WHY QUALITY DATA MIGRATION MATTERS

Traditionally the Cinderella of information technology (IT), tagged on at the end of the project plan, data migration can be the difference between benefits realization and lost opportunities. Data migration is not just about moving data from one place to another; it should be focussed on:

• realizing all the benefits promised by the new system when you entertained the concept of new software in the first place;

• creating the improved enterprise performance that was the driver for the project;

• importing the best, the most appropriate and the cleanest data you can so that you enhance business intelligence;

• maintaining all your regulatory, legal and governance compliance criteria;

• staying securely in control of the project.

But first a cautionary tale of how things can go the other way. This is told from a practitioner’s perspective but can be read just as easily from an executive’s point of view. It is just that the executive is likely to know that things are going wrong only towards the very end of the story, when it is clear, to even the most optimistic, that a good result is just not going to happen. Anyone who has been involved in this area of work will recognize many of these symptoms. Use this book wisely and they need not happen to you.