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Celfocus Data Migration Approach – The elephant in the room

Data migration is a critical success factor in any project, regardless of size or complexity

Business in general and Communication Service Providers (CSPs) in particular spend millions in acquiring and parameterizing new systems. Data migration, on the other hand, is normally considered just another project deliverable, with low budget allocation and fewer resources. A mindset which may explain why, according to Gartner and the Standish Group, “67% of all data migration projects cause implementation delays, large overruns, or fail outright”.

Choosing the new platform seems to be a strategic decision, much more critical than ensuring that the data that populates it is fit for the purpose. There is also a tendency to underestimate its complexity - data migration is a critical process in any IT project, normally the final stage and a milestone that can determine the project’s success or failure.

Mission critical systems, such as CRM or Billing, have their own data models and associated business logic. The new deployment of any of these systems has a deep impact on the overall IT architecture but also on operations and customer care.

Data migration, in this scenario, is pivotal to ensure business stability but also an opportunity to review inaccuracies, unknowns, redundant and duplicate data.

The Challenge

Why is data migration becoming more complex?

  • Business growth
  • IT complexity
  • Increased data volume

To avoid data migration pitfalls:

  • Involve business users
  • Establish a strong Data Governance structure
  • Assess legacy systems data quality
  • Define a migration validation and test process

How we do it

Determining the strategy that best suits the objective before initiating any migration process is crucial.

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Big-Bang Approach

It normally includes concluding the entire migration in a small period window, where data is extracted from the source systems and loaded to the target systems, followed by switching all processing to the new environment.

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Phased Approach

Takes an incremental approach to Migrating data. In this scenario, both the new and old systems run in parallel and data is migrated over time.

Based on Celfocus’ experience, the decision of which data migration strategy to choose (Big-bang vs Phased) should be purely based on business risk management and not on what the solution is or is not able to accomplish.

Celfocus has a strong success record in migrating massive volumes of data in the most heterogeneous environments. Celfocus allies market best practices regarding agile analysis and development methodologies, with a proven framework for data migration implementations.

Key elements which determine the success of a data migration project:

The Solution - Celfocus Delivery Process for Migration

A key success factor in any data migration implementation is how the entire project is organised. Over the years, Celfocus defined a delivery framework that covers all project implementation phases.

The Celfocus 3-step delivery process to deliver a successful data migration project includes:

In a data migration project there is also the need to establish a technical framework, together with the delivery process. The Celfocus’ Data Migration Technical Framework aims to ensure an end-to-end solution for data migration implementations, where the building blocks are chosen according to the project needs.

It includes specific tools that act as accelerators and ensure a successful data migration. The framework covers the entire data migration process, from extraction to load, and can be applied to either big bang or phased approaches.

Regardless of the size or complexity, the replacement of a legacy system necessarily encloses a data migration project.

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