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Databases are the lifeblood of every business in the modern world. Data enables them to make informed and valuable decisions. Insights, patterns, and outcomes – all require the best quality of data. Therefore, when it comes time to move from an older version to a newer version of the software, there’s a need for data migration planning.

The primary purpose of a data migration plan is to improve the performance of the entire process and offer a structured approach to data. Data migration policies are useful to eliminate errors and redundancies that might occur during the process.

There are a lot of complexities involved in the data migration process. It’s not just copied and paste data task– it’s much more complicated. We must have some data migration strategies and best practices for the entire process.

Data migration takes anywhere between a couple of days, months to a year. It depends on the amount of data, the capabilities of the legacy system, and the compatibility with the new system. While there are data migration tools and software that make the work easier, must need to have a data migration checklist for beginning the procedure.

Few data migration strategies point considered as,

1. Prevent failure
   Data migration planning helps us to avoid failure. It outlines the problems that might occur from the beginning. Data migration should not have a casual approach. Cloud data migration projects require more critical attention to prevent errors and issues.
   
2. Define the larger scope
   By following the data migration best practices, it can be as define the larger scope of migrating the data. Whether it’s due to the transition from legacy systems or upgrading the tools, a data migration plan enables determining what the process aims to achieve.
   
3. Meeting deadlines
   it all becomes possible due to strategic data migration. Data is crucial at different stages, and it needs to be available at the right moment.
   

Data Migration Planning Checklist

There are many important elements to a data migration strategy. They are critical because leaving even a single factor behind may impact the effectiveness of the strategy. The data migration-planning checklist can comprise of the following –

• Data audit
  Before migrating, we need to do a complete data audit. Knowing data is more essential than anything because that will tell about its characteristics.
  
• System cleanup
  Need to clean up system with data migration software and tools to fix any issues that may arise. Third-party sources are more viable in this process.
  
• Data migration methodologies
  Outline the techniques, procedures, and data migration steps as begin. Methodologies are important because they determine the success of the process.
  
• Maintenance & support
  After migration, there needs to be regular maintenance and checkup of the data. Data may degrade over a period, so it needs to be assessed for any errors.
  
• Data integrity
  Governance and compliance is important part of the data migration strategy. Regularly tracking and monitoring data quality is important to assure safety from vulnerabilities.
  

Data Migration Strategies and Best Practices

The best data migration strategies and best practices,

1. Backup of data
   One of the top data migration best practices is to backup the data. At any level, it’s not affordable to lose even a single piece of data. Backup resources are essential to save data from any mishaps that may occur during the process. Backing up the data is crucial to prevent any failures during the data migration process that may lead to data loss.
   
2. Design the migration
   There are two ways to design the data migration steps – big bang and trickle. Big bang involves completing the data migration in a limited timeframe, during which the servers would be down. Trickle involves completing the data migration process in stages. Designing the migration enables you to determine which is the right method for your requirements.
   
3. Test the data migration plan
   We can never stress enough about the importance of testing the strategy we plan to choose. we need to conduct live tests with real data to figure out the effectiveness of the process. This may require taking some risks as the data is crucial. To ensure that the process will be complete, need to test every aspect of the data migration planning.
   
4. Set up an audit system
   Another top data migration strategy and best practice are to set up an audit system for the data migration process. Every stage needs to be carefully audited for errors and methodologies. The audit is important to ensure the accuracy of data migration. Without an audit system, we can’t really monitor what is going on with data at each phase.
   
5. Simplify with data migration tools
   It is important to consider a data migration software that can simplify the process. We need to focus on the connectivity, security, scalability, and speed of the software. Data migration is challenging when the right tools are not available.