Data migration has been a very hot topic for businesses everywhere. Studies from Gartner show that spending on cloud services is rising and will dominate future IT decisions. By 2024, more than 45% of the IT department's expenditures will go toward cloud services. In addition, they forecast that as the COVID spread lessens, cloud data systems are expected to surge directly due to the move to remote work. The prediction means that many businesses that have not already relocated their data to the cloud will be in the process of creating a data migration strategy.

Read on to get some of the basics about data migration. Learn the differences between the data processes and the six basic types of data migration. With a better understanding of the terminology, you will also learn where to get started in locating a qualified data migration team. Come back to read the second part of this data migration series to get a more in-depth understanding of data migration.

Table of Contents:

1. What is Data Migration?
2. Data Migration, Integration, and Replication
3. Six Basic Types of Data Migration
4. Finding Expert Data Migration Solutions

What is Data Migration?

The definition of data migration, according to IBM, is "the process of transferring data from one storage system or computing environment." As businesses worldwide are migrating from legacy systems to cloud-based environments, data migration has been on the minds of CEOs and board members everywhere. Your company may be looking to upgrade to new servers or even consolidate multiple servers into one storage device. If your business is online, you may have opted for a data-driven eCommerce platform; there are numerous reasons why companies need to move their data. Many companies are turning to Airtable as an integrated cloud-based solution. However, Airtable uses 'bases' to form its database storage. Therefore, you would need a data migration specialist to move the data.

Now that you are facing the big data movement, you may have many questions on how data migration works. What if you lose data? How much downtime will it take? You are right to be focused on these issues; all of them will cost your company money. It can be critical to hire the right data migration specialists. You want this to be a seamless transition. When you work with a data migration team, you will find the most secure and cost-effective method of moving your data to its new location.

Data Migration, Integration, and Replication

As you search for solutions, you may find details about data migration, data integration, and data replication. However, without some background knowledge, it can be somewhat confusing. First, you will need to know the difference between data processes.

• Data Migration: These terms are easy to remember if you apply the most straightforward definitions. Migration is movement. Data migration moves data between storage types and systems.  
• Data Integration: Integrations combine two or more things. Data integration combines data from different sources to understand its value or insight better.
• Data Replication: Data replication is creating copies of data to store in different locations for back-up, fault tolerances, or to have data available more quickly in multiple locations.  
• Data Conversion: This is one step in data integration. Conversion means to change. Data conversion translates data from one format to another. This can be done with data integration when comparing data types for a report, graph, or other visualization.

Six Basic Types of Data Migration

When you are ready to start your data migration, it helps to understand the six basic types. Then, as you look to hire certified data migration teams to handle your move with minor loss or downtime quickly, you will want to understand more about data migration. Your plan may consist of simply moving data from a legacy system into an all-in-one platform, but after consulting with experts, you may note that you need other data services.

There are six basic types of data migration you should know:

1. Database Migration: This type of migration includes upgrading the database management system or DBMS, which is referred to as a homogeneous migration. Database migration could also include switching from one DBMS to a different one altogether. This is sometimes called heterogeneous migration.
2. Storage Migration: This type of migration generally occurs when a business has invested in updated equipment. Storage migration can include transferring data from one physical system to another or from a physical (paper) environment to a digital one. Storage migration can also transfer databases from mainframes to cloud systems.
3. Data Center Migration: Moving an entire data center can be a big move. Data centers are physical infrastructures, for example, the room at your company filled with servers, networks, and the IT department. There are two types of data center migration. One type of data center migration includes moving the entire center from one physical location to another. The other type is moving all data, digital assets, and applications to brand new servers and storage systems.
4. Application Migration: There are times when a business changes from one software to another. When a company decides to replace systems, application migration is moving data from one environment to a new one. Application migrations might include data conversion if the software applications work with different data formats.
5. Cloud Migration: This is a popular form of data migration as companies are moving legacy systems to faster, cloud-based data storage solutions. Cloud migration can be done quickly, or it can take years. The time is dependent on the volume of data and any differences noted between the data source and the new target location. This type of migration can be complex and should include downtime in migration plans.
6. Business Process Migration: Generally driven by business optimization, reorganization, or mergers and acquisitions, business process migration includes transferring business applications along with customer data to a new platform or environment.

Regardless of the type of data migration you face at your company, finding qualified data migration specialists can be a challenge. Since data is the lifeblood of your entire business, you don't have time or money to waste in getting this wrong. No data means no business. Your choice to get this done is to either hire and build your data migration team in-house or outsource the data migration to experts.

Finding Expert Data Migration Solutions

When you are ready to start planning out your data migration, please fill out the form below and let our expert data migration specialists share some of their insights into moving data. DataCose has built elite data migration teams capable of managing even the most significant, enterprise-level data migrations. In addition, our team can go over the entire planning stages with your IT departments, allowing you to reassure your board members that your data is secure.

DataCose can help you also make decisions about workflow processes. For example, these processes may indicate that specific database platforms may work better for you if you are a large enterprise in the midst of moving an entire data center or a small business owner ready to start a data-accessible eCommerce platform. In that case, our data specialists have the knowledge to make your goals a success.