Risks of data and application migration and how to mitigate them

Contents

Migration of data and applications is more and more frequent today. Both private users and large companies have the need to migrate their data and applications for different reasons, as an example to help and make the most of data protection. But that does not imply that certain risks of data migration and applications that you need to know and try to avoid.

risk_of_data_immigration.jpg

Photo credits: Ribkhan

In summary, data migration is the procedure of transferring data between different types of storage, computer formats or systems, and is an integral part of data management. Even though the initial reason for data and application migration may be to ensure data security, One of the risks of migration has to do exactly with ensuring data protection. involved in migration.

Solutions for the most common data and application migration risks

Prepare for the inconveniences that may arise in a procedure as important as the transfer of information is the best way to avoid potential problems or at least minimize their negative effects. The 4 Most common data migration risks and their solutions are as follows:

1. Data corruption: the problem occurs when Changes in data content and format are detected between the legacy system and the target system.. Data corrupted by migration may contain anomalies, redundancies or duplications. In summary, that it is one of the migratory risks that most impact integrity Y, therefore, to the efficiency of the business and its operations.

To avoid that migration is meaningless because of this, solutions must be put in place. Any of the data validation methodologies can contribute to a better result (sample validation, subsets or complete sets). Whatever the case, it will always be convenient that When performing data validation, aspects such as execution time, the data coverage, project stability or query efficiency.

2. Data loss: sometimes, after completing a data transfer, data is found to be unavailable at the destination.. This phenomenon is known as data loss and is the most serious migration risk of all that can occur. The cost of fixing this problem ranges from rectifying lost data to costs associated with a poor image and lost business due to data scarcity and a bad reputation..

The way to solve this risk is data reconciliation.

3. Semantic risk: another of the assumptions that those who know the migration risks the data is this. Arises when, even though the meaning of the inherited column and the target column is the same, the unit of measure used in both cases is different. This variation in the metrics causes the meaning of the data to change completely.

A) Yes, even though the migration has been able to complete successfully (on time, no data corruption or information loss), the procedure is not helpful, at least as far as the objectives set are concerned. Sometimes it's about different currencies, others of the number of decimals contemplated, different circumstances with the same effect, that the data at destination cannot meet its objective.

To fix this risk, expert users in the field are recommended to participate, in real time, in the feasibility study. Thus, these semantic problems can be detected early in the project life cycle.

4. Risk of interference: It is a fairly frequent situation, that occurs when multiple stakeholders are using the source application simultaneously throughout the transfer procedure. Blocking, Difficulties of access and the impossibility of migrating part of the information are the migration risks that appear as a consequence.

Avoiding the risk of interference is as simple as improving procedure planning.. Adequate administration at the organizational level, as an example, plan to conduct drills, would allow such circumstances to never be an obstacle, not even in production environments.

Quality problems, performance, integrity … Attention should be paid to the risks of data migration., since its negative effects can be far-reaching; despite this, the application of a consistent and reliable methodology makes it possible to avoid them, thanks to better migration planning.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

We will not send you SPAM mail. We hate it as much as you.