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Database migration offers companies and organisations the scaling-up needed to expand assets and grow their business.
Whether moving data from on-premises databases to a cloud server*, between existing cloud systems, or various brought-together sources*.
*e.g. public cloud to private cloud
*e.g. on-site storage, widely used databases and legacy systems.
let us do the complex migration work
Get there with help from one of our experts.
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Around 80% of companies, worldwide, were using some form of cloud-based services in 2019.
Data Migration Market - Analysis & Forecast Report, IndustryARC, 2021 - 2026
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Cloud-based use of data migration is expected to grow by up to 21% during 2020-2025.
Data Migration Market - Analysis & Forecast Report, IndustryARC, 2021 - 2026
The rise of cloud-based data integration
Increasingly, many companies and organisations continue to replace their physical server with cloud-based servers.
Common types of data migration
Talk to us about data organisation
Why do businesses look to database migration?
Today, data migration projects are on the increase as a result of the sheer volume rise in data, and the high adoption rate in cloud-based solutions.
Out-performing competitors
A reliable database migration service is essential for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and comply with data-driven regulations. Companies understand the importance of fully managed data migration as a fundamental aspect of adapting to changing needs, maintaining agility and flexibility, and gaining a competitive advantage. By prioritizing data-driven practices, businesses can excel in key areas such as improving customer experience and enhancing overall performance.
Other reasons for database migration can also include:
Simply relocating data to a new server.
Replacing, upgrading or expansion of existing storage systems and equipment.
Switching to another type of SQL (data language management system).
Switching to centralised databases.
Setting up a development server for developing and testing programmes, websites, software, or applications.
Installing a new system to enlarge existing shared dataset applications.
Restoring a backup database.
Consolidation of a website or information systems.
Relocation of data centre.
Infrastructure maintenance.
Sensitive company information
Industries that find themselves increasingly involved with the need for secure, scalable data movement and data migration services are:
Financial.
Healthcare.
Manufacturing.
Automotive.
Entertainment.
Financial organisations and healthcare institutions, in particular, hold large amounts of sensitive information.
It can sometimes be the case that finance sector companies, for example, may be wary of working within the cloud or taking on the daunting challenge of data migration.
Their caution is well-placed because significantly large amounts of sensitive business data are held in storage. However, avoidance of any potential risk may be preferred. Instead, they simply remain working within existing but often outdated on-premises data storage, access, and processing systems.
Their understandable concerns reflect the need to migrate data and maintain stringent security. The highest level of professional qualified handling and management compliance is required to ensure data protection.
Legacy data migration
Legacy data - is defined as a company or organisation's entire accumulated history of data, information and past activities.
Major issues of legacy data include:
Often embedded in dated software.
Frequently poorly structured.
Contains out-of-date formats.
Another complication involves:
Obsolete storage - existing database environment can no longer ensure the effective use of data. They may simply be using an early edition or out-of-date, third-party IT infrastructures which are no longer supported.
This means they are increasingly unable to meet today's requirement for all-around data accessibility.
One of the biggest challenges often faced by large financial, healthcare, and manufacturing institutions in any database migration process is application migration and the final integration of legacy data.
Basic data migration issues
Human / machine errors or malicious attacks - can seriously compromise entire data integrity.
Wholly different data results - can result from changes in algorithms if migration to a new system is not precisely carried out.
Lack of awareness or understanding of data quality issues can also involve:
Failure to carry out our proper data reconciliation.
Incorrect data correlations.
Incomplete information.
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Business data is moved from one storage location or medium to a different physical storage medium.
Typically carried out when upgrading storage equipment / technology, such as:
Paper file formats to digital files.
Hardware-based storage to virtual (cloud) based storage.
Processes can also include actions such as data validation, cloning, cleansing, and redundancy where required.
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Migration of a database normally involves moving from one DBMS to another. This is because databases are stored in structured database management systems (DBMS). Alternatively, migration will be needed when upgrading from the current to the latest version of the same DBMS.
There can sometimes be an issue if the source system uses different data structures than the destination system.
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Required for a change in application software or application vendor. Particularly, when legacy data with its own characteristics are moved from one computing environment to another.
The new application platform will inevitably use its own data formats, which may need significant modification. This will enable the application to perform after the migration has been completed.
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Moving data or applications from on-premises to the cloud. Or between two different types of cloud storage.
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This type of migration can either be movement of:
Data centre infrastructure to a new physical location.
Data from legacy data centre infrastructure to new infrastructure equipment at the same physical location.
A data centre houses the data storage infrastructure, which maintains the organisation’s critical applications. It consists of servers, network routers, switches, computers, storage devices, and related data equipment.
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MySQL Server Migration
Microsoft SQL Server (MySQL) database migration involves moving data to or from a database. There are the following four stages that are common scenarios in database migration.
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Data Extraction
Stage 1
Gathering data from one or more source servers or databases before sending to an intermediate server, i.e. for sending communications requests to a resource manager on behalf of a user program.
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Data Matching
Stage 2
Matching source data accurately to destination formats to solve in advance any potential compatibility issues.
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Data Aggregation
Stage 3
Aggregating data involving calculations to reduce 'duplicate' rows in reports.
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Data Loading
Stage 4
Data is transferred to the destination database once all the previous three stages have been successfully completed.
Not all data migrations are the same
Data migration involves preserving data quality and successful data integration. Data integrity is a top priority for data security and privacy.
How the process of moving data, and the way data is to be used within a new operating environment, needs to be fully planned to avoid data inconsistency.
Single migration
Data is moved is one single operation from one environment to the other. The process is often more straightforward, and therefore, quicker and more cost-efficient. It should be noted that during this type of migration all computer systems will be "down" and unavailable for use.
The single migration approach is considered more advisable for a project involving transferring small amounts of data. Or a small company or organisation with only small amounts of total data. This is because of the potential risk of migration failure caused by large amounts of data overwhelming an entire company network.
Staged migration
The entire migration process is broken down into a sequence of smaller stages. This allows data to be transferred in small amounts. This means there is no "downtime" because the previous system remains in parallel operation during the migration.
A staged migration is less prone to a large failure but is more complex, and requires a longer time to complete. A staged migration is often recommended for companies or organisations that need to be constantly operational and cannot afford any computer system downtime.
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Before any data migration service proceeds, a data audit will be essential to:
Remove existing errors - in the data itself, as well as its dependencies.
Further critical action is also to:
Delete any historic sets of data, which are unused or no longer relevant to current and likely future needs.
The aim is to prevent a waste of storage resources. Whether data migration of relevant, latest content is to a public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud.
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To minimise business disruption in any data migration scenario it's important to be aware of:
A significant length of time is needed for data migrations to properly complete.
Data migration is not simply copying data sets from one storage, or multiple sources, and pasting them into the new storage system.
Ensuring data security throughout is crucial.
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An essential first action of data migration services is to:
Create a data backup before the migrations commence.
It's a vital safety net to ensure the original database can be restored if problems occur during the migration process and prevent data loss or corruption.
The next key step is to:
Prepare the new data environment.
The type of storage system selected, whether public, private or hybrid cloud, will determine the very specific factors and protocols of the new data environment. It's vital for the new system to be properly and fully prepared to receive legacy data before moving data begins.
During the ongoing process, key steps are:
Testing migration data
Testing should be carried out at all stages in the migration process. Small samples of legacy data will be examined to ensure each element of the data transfer is proceeding as required.
Any ongoing errors, miscalculations or data hold-ups are dealt with to ensure data migration can be successfully completed.
Once all data migration services have been carried out the new system environment will continue to be monitored to ensure all functions are operating properly, and are smooth-running.
It is still possible for issues to emerge which can be more readily fixed at this early stage before developing into a more serious problem.
Contact us to discuss data migration
Our proven capability of delivering security focused managed support services alongside robust and cost-effective IT transformation projects makes us an ideal long-term IT partner and ideally placed to provide the services you need.