Category: Blog

Downtime, Data loss, System Crash.

Ready to lose business to a data migration gone wrong? Ready for all your data to disappear in thin air?

Data migration is not a child’s play. It’s a complex task that requires professional expertise.

It also demands securing all your data and the future of your business. 

So, stop hoping for the best every time and hire data migration consulting services for a seamless transition. But how?

Read on to learn about the benefits of data migration consulting services and see how you can future-proof your business.

Dig in.

What is the Role of a Data Migration Consultant?

A data migration consultant facilitates a seamless data transfer from your legacy outdated system to a new one. 

Consultants use their expertise to guide businesses about using different migration methods, techniques, and tools. To perform data migration, you need a whole set of skills, experience and knowledge. These specializations and expertise include:

• In-depth knowledge of database systems
• Strong accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent problem-solving abilities
• Logical and analytical thinking skills
• Effective time management capabilities
• Expertise in data protection and security
• Advanced understanding of database design and management
• Experience handling large datasets across diverse formats and structures
• Proficiency in programming languages like SQL, Java, and Python
• Strong analytical skills for identifying patterns and trends in data

Migrating data from one system and application to another is not simple. The consultants use data migration best practices to ensure a successful migration. 

But the question is, why should you hire data migration consultants? How does it benefit your business?

Why is Data Migration Consulting Crucial for Businesses?

As a business owner, what are your priorities?

• To enhance your operational services efficiently.
• To secure your customer and business data.
• To scale your business with the current market.

But the question is, how do you do that when planning for a successful data migration? How do you avoid hindering the data migration process and free up your internal team to focus on these core business operations?

The answer: By hiring a data migration consultant. Because you cannot stare at your screen waiting for all the data migration benefits without hiccups. 

Data migration consultants have the specialized knowledge, advanced tools, and proven strategies to handle your migration projects. Businesses can reduce risks and focus on other key business activities while the experts plan for their data migration success. 

6 Ways Data Migration Consulting Helps Businesses

The benefits of data migration are many. But considering big data and its impact on your businesses, moving to different technological environments, the prospects of data loss will always be daunting. 

Data migration consulting ensures that all your data is transferred smoothly, efficiently and securely. Here are 6 reasons data migration success can benefit your business.

1. Data Security and Compliance

As a business owner, you deal with customer data, financial records, and proprietary data. (Apart from many other things.) And the last thing you want is the risk of a data breach, data loss or a financial mishap because of a small migration mistake.

Data migration consultants ensure your data and other crucial information stay safe and compliant. The experts handle everything from top-notch security practices and encryption to anonymization and compliance standards. 

2. Minimizing Downtime and Disruption

Imagine days, weeks, or even months of business downtime. It would be a nightmare, right? Data migration requires changes across the organization. These changes affect people, technology, and system processes, leading to downtime and disruptions. 

It is almost impossible to achieve zero downtime during the migration process. However, data migration consultants can ensure minimal disruption or downtime. 

You cannot afford a prolonged system unavailability. So, to safeguard your company’s reputation and keep your business moving, migration specialists conduct thorough testing. They ensure that your data is migrated during off-peak hours and that the transition is smooth.

3. Tailored and Cost-Effective Solutions

Without the right expertise, a data migration can result in hidden and unnecessary expenses. Unexpected issues and external technical support can quickly inflate your budget. 

A migration expert provides you with a detailed and strategized budget analysis for the migration process. From minimized downtime to ensuring a successful migration, consultants will provide cost-effective and tailored solutions. 

Their unique data migration services will save you from unnecessary expenses and potential setbacks. 

4. Mitigating Risks

No business would want lost productivity or unhappy customers. But that’s what a failed migration would mean. Data loss, corruption, security breaches, and so much more. Data migration consultants are experts in mitigating these risks. 

They perform risk assessments, develop contingency plans, address unforeseen issues and conduct comprehensive testing throughout the migration process. They ensure that any issues are pre-identified and resolved for a complete data migration success.

5. Performance and Scalability

The migration experts have access to the latest technology. They provide innovative solutions and ensure that your new systems perform better than your existing systems.

Moreover, they also ensure that your new system is scalable and flexible with your growing business needs. 

6. Business Transformation

Data migration can pull your key employees away from their primary focus. Your overall productivity could be affected when you attempt to handle in-house migrations. 

Successful data migration requires attention to detail, technical expertise, time and proper strategies, which is only possible with a data migration consultant. 

Data migration consulting services reduce your burden while you with overall business transformation. 

Key Considerations Before Hiring a Data Migration Consultant

No data migration consultant will provide you with one-size-fits-all data migration services.

Moreover, every business is unique, and so is their data. You wouldn’t benefit from a migration solution that caters to a business or organization with completely different needs.

So, what key considerations should you consider before hiring a data migration consultant, especially for your business? Dig into the points below.

1. Expertise, Knowledge and Experience

A data migration consultant should have knowledge and experience providing data migration services related to your industry and systems. 

You can ask for reference feedback and verify their expertise with other clients they have already served. 

2. Understanding of Your Unique Business Needs

Look for a consultant who understands your business processes thoroughly. The migration expert must also know about your data structure and migration goals. 

The consultant should be able to customize the data migration services according to your migration needs.

3. Technical Proficiency

The migration team should have a proficient knowledge of programming languages, such as SQL and Java. 

4. Data Security

Your migration consultants should help you encrypt your data, keeping it always secure. The data should be accessible only to authorized persons to reduce the overall risk of data breaches. 

5. Post-Migration Support

The role of a migration consultant does not end with a data migration completion. Your migration consultant should provide you with post-migration support as well.

So, before you hire one, inquire whether or not they provide post-migration services for troubleshooting, fine-tuning, and ongoing support.

6. Scalability

Data is growing at an exponential rate. But the good news is that so is your business. So look for a data migration expert who seamlessly helps your business scale. 

It is useless if a consultant cannot handle large datasets across platforms or help you scale your business with the growing advancements. 

7. Save Time and Money

Data migration services are costly, and there is no doubt about it. But the overall process should help you yield a good ROI (Return On Investment.) Your investments should not go to waste. 

Moreover, spending billable hours on unnecessary tasks makes no sense. Thus, your migration process should allow you and your team to focus on other crucial business tasks. 

8. Consistent and Reliable

Look for migration experts who provide pre-built protocols to help you keep your data consistent throughout the migration process. 

The data migration services should manage your data, identify and eliminate duplicates, and optimize the overall performance. 

9. Open to Communication

Clear updates and transparency are crucial if you are looking for a successful data migration.

Your consultant should be open to communication and collaborate with you or your team whenever required. 

10. Training

For long-term data migration success, the data consultants should provide comprehensive training to your team. This knowledge transfer helps you make urgent changes and manage your system more efficiently.

Ultimately, choosing a data migration expert depends completely on you and your business requirements. 

Conclusion

Are you searching for expert data migration consulting services? End your quest here with us at Augmented Systems. 

Our team of 70+ data migration experts is here to provide you with the best data migration services. Our expertise is unique, just like your business. Contact us today and focus all your efforts on reaching new business heights.

Is your data also exceeding its storage space? Is it about to burst out of your current system like a digital bomb in a suitcase? Ever-expanding data and outdated storage systems are a headache for many. 

Businesses yearn to migrate to a new and modern system, but the array of data migration strategies in the current market leaves them puzzled concerning which is better.

Are you facing the same? Don’t worry, because we hear you. Dive into the blog to learn about different strategies and select the data migration strategy that best suits your business.

Ready to move out of the stuffed staircase? Dig in.

Why do Businesses Migrate their Data?

Are you okay with risking your data because you chose the wrong migration process? Data migration may seem like child’s play, but it isn’t. From losing your data to data breaches, you may face several data migration problems.

Migrating data from your legacy system to a new system requires meticulous planning, flawless execution, and expert management. But, most importantly it needs the right data migration strategy.

Apart from data growing at a compound annual growth rate of 19.2% by 2025, there are many other reasons why businesses opt for data migration, including:

• Expansion, upgradation, and replacement of existing data storage systems
• Outdated legacy data storage systems
• Moving to the cloud to optimize business operations
• Website consolidation
• For infrastructure maintenance 
• Moving to a centralized data warehouse
• Relocation of data centers
• For information sharing with other applications

Data migration has numerous benefits, but an unplanned and hasty migration can lead to many disruptions and failures. Your goal should be to accurately and efficiently migrate your data with utmost precision. Therefore, you need good data migration planning. 

Why do Businesses Need a Right Data Migration Strategy? 

Every business is different, and so is its data migration approach. You cannot expect it to be the same, right? Your preferences and need to migrate your data will differ from those of others. 

For Example

Say you hire a data migration consultant. They will need a complete 360-degree analysis of your data. But before that, you should be aware of the volume of data, its cost, potential downtime, and overall business impact. 

Therefore, understanding how data migration works for your business is essential. It is about knowing and assessing how much data will remain on your current or on-premise system versus how much data you will move to your new storage. (apart from many other aspects.)

You can make the process of selecting the right data migration strategy by asking yourself the following questions.

• What is the size and type of data you are migrating?
• What is your budget for the entire migration project?
• What is the amount of downtime your business can tolerate?
• Do you need to clean your data before migrating?
• What security measures will be apt for your business?
• Will your target system be compatible with your existing one?
• What are the scalability options with your new systems?
• What are your disaster recovery plans in case of data migration challenges?
• Is there a data migration approach that you are considering?
• What type of data migration strategy is best for your business?

All these questions will help you determine which data migration strategy is right for your business. Meanwhile, here are different data migration strategies to help you achieve a successful migration.

What are the Types of Data Migration Strategies?

Do you know around 83% of data migrations either fail or exceed their allotted budgets? You wouldn’t want your migration to be a ‘throwaway’ work, right? 

So, to not keep all your efforts to be bare minimum, we have a list of different migration strategies for you. Choose the best fit for your business data and avoid the hassle of last-minute challenges.

1. Big Band Data Migration

A big-band data migration approach involves transferring all your data from source to target in one go. You can complete a big-bang migration when you are not using the applications or your systems, such as over a holiday or weekend.

Before you opt for a big-bang data migration approach, remember that you may face a significant downtime. Your entire system will be down and unavailable until the migration is 100% done.

So, if you are moving vast amounts of data, Big Bang data migration is not for you.

Pros:

• Less complex
• Less costly
• Less time consuming

Cons

• Significant downtime
• Risk of failure
• Not ideal for big data

Use case

Best suited for small businesses or projects with small amounts of data

2. Trickly Data Migration

The trickle data migration approach involves migrating your data in phases. The migration will run parallel to your old system until it is complete.

In this data migration process, data is migrated in smaller chunks, each with its individual timeline, goals, and quality checks. This migration is ideal if you need access to your data 24/7, as there is nearly zero downtime. 

Pros:

• Near to zero downtime 
• Less prone to errors or failures 
• Allows continues business operations

Cons:

• Expensive
• Time-consuming
• Complex to manage
• Longer migration period
• Need resources and technical expertise to run two systems

Use Case:

Data migration is ideal for medium and small businesses. With proper technical expertise and resources, a trickle data migration approach can also be utilized for large business datasets. 

3. Hybrid Data Migration

If you want to strike a balance, hybrid data migration combines the elements of Big Bang data migration and trickle data migration. 

With hybrid data migration, you can migrate your critical data quickly while migrating less crucial data in phases. However, you must be ready to manage and integrate two environments simultaneously.

For businesses seeking a custom data migration solution, hybrid data migration puts you in control. With this strategy, you can confidently move your data, knowing that you have the power to manage the migration process according to your specific requirements.

Pros:

• Flexibility 
• Cost-effective
• Minimizes the risk of downtime and data loss
• Scalable
• Ensure business continuity

Cons:

• Needs robust security
• Management overload 
• Requires careful planning 
• Potential latency issues
• Compliance requirements both on-premises and cloud

Use Case: 

Businesses with complex and extensive data can control their migration process with a hybrid data migration approach. 

4. Cloud-Based Data Migration

A cloud-based data migration approach is a migration strategy for moving data from an existing storage system to a cloud storage system. It can also migrate data from one cloud storage to another.

Cloud-based data migration relies on various services and tools to streamline data transfer and enhance overall cloud management. This approach offers global businesses the advantage of accessing data remotely and fostering collaboration.

Moreover, cloud providers offer the benefits of advanced data analytics, AI, and machine learning tools. However, when using this data migration strategy, address security concerns and data governance issues.

Pros:

• Scalable
• Cost-effective
• Global Access
• Enhanced disaster recovery
• Automatic data backups and redundancy
• Automatic software updates

Cons:

• Potential risk of data breaches
• Risk of control over data security
• Possible downtime during data migration
• Potential latency issues
• Dependability on the Internet

Use Case: 

Businesses seek to minimize capital investments while having the option to scale or require global data access. It is also suitable for modernizing their on-premise system for enhanced performance.

5. Business Process Data Migration

The business process data migration approach is migrating your business application and data to a new environment. The data focuses on customer, product or service, and operational information.

This migration strategy supports and enhances your existing business processes. However, it can be time-consuming and needs key business stakeholders or owners. 

With the business process data migration process, you can streamline your business processes by cleaning, organizing, and optimizing your data during migration.

Pros: 

• Enhance existing business process
• Minimizes downtime
• Improved business efficiency
• Improved data quality and accuracy 

Cons:

• Complex
• Time-consuming
• High costs
• Needs technical support and expertise

Use Case: 

It is useful for business mergers and acquisitions and businesses willing to enter new markets and remain competitive with growing businesses.

The data migration strategy you choose for your business should solely depend on your data needs and requirements. You can also hire data migration consultants or companies if you are unsure which strategy is best for you.

How Do You Execute the Best Data Migration?

What should you expect from a data migration? What are the risks involved? Are there any tools available? Is data migration a simple cut-and-paste? 

Reading all the above data migration strategies, you know that data migration is not simple. So, to make your data migration planning less superficial and more successful, here is a list of other key factors you should consider. 

1. Data Migration Best Practices

Make your data migration a breeze, but only with the right plan. Also, avoid costly headaches with these best practices.

• Have a dedicated migration team with the right experts.
• Use data migration as a chance to cleanse your data.
• Migrate only necessary and high-quality data.
• Know your data. Understand why you need to make the move.
• Always backup your data before, during, and after migration
• Rigorously test the entire process from planning to execution.

Bonus Tip: Only flip the switch on your old system when you know your migration is 100% successful. This way, you can roll back if anything goes wrong.

2. Data Migration Risks

Every coin has two sides. Similarly, data migration also comes with its pros and cons. There are several risks involved with data migration. 

However, you can navigate these hurdles with well-researched and strategic data migration solutions. A few risks that you should keep in mind before moving your data.

• You may lose your data during migration. So, back up and plan your migration effectively. 
• There are significant chances of long system downtime. Plan your migration in off-peak hours or on weekends. 
• Data governance may pose serious risks to your business. Establish clear data governance policies and encrypt your data.
• You may experience potential data breaches. Implement strict access control and continuously monitor the data migration process. 
• It can break your budget. So, plan your finances.

Bonus Tip: Hire experts at Augmented Systems. 

3. Data Migration Tools

Depending on your business needs, there are three types of data migration tools. You may choose from on-premise, open-source, or cloud-based tools.

Examples:

• On-Premise: IBM Infosphere, Oracle Data Service Integrator 
• Open-Source: Apache Airflow, Talend Open Studio
• Cloud-Based: Microsoft, AWS Migration Services, Fivetran

Conclusion

If you are rethinking migrating your business data, remember that data migration can be – large, complex, and costly. So, ensure you have everything in place before you make that move. 

Also, if you are looking for the best migration strategy, we offer data migration solutions to make your business and life easier. Get in touch today.

Nurturing digital transformation, but not sure what’s stumbling your growth? You have the numbers, all the crucial data, and the ambition to grow. Yet, something is holding you back.

Is it outdated systems? 

Is it data inconsistency?

Is it the fear of data loss?

Is it Data Migration? As difficult as it may seem, data migration is key to a successful digital transformation. It allows you to stay competitive, adapt to evolving markets and grow with your customers.

Want to know how?

Read the blog to discover how data migration services can be your step toward the next big digital phase. 

How is Data Shaping the Digital Transformation Landscape?

With innovation never taking a u-turn, businesses are obsessed with digital transformation. Every business worldwide wants to leverage the power of AI, big data and machine learning. 

Moreover, companies are pouring billions into building data lakes and moving to the cloud. However, these investments still fail to achieve their digital transformation goals because they overlook poor data quality.

So, how do you ensure that data defines your digital journey and becomes a strategic asset for your digital transformation? Here’s how:

• Make Data-Driven Decisions: Data and digital transformation go hand in hand. Make data-driven digital transformations. 
• Data for Innovation: Leverage data analytics to be at the forefront of innovations.
• Data-Driven Customer Experience: Understand your customers with data. Satisfy their diverse expectations by building data-driven digital solutions. 
• Business Process Automation with Data: Let data help you identify the right task to automate. Data also help you adapt to the learning curve of the new automated systems. 

So, to thrive in the digital era, prioritizing data transformation over digital transformation is crucial. Data transformation serves as the foundation for your digital transformation. Therefore, meticulously migrate your data with seamless data migration services.

Role of Data Migration Services in Digital Transformation

Want to reap digital transformation benefits to the fullest? Then, make data your biggest asset. Data Management, Utilization, and Migration lie at the heart of digital transformation. 

But for many, data migration is merely ‘lifting and shifting’ their data from one place to another. Here, data becomes the sole reason for data loss, corruption, or project failures.

So, do you want to nurture digital transformation for long-term success? Then, comprehend the true meaning of data migration services and their role in transforming your digital journey. 

What is Data Migration?

Data migration is a process of seamlessly moving or transferring data from one place to another. It usually involves migrating data from legacy systems to new, modern systems. Moving data to the cloud is one such example of data migration. 

Moving from in-house or private data centers to a public cloud platform includes the following steps:

• Data migration planning and assessing
• Backing up your data
• Choosing the right migration techniques
• Preparing the new data environment
• Performing the migration
• Data migration testing and optimizing 

However, before you hit the ‘migration’ button, it is crucial to have a data migration strategy. Data migration should feel like magic. But how does data migration play a key role in digital transformation? 

Let’s have a look.

Why do You need Data Migration for Digital Transformation?

Data migration is the pillar of data transformation. Whether you are building the next generation of robots or simply updating your sales reports, you need data. Legacy systems and siloed data are the relics of the past and won’t support your digital future.

You wouldn’t want to base your digital future on a shaky foundation? Right? You need data migration for a data-driven future for the same reasons. Here are a few key drivers of data migration in digital transformation: 

1. Cloud Adoption

Businesses are rapidly adopting cloud-based infrastructures and modernizing their outdated on-premise or legacy systems. Thus, a safe data migration ensures that your data is transferred seamlessly to the cloud, giving you unrivaled flexibility, scalability and cost-efficiency.

2. Legacy System Upgrade

Outdated legacy systems pose hurdles to modernizing businesses. Their limited capabilities and obsolete infrastructure prevent businesses from adopting new digital tools. Thus, you need data migration services to gain valuable insights from your data, which can lead to successful digital transformation.

3. Business Expansions and Mergers

Businesses expanding into new markets or undergoing mergers often combine data from different systems. Moving data into a single format makes it easier for them to make informed decisions and run their businesses smoothly.

4. Compliance and Data Governance 

Regulatory requirements and data privacy need proper data management practices. Data migration ensures secure data transfer, reducing risks like data breaches and non-compliance penalties.

The benefits of data migration for digital transformation are many, from migrating customer data to CRM to modernizing core business processes with ERP systems. It serves as a blueprint for digital success for industries worldwide.

What are Digital Transformation Benefits?

Want to reshape the way your business operates? Then, leverage the benefits of digital transformation. Save costs and increase your overall productivity, apart from many other digital transformation benefits. 

Do you know that global digital transformation spending is estimated to reach $3.9 trillion by 2027? So ready to transform your business with digital transformation? Dig in to read the top 5 digital transformation benefits.

1. Improved Business Processes

Digital transformation helps boost business performance by automating repetitive tasks, optimizing workflows and integrating advanced technologies like AI. This leads to:

• Faster and more accurate decision-making
• Improved collaborations
• Better resource management
• Better communications
• Seamless customer interactions
• Reduced human errors
• Informed-decision making
• Increased productivity
• Cost savings

Thus, digital transformation helps you develop a more agile, responsive, customer-centric business model, ultimately thriving your business in dynamic markets.

2. Better Productivity

Digital transformations speed up processes and streamline operations, thus providing you with increased efficiency and productivity.

Breakthrough technologies, like robotic process automation and AI, outperform human skills in speed and accuracy. Processes like data processing and analysis collect and analyze data in ways that far exceed human capabilities.

Thus, advanced technologies empower workers to make faster and more informed decisions. 

Moreover, a McKinsey report predicts that more than 50% of current tasks could be automated by 2060. And by 2040, Generative AI could increase annual labor productivity from 0.1% to 0.6%.

3. Constant Communication

Instant messaging and chatbots enable real-time communication across global teams and customers. Digital transformation enhances information sharing and project collaborations by breaking down geographical barriers.

Moreover, CRM (Customer relationship management) platforms and social media give a personal touch to your customers. Transparent communication fosters an informed and engaged workforce, leading to better decision-making and stronger business relationships.

4. Enhanced Customer Expectations

With digital transformations, your customers get personalized, efficient, and seamless experiences.

• Advanced analytics and AI help businesses analyze and predict their customers’ needs. 
• Mobile applications and chatbots provide 24/7 and 365-day support to all the customers on the go.
• You can track all your customer data in real-time and effortlessly provide solutions. 

This stress-free process, resulting from digital transformation, creates a responsive and customer-centric model, raising the standard of your service and fostering loyalty.

5. Security

With increasing digitization, the number of cyberattacks has increased equally. However, digital transformation helps enhance cybersecurity measures with advanced technologies.

• Automated security tools identify and mitigate potential threats, such as AI-driven threat detections and response systems.
• Cloud-based security solutions offer robust, scalable protection and constant updates against malicious activities.
• Enhanced encryption, multi-factor authentications, and secure access controls safeguard your sensitive information.
• Real-time monitoring allows immediate action on suspicious activities.
• Comprehensive security frameworks and regular audits ensure industry-standard compliance.

Thus, digital transformations reduce the risk of security breaches, helping you maintain trust in digital infrastructure.

Conclusion

So, data migration is essential for successful digital transformations, serving as the cornerstone of your digital future. 

Looking to boost your ROI, optimize processes, and transition into a digital powerhouse? Get in touch with Augmented Systems. We won’t break the bank but provide cost-effective data migration solutions.

Are you still relying on your outdated systems? Are they costing you more than they should?

For many, outdated systems, once cutting-edge technology, have now become a costly burden. Security vulnerabilities and high maintenance costs are just the beginning.

Moreover, legacy systems are like addictions; you know you need to change, but you’re unsure how. 

Well, you don’t have to navigate through these digital shackles alone. Consult a data migration services company and navigate toward upgrading your legacy systems.

Ready? Let’s get started.

What are Legacy Systems?

A legacy system is an outdated computing system, software or hardware that businesses and organizations continue to use. It uses older technologies that prevent it from interfacing with newer systems. These systems include:

• Computer hardware
• Software applications
• Files and formats
• Programming Languages

Example of a Legacy System

The mainframe computer is one of the best examples of legacy systems. It was once the backbone of computing. Although it was one of the most reliable and secure systems, it lacked scalability and a user-friendly interface. 

However, many banks and government agencies still rely on it for specific tasks. While these systems are the foundation for technologies, their limitations cannot be ignored. Here is when legacy data migration becomes crucial. 

Let’s understand what that is and explore it in detail.

What is Legacy Data Migration?

As the name suggests, legacy data migration is migrating your data and files from an older, outdated or legacy system to a more modern (new) system, such as the cloud.

For Example,

A business or institution decides to migrate its entire database from a mainframe computer (which they have been using for years) to a more modern platform. The datasets that can be migrated from one system to another may include:

• Customer records
• Financial information or data
• Product or service information
• Historical data/ archives

More modernizing solutions help boost business performance and help businesses work more efficiently. However, many enterprises are still clinging to using these old systems despite many challenges.

Let’s see how these legacy systems are not apt for today’s businesses. 

How are Legacy Systems Harming Your Business?

Is your data exploding at an alarming rate? Are you able to handle all your business processes with agility and efficiency? Are your employees still stuck with spreadsheets to update everyday data?

If yes, then it’s high time for a change! Legacy systems are hindering your business and slowing you down in the rat race of the growing business landscape. 

How?

1. Costly

How much do you spend on maintaining your legacy systems? Did you know that outdated systems can increase your maintenance costs by nearly 15% annually? 

It is true that opting for legacy application migration may cost a little, but the hard truth is that the cost of your outdated systems can be more staggering as they age. So, the earlier you make the switch, the better. 

2. Time-Consuming 

Legacy systems become like a tangled mess of weeds over time. As your system and data become more complex, an added layer of complexity messes up the entire system. 

Maintaining, updating, and using the data and information through these systems becomes a nightmare. It is time-consuming, potentially risky, and difficult for a growing organization.

3. Risky

As technologies modernize, so do hackers and cybercriminals. Your legacy system with the security of the ‘bygone era’ is heaven for cyber criminals in this era.

Thus, you are opening gates for data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage with these outdated systems.

4. Scalability

Do you think your legacy system can adapt to the changing market demands? Even if it can, these outdated systems will lead to performance degradation and discrepancies between different systems.

Moreover, outdated coding architecture of legacy systems leads to frequent errors, bugs and glitches. Surely a headache for your IT team and a loss to your overall business.

The rise of Industry 4.0 has led businesses to shift to more adaptable, agile and modern solutions. Whether leveraging artificial intelligence or legacy application migration, businesses are updating their infrastructure with the modern world. And so should you.

Why Should Your Business Migrate?

With all the above limitations in mind, are you left wondering if you can overcome these challenges? If not, here are some stats that would make you. 

• More than 50% of surveyed companies listed increased security and improved efficiency as their main drivers for modernizing their legacy applications and data in 2023.
• Globally big data market is expected to expand to $103 billion by 2027.
• Businesses lose $85 billion repairing technical issues caused by faulty code,  sometimes well-written but deemed legacy.
• Organizations with the highest percentage of cloud apps saw the greatest income gain from new goods. Their change percentage was roughly 41%.
• According to Accenture, migrating to the public cloud can cut your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by up to 40%.

With the digital revolution, the risks of using outdated systems are beyond regular updates and buffering wheels. Slow legacy systems lack the latest compliance requirements, are costly and are limited to experts in legacy programming languages, such as COBOL.

Therefore, migrating to a more complex and up-to-date system is a boom to your business. So, are you ready to migrate with the thriving data migration market of around $10.9 billion? 

Not sure how? Read below.  

How Can a Data Migration Service Help?

Data migration, though a groundbreaking escape to legacy systems, comes with its own set of challenges. Data migration needs to be a strategic move as most parts of it are tricky. With difficulties such as downtime and data breaches, data migration planning is of utmost importance. 

And to help you do so, data migration services companies or migration experts can help. The experts guide you through the entire migration to ensure a smooth and secure transition in two ways. 

1. Help Perform the Necessities of Legacy Data Migration

Nobody wants to leave their valuable data behind. Imagine post-migration, your employee comes running and says, “Sorry for the delay, but we forgot to load the files for 10 customers.” 

Difficult to even imagine, indeed. 

Data migration is not a simple ‘copy-paste’ or ‘export-import’ task, which is why data migration services companies help make the process a breeze. They first perform the following 4 tasks for the legacy data migration.

• Completing a Data Audit

It’s like cleaning your home before you move to a new place. The experts help eliminate existing errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates in your data. A data audit ensures that you migrate only the most crucial data. Data cleaning saves time and resources and streamlines the process.

• Ensuring Data Security

Professionals ensure that your data is moved with utmost security. They use security protocols and best security practices, such as access control. 

Moreover, they backup your entire datasets before the move. Backing up your data is crucial because data migration is vulnerable to data loss and discrepancies. 

• Making Realistic Estimates

Data migration is easier said than done. It has to be a well-thought-out plan, considering all its challenges and then making realistic estimates. 

Experts ensure that they take care of time, money and resources before a migration move.

• Establishing the Process

Legacy data migration isn’t just a move, it’s more about laying the groundwork. Before you make the switch, the experts help you understand about the entire migration process. 

Moreover, they are equipped with the right tools and expertise and have clear goals in mind to make your migration a success. 

Once the stage is set, the experts move to the next step, which is performing data migration. As simple as it may sound, actually making the big move also requires certain planning.

2. Help Perform Data Migration

The data migration services company helps you from facing the headwinds of data loss, downtime, and other migration difficulties. Here’s how they do it.

• Create a Data Migration Strategy 

The experts first make a plan. They use data migration solutions to strategize each step of the process. Each step is micro-managed with questions such as:

1. What should be done?
2. What system will be covered?
3. What aspects of the business will be affected?
4. Which system or tools should be used for migration? and many more.

Every step of the migration depends on business to business. Based on individual business requirements, the experts plan their data migration strategy. 

• Perform Data Backup

There is no guarantee to anything when it comes to data migration. Even the most expert team may encounter unexpected turns during the move. 

Thus, to avoid mishaps, such as missing data or data duplication, data back-ups are performed by the professionals before the move. 

• Prepare the Environment

Imagine moving to a data dump. What if you make the move but the system isn’t up and running? What if the new system isn’t apt enough to handle all your legacy data?

Data migration experts help you choose the right tool or system that best suits your data and business requirements. They won’t let you settle for less and ensure that the new system is prepared before the move.

• Test the Process

Before hitting the big migration button, the experts will perform a mini-migration. Think of it like a test drive before you buy a new car. They help identify all the potential errors and make sure that nothing is missed before the migration. 

Moreover, they will get rid of all the bottlenecks, if any. This will prevent major migration headaches, such as downtime and data loss. 

• Migrate the Data

This is where all the execution happens. You sit back and relax, while the team of experts perform the migration for you. 

They closely monitor the entire process, keep clear communications, and inform stakeholders about disruptions if any. Finally they check the new system for safe, secure, and complete data.

• Monitor the System post-migration

Finally, the legacy data migration you have been waiting for years is now complete. But, that’s not all. The experts are going to perform regular data audits. They review, monitor, and send feedback at regular intervals.

Seems a lot? Maybe? Maybe not! But the good news is that you don’t have to actually do any of that. A data migration services company can handle all of this for you. 

So why wait?

Hire Experts Today

You might feel stuck between moving to the modern techs and departing from your year old legacy systems (which you and your team are used to now.)

But, change is the only constant. And for the same reasons you should consider moving from your outdated systems to a new one. We at Augmented Systems are there to help you at every stage of it. Feel free to contact us today.

Are you spending endless hours copying data, hoping for no errors?

The feeling of continuously tapping your leg and crossing your fingers in fear of no hiccups is common with manual data migration.

So, if you are willing to ditch working endlessly with frustrating delays, inconsistent data transfer and long spreadsheets, consider automated data migration.

Now, stop waiting for a data migration disaster; read the blog to learn how automated data migration can improve your migration process.

Manual Data Migration: What is it?

Manual data migration is migrating your data from an on-premise system to a new one manually. 

Let’s say you are switching to a new CRM (customer relationship management) system. Instead of relying on the automated approach, you decide to take the rein and cling to the traditional manual data transfer method. 

Things you will have to perform with manual data migration: 

Step 1: Data Extraction: Export all data from your old system. For instance, exporting all the customer information such as contact details, customer history and communication records. 

Step 2: Data Mapping: You must match data fields from your old system with the new one. For instance, when labeling customer files, the old system field, “Customer name,” should accurately align with the new system field, “Account Name.”

Step 3: Data Transformation: It is possible that your data in the legacy system does not perfectly match the new system. So, to do so, you perform data transformations. For instance, you physically convert or change information to fit into the new system.

Step 4: Data Loading: Import all data to your new system. For instance, when switching to a new CRM system, you load all the transformed data into your new CRM platform. 

Of course, during the entire migration process, you get the flexibility to manually customize and optimize each step, but at what costs? 

Is it worth all the long nights and headaches? Let’s review the pros and cons of manual data migration and see how it affects your data migration strategy.

Manual Data Migration: The Advantages

Do you know the failure rate of data migration? More than 80% of data migration projects fail or exceed their budgets. 

Now imagine gambling away all the efforts, long working hours and hard-earned money for manually transferring data. Unfortunately, the challenges data migration projects face far outweigh the importance of data migration.

With only two basic advantages, which are low initial costs and simplicity for transferring small data, manual data migration is a no-go. 

Manual Data Migration: The Disadvantages

Do you know the amount of data being created, consumed and stored worldwide each day? Unsurprisingly, global data will reach 180 zettabytes by the (2025) next year.

With the constant increase in data, transferring or managing it is tough. Manual data migration already faces various challenges.

• Expertise: Do you have the time and resources to train your internal team? Data migration is not a cup of tea for anyone and everyone. Your data migration strategy needs to be precise and accurate. 
• Time-consuming: Data migration for large datasets is time-consuming. It may take days or weeks to completely and accurately transfer all your data. 
• Prone to Errors: Are you willing to misplace even one piece of information from your precious data? Data is important, no matter the size of your business. Manual Data migration is prone to misplaced data and missing data points.
• Disruptive: Achieving zero downtime data migration is next to impossible for any business. With manual data migration, downtime and disruption in your overall business ought to happen.

Manual data migration might work for a business with a small customer base and manageable data. However, if and when the company grows and the amount of data and customer base expands, manual data migration becomes impractical.

So, if you are looking for long-term, sustainable and scalable migration benefits, consider automated data migration. Let’s see how it can work magic for your business.

Automated Data Migration: What is it?

Automated data migration is the process of moving your data from an on-premise or legacy system to a new system using automation tools. 

Let’s explain with the same example of you switching to a new CRM system. But, this time, you switch to automation. From the initial step of extracting the data to data loading, testing and validation, you can use data migration automation tools and techniques. 

For example

• Automated scripts and tools can extract all your necessary data from the on-premise system. 
• Automated data migration can enhance system compatibility to perform necessary changes. 
• The error-handling mechanism can help you locate missing or invalid information. 
• Using automatic data loading, you can load data in your new system, such as add or update files. 
• During different stages of data migration, you can use automated testing and validation to ensure the safety of your data.
• Other benefits, such as data profiling, data quality checks, and data validation, are also automated.

81% of enterprises currently use at least one application hosted in the cloud. This proves that the adoption of automation and cloud computing is significantly increasing.

But, if you are still skeptical about adopting automation, here are a few pros and cons of automated data migration. 

Automated Data Migration: The Advantages 

Running, managing and growing a business is challenging. But with the right tools by your side, you can eliminate the challenges and stressful tasks.

One such task is data migration. By using the best data migration practices and automating them, each step of data migration processing can be handled accurately. 

Here are a few advantages of adopting automated data migration strategies.

• Speed up Your Migration Process: Imagine savings 50% to 80% of your migration time. Isn’t that time a boon for your business? Save days and months with automated migration, depending on the size and complexity of your business. 
• Reduce Migration Costs: Who likes to continuously sit in front of spreadsheets or work on repetitive tasks? Nobody! In the data migration process with automation, you can precisely allocate resources and minimize migration-related costs, such as labor.
• Better Productivity: No matter how you migrate your data, errors are prone to happen. However, automating the process minimizes the risk of human errors and helps you gain insights from your data. 
• Minimize Disruptions: The biggest barrier is the fear of downtime. Automated data migration minimizes the risk of system downtime, data loss and overall business disruptions. 
• Work on Your Business Growth: Every business is working towards developing better innovations, enhancing customer experiences and accelerating their business growth. Automation gives you time to work directly on these transformation goals. 

Every data migration is unique and depends on your business requirements. Even though more businesses are adopting the cloud, there are still a few challenges that need to be addressed. 

Automated Data Migration: The Disadvantages

Even before the pandemic, businesses were embracing the cloud’s benefits. However, some are still failing to reap its sizeable benefits. 

Similar to any other modern technology, automated data migration also has its cons. 

Apart from being a complex set-up, automated data migration requires technical expertise and high upfront costs. Moreover, unlike traditional methods, it might not be as flexible and offer fewer tailored solutions.

No matter how challenging or tedious data migration can be, it is up to you whether you wish to migrate and modernize to new systems. If you are unsure, there are several data migration services companies, like Augmented Systems, to help you with the move. 

Automation Vs. Manual: The Difference

So, what’s better? Automated or Manual data migration? 

Well, we don’t want to leave you hanging in the air! So, here are a few differences between both automated and manual data migration processes. 

Dig in to decide your best fit.

So, if you are thinking of migrating your data, first understand the process. Before every migration, make sure to implement a data migration strategy and execute a plan.

Finally, get a sense of how big you want your business to be. If you want to adapt to the changing business environment and digital market, consider automated data migration. 

Top 5 Reasons Automated Migration is Better

Data migration is like deciphering a coded message. Even if it’s challenging, there cannot be any hiccups. It needs proper planning and execution. Automation makes this process easy, unlike the traditional methods. 

So, if you don’t want to be a part of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, here are five reasons why automated data migration is better. 

1. Accuracy and Data Integrity

The most prominent benefit of automating your migration process is accuracy. Data migration automation tools are designed to make your process accurate. They will help you unlock new levels of accuracy and data integrity.

Data corruption, data loss and data inconsistency are difficult to achieve with manual data migration. Automation meets legal requirements, keeping you away from data discrepancies. 

2. Enhances Security 

Automated data migration tools encrypt your data, keeping it always secure. The security protocols make the data accessible only to authorized persons. 

Thus the overall risk of data breaches is reduced, therefore enhancing the security of your entire migration process. 

3. Consistent and Reliable 

Many inconsistencies arise with manual data migration. Your team can be rest assured with automated data migration. With pre-build protocols, your data will remain consistence throughout the process. 

Moreover, you can rely on automation tools for data tiering, duplication and compression. These tools will smartly manage your data, identify and eliminate duplicate data and optimize overall performance.

4. Scalable

Automation is the future of data migration, especially with the growing data. As data grows, so will your business or vice versa. The best part is you can scale your database seamlessly with automated data migration. 

Unlike manual migration, automated data migration can handle increasing data volumes without compromising business performance.

5. Saves Time and Money

Last but not least, automated data migration saves you time and money. While data migration processes are costly, the initial investment will yield a good ROI. The process will reduce downtime and the need for human resources.

Moreover, your team can focus on other crucial business tasks rather than spending billable hours on unnecessary tasks.

The benefits of automated data migration are many. But, in the end, its on you and your business requirements how you wish to foster the advances. 

Wrapping Up

Regardless of the size of your business, focus on the innovations and the modern era. Direct your efforts into reaching new business heights and leave the process of migration in the hands of experts. 

We at Augmented Tech Labs are a team of 70+ data migration experts. Our expertise is tailored to our customers’ specific needs. So, let’s talk if you are looking to migrate your data.