Birds and data have one thing in common: migration is one of the biggest dangers they face. In the case of our feathered friends, their annual migration subjects them to risks ranging from exhaustion to unfamiliar predators. In the case of your data, moving it to a new CRM or ERP system carries serious risks as well. But with the right steps, you can mitigate these risks, and preserve the asset value of your contact database as it moves to a new system.
In general, there are two key flavors of data migration, each with their own unique challenges:
The big bang approach. This involves conducting data migration within a small, defined processing window during a period when employees are not actively using the system – for example, over a long weekend or holiday break.
This approach sounds appealing for many sites, because it is the quickest way to complete the data migration process. However, its biggest challenge involves data verification and sign-off. Businesses seldom conduct a dry run before going live with migration, resulting in the quality of migrated data often being compromised.
One particular issue is the interface between a new enterprise system and internal corporate systems. According to TechRepublic, enterprise software vendors still suffer from a lack of standardization across their APIs, with the result that every integration requires at least some custom configuration, leading to concerns about both data integrity and follow-on maintenance.
The trickle approach. Done with real-time processes, this approach is where old and new data systems run in parallel and are migrated in phases. Its key advantage is that this method requires zero downtime.
The biggest challenge with this approach revolves around what happens when data changes, and how to track and maintain these changes across two systems. When changes occur, they must be re-migrated between the two systems, particularly if both systems are in use. This means that it is imperative for the process to be overseen by an operator from start to finish, around the clock.
Beyond these two strategies, there is the question of metadata-driven migration versus content-driven migration – another major hurdle in the quest to migrate genuine, accurate, and up to date data. IT might be more focused on the location of the source and the characteristics of each column, whereas marketing depends upon the accuracy of the content within each field. According to Oracle, this often leads to content that does not match up with its description, and underscores the need for close inter-departmental coordination.
Above all, it is critical that a data validation and verification system be in place before moving forward with or signing-off on any data migration process. The common denominator here is that you must conduct data validation and verification BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the migration process. This is where Service Objects comes into play.
Service Objects offers a complete suite of validation solutions that provide real-time data synchronization and verification, running behind the scenes and keeping your data genuine, accurate, and up to date. These tools include:
- Address validation, using up-to-date USPS and Canada Post databases
- Change of address validation, using National Change of Address (NCOA) data
- Phone append capabilities that produce contact phone numbers from your address records
- Email validation that cleans, auto-corrects and scores your email contact lists
- Validation packages such as lead scoring and validation, assigning a lead quality score from analysis of over 130 data points
One particular capability that is useful for data migration is our Address Detective service, which uses fuzzy logic to fill in the gaps of missing address data in your contact records, validates the result against current USPS data, and returns a confidence score – perfect for cleaning contact records that may have been modified or lost field data during the migration process.
Taking steps to validate all data sources will save your company time and extra money. With Service Objects data validation services, we’ll help you avoid the costs associated with running manual verifications, retesting, and re-migration. And then, like the birds, it will be much easier for you and your data to fly through a major migration effort.
