience of Data Migration to submit a paper for presentation at Data Migration Matters 2.

The selected paper will be presented at the event by the author.

This year there is a special interest in case studies and lessons learned but all topics will be considered.

If you want to find out more details on how to submit your proposed presentation please follow this link:

http://www.datamigrationpro.com/dmm2

How to rescue a failing data migration project [Part 2 - Plan and Mop-up]

Last week John Morris posted a detailed account of how to rescue a sinking data migration project, that post provided some excellent stablising techniques John has developed over many years.

This week John closes out the series with a look at how we can re-plan a failing project and successfully "mop-up" on those outstanding tasks that are so important but often neglected.

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How to rescue a failing data migration project [Part 1 - Stabilise]

Many members contact us with tales of data migration failure and one only needs to look in the computing press to read the high profile data migration disasters that litter our industry.

We recently contacted John Morris, managing director of iergo and author of Practical Data Migration, for some advice on how our readers can help put their data migration project back on track if it starting to slip off the rails.

John kindly wrote the following series of articles, providing a range of detailed tips and techniques to help you rescue your sinking project.

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6 tips for "selling" a best-practice data migration

If your most recent data migration has failed or suffered major delays then chances are it was lacking a best-practice approach.

There are still countless tales from members and visitors to Data Migration Pro of projects being delivered with issues such as poorly conceived methodologies, a lack of data quality management, impossible deadlines and poorly skilled resources.

So how do we turn things around and convince sponsors and stakeholders to invest in a best-practice data migration?

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Promoting DQ Tools for Data Migration Projects

One of our members recently had a tough time convincing her peers and sponsors of the need for a DQ tool on their forthcoming data migration project.

She had been pitching the benefits primarily of cleanse, citing the fact their migration tool had limited DQ capabilities so an additional toolset to manage the more complex transformations was required.

The source systems were largely consumer addresses, their business being B2C in the financial sector. The argument she came up against was that they already had a profiling tool so why couldn't that help solve the problem?

Here are some of the additional areas that DQ tools can help increase the success rate of any data migration project.

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The data migration go-live strategy - what is it and why does it matter?

In this post we take a look at some of the different combination of data migration go-live strategies and what they mean from a technical and business perspective.

The landscape of data migration implementation options has changed in recent years so we thought a brief introduction to the different approaches would benefit our business and non-technical readers in particular.

Please note, Data Quality is a critical element of any data migration project so be sure to check out these Data Quality Strategy articles on our sister site - Data Quality Pro.

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