In 2020, the world contained 44 zettabytes of data. By 2025, predictions are that global cloud storage will hold more ...
In 2020, the world contained 44 zettabytes of data. By 2025, predictions are that global cloud storage will hold more than 200 zettabytes, with 463 exabytes generated daily. Numbers like these are hard to fathom, but as technology advances, the amount of data produced keeps growing. With so much data in existence, storing it properly for optimum usage and accessibility is vital. Cloud storage is becoming the norm for everyone, from individuals to enterprise-level companies. However, safely transferring large amounts of data from older systems to the cloud presents multiple data migration challenges. Cloudficient explains these challenges and how we can help you overcome them. Moving from one residence to another prompts several concerns. People must go through their belongings to select what they want to bring with them, protect these items for transport, plan a safe shipping and delivery method, and hope no damage or loss occurs during the process. Similarly, transferring your data to a new storage method takes careful planning and execution to ensure a smooth migration. Understanding common issues helps you find ways to overcome them. Your existing data formats or database structures may not work with your new system. This can cause data loss or corrupted files. Existing data without a clear migration path may not transfer correctly or become inaccessible. Losing vital data can be catastrophic. Most businesses have proprietary data. Inadequate migration safeguards might expose data to theft, compliance infractions, and other external threats. Improper security can result in reputational damage and financial losses. Losing business functionalities is often a significant data migration challenge. Company employees and customers can quickly become frustrated by slow-to-respond programs. In addition, data migration solutions that don’t involve business users in every step often result in application errors and inefficiencies.
Common Data Migration Challenges
1. Compatibility Issues With New Systems
2. Data Loss
3. Data Security Concerns
4. Downtime and Business Disruption
5. Inaccurate or Incomplete Data
Some migration procedures might not pull all data from its sources. Data corruption may also occur, causing inaccuracies. Any analysis or other use of incomplete or inaccurate data may produce faulty results, which can have catastrophic consequences.
6. Inadequate Cloud Storage Provisioning
Your cloud storage must be capable of holding all your data after migration. You shouldn’t pay for excess, but too little storage can cause delays and financial losses.
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7. Integration With Existing Systems and Applications
Companies adopting cutting-edge technologies often get new ways to access and utilize data. Incomplete data migration solutions might not ensure all your existing stacks can access data in the new location and format, potentially bringing some applications to a standstill.
8. Legacy Systems and Outdated Technology
Your equipment and processes must be up to date to utilize cloud-based data. Attempting to use older hardware and software can severely limit your opportunities.
9. Transfer of Unnecessary Data
Some companies think they should move over every byte of data. Not selecting which data sets to migrate and those to leave behind can lead to prolonged testing and executions, errors, and extra expenses.
10. Inaccurate Timeline Estimates
Migrating mountains of data properly is time-consuming. Unreasonably short projected timeframes can interfere with planning or rushed processes, causing budget concerns, inaccuracies, and business disruptions.
Why Meeting Data Migration Challenges Is Vital
Typically, the larger a company is, the more data it possesses. If you don’t choose the best migration solutions, there can be negative consequences:
- Customer dissatisfaction
- Financial losses
- Lost functions
- Poor business decisions based on inaccurate or incomplete data
- End users unable to perform necessary tasks
These examples demonstrate the importance of preventing problems before they happen with careful preparation and planning. Cloudficient’s solutions address all potential issues.
Strategies for Overcoming Data Migration Challenges
The different kinds of data migration provide multiple benefits to businesses when done correctly. By taking the right precautions, you can ensure a smooth migration and gain improvements in analytics, customer service, and efficiency, along with the cost savings and better accessibility provided by cloud storage.
Planning and Preparation
The first step in data migration solutions is to create a detailed plan based on the analysis of your data, project goals, and business processes. This plan should include timeframes, techniques, and implementation methods and proactively encompass solutions to common challenges.
Although your IT department will likely oversee the actual data transfers, personnel from each department should participate in assessing data and new system functions. Particular end users are more familiar with their own needs and can often spot inconsistencies and issues faster in their area.
To reduce potential downtimes, carefully schedule your data migration for off-peak hours and dates. Your scheduling should consider how many data sources and destinations you have, how much data you need to transfer, and network connection speeds.
A large part of your preparations includes analyzing and cleansing existing data. Identifying and correcting degraded or corrupted data before transferring it to your new storage cloud simplifies the process and reduces the potential for errors.
You should always back up data before migration and verify that all files make the transition without errors. Like checking a packing list to be sure a delivery includes all items, matching sent and received data allows you to retrieve missing data from your older systems while you still can.
Testing
Simply assuming that connectivity and hardware requirements are met without verifying them can lead to several data migration challenges. You must perform end-to-end tests to ensure that all components work correctly before you begin transferring data.
A successful data migration entails performing several steps in the correct order. Testing the performance of your migration configuration for a few users in different departments can point out flaws and allow you to correct them before the execution of your entire migration.
Validation is a critical part of testing. Make sure that all data for migration is accurate, consistent, and correctly formatted. Be sure you can access the data easily and use it in your various processes.
Using Specialized Migration Tools and Software
You can’t expect superior results if you don’t use the right tools. Ensuring the integrity of your data is vital for continued business operations, and data migration processes must utilize specialized software and tools for the best outcomes.
You must also have the right people to oversee and manage the entire process. Look for a company with experience and proven methods to avoid data migration challenges. Also, provide sufficient training for your IT department before you begin migrating data.
Monitoring and Maintenance
To reduce the risk of inaccurate transfers and data degradation, you must conduct ongoing maintenance and monitoring during and after your data migration.
How To Choose a Data Migration Company
Even after you've clearly defined your project’s scope, goals, budget, and timeframes, selecting the company to perform your data migration can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for. Consider factors such as:
- Data governance best practices and compliance knowledge
- Company experience handling projects of similar size and complexity
- Service scope, guarantees, and cost
- Migration methodology and testing
- The abilities and skill sets required to fulfill all your needs
Assess timeline compatibility, customer service options, and the amount of work your in-house IT team needs to contribute. Check reviews, certifications, and accreditations and prioritize your preferences and requirements.
Cloudficient Can Help You Avoid Common Data Migration Challenges
Cloudficient’s next-generation technologies and platforms present pure cloud-born data migration solutions. We are passionate about what we do, and our goal is to meet client needs and exceed their expectations. Our unique approach uses a proven methodology to meet all your business objectives. Our knowledge and successes earned a Microsoft Partner Gold Cloud Productivity designation.
Cloudficient data migrations are affordable, scalable, seamless, and efficient. Our meticulous planning considers various scenarios to prevent data migration challenges. We will provide a free, no-obligation Proof of Concept to demonstrate how well we can handle your needs. To learn more about partnering with Cloudficient, contact us today.
With unmatched next generation migration technology, Cloudficient is revolutionizing the way businesses retire legacy systems and transform their organization into the cloud. Our business constantly remains focused on client needs and creating product offerings that match them. We provide affordable services that are scalable, fast and seamless.
If you would like to learn more about how to bring Cloudficiency to your migration project, visit our website, or contact us.
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