Accelerate Your Data Migration Strategy Through NetApp Training

So now that you have finally decided to carry out the process of transferring data to a storage environment from computer storage, you need to understand the key elements that you need to ponder over to make this journey smooth.

But before you compile your plan for data migration, it is also important to think about providing NetApp Training to your staff to not only make the migration easier but also improve management. It's crucial to take care of the overall management because when the business spreads out towards new platforms, massive tides of data gush in and out with a surprising force. Moving everything to a new location can be both complicated and daunting and having a certified, trained team to look after the process is surely going to ease it out for you.

Regardless of the size of your organization, it is not wise to move onto such a major project without a plan in hand. Just like any other migration process, moving digital content requires proper data migration strategy.

Key Elements to Accelerate Your Data Migration Strategy

Effectively migrating data without compromising its accessibility and integrity, and actively managing the data after the transition, is crucial for the longevity and success of the business. Technology is changing at a rapid speed, and when it comes to data, there's an immense need to create, manage, and store it effectively and securely.

Thus, it is crucial to learn about the key elements that are required to incorporate into any successful data migration strategy to keep it from becoming a painful process. There's always a potential for things to become unorganized and messy. Just like any other business process, meticulous and thorough planning is the best immunization against these problems.

Plan It Out

Planning in advance is necessary before you are ready for the process. The first thing that you need to know is the current source size and the target source size where you will migrate the data. Don't forget to keep a margin for futuristic adjustments. For instance, if the volume of data grows in size in the future, your source size must have the extra storage capacity to cater to your needs.

Stakeholder Expectations

One of the most critical aspects related to strategic planning is to speak to the stakeholders. Don't forget to include anyone you believe will be directly impacted by or involved in the migration process. This may include teams and departments within the organization.

It is important that all the individuals in the management are well aware of their capabilities and needs as they relate to the migration process. Moreover, they should also be warned or briefed beforehand so they can speak about any concerns they believe will be related to the process.

Asset Accounting

An organization must make a similar approach towards any asset that will be directly impacted by or involved in the migration. This list may include but is not limited to content sources, information architecture, compliance standards, regulated content, business processes, templates, and formatting. There could be more additions based on the type of industry you belong to.

Furthermore, migrations must be properly planned and evaluated based on several factors. The most major ones include the state and quantity of business' metadata and source documents for asset accounting.

Watch Out for the Risks

Providing NetApp training and certification to your team will also help you if there are any known risks during migration. Not only their skills will enable them to highlight those risks, but they can also work out to mitigate those risks.

Sometimes, the form structures and data profiles in the new and old systems may not match perfectly. This means the data is susceptible to distortion or duplication during the transformation. The key is to run a testing process to see if the data translate accurately. A few changes in your current API configuration can fix the little issues you may be facing.

Factorize Cost

Migration process may come with a cost. Not only you will be investing in a new software tool to carry out the process, but you may also require training your staff to handle the process and management more efficiently. Therefore, it is important to consider these costs and the benefits you can gain out of that investments in the long run.

It is recommended that you factor data migration costs as a part of your investment calculations instead of considering it as an expense later on. Keeping your specific requirements in mind, the complexity of the move may vary. Therefore, the labor cost and the piece of technology you are investing in can come out a little expensive too. It's better if you are prepared for it beforehand.

Getting into the Detail

The next step is planning again, but this time, you are going to get into the details. Most data migration processes involve the five major strategies mentioned below:

• Extracting the data from its current system to prepare it for the move.
• Transforming the data to ensure it matches its new platform requirement. Also, the metadata should reflect the data present in every field.
• Running tests, de-duplication processes, and addressing corrupted data to cleanse it before it is transferred.
• Testing the moving of the data to its target location and tracking the response to get to the results.
• Finally, move the data into the new system and reviewing it to find corrupted data or errors.

The trained team will ensure the plan is built into task management or project management software. It may even include task assignments, burndown charts, and dependency charts, so all the team members are aware of their responsibilities as well as the scheduled time for each task.

With more platforms hitting the market by the day, data migration will become an inevitable process in IT for organizations. Once the first data migration process is completed, your team of trained individuals can carry out a detailed audit to clearly understand the mistakes, strengths, and weaknesses during the process.

Make sure you document everything in the management software, so you are ready with a repeatable plan that can be utilized in the future.