How is Data Migrated? Salesforce Test Data Migration Guide for Beginners

Data migration sounds like such a simple thing. This is especially so if you are used to moving information from one device to another using tools like flash memory sticks and DVDs. This is a kind of data migration, but then in this case we are talking of huge data volumes. There are those businesses that generate millions of data items every single minute. Consider a website like Facebook; it is always in use with more than half a billion people working on it across the globe. You can only imagine how much it would cost Facebook to carry out a data migration project.

As a beginner, there are several things that you will need to learn concerning data migration. Movement of big data from one source system to another one is going to require a good amount of time plus technical skills. It is a huge project because you are dealing with an important asset of a business. Data can reveal a lot of things concerning a business. It is like a mirror which helps you know where you need to make changes. If you would like to carry out a successful data migration project, you have to start by planning.

Planning for data migration

Once you have made the decision to carry out the data migration and before you start the data migration, you have to conduct the following analysis:

• Analyze and define the structure of the data in the legacy system. This is the source system where the data is coming from.
• Analyze and define the structure of the data in the target system (new system).
• Carry out field mapping. This is mapping between the legacy and target structure and you can use data cleansing if necessary.
• Define your migration process – are you going to use manual or automated?

These are the tools that you will need for the data migration process. These include the likes of the data migrator Flosum.com to name but one of many.

How much data should you move?

This is another question that bothers many people. There are those people who want to move the legacy data in bits while others want to carry out a big bang kind of migration. The choice that you make is dependent on whether there are technical barriers to the specific volume that you are trying to move. For instance, if you are using a flash disk that is rated 2GB and you want to move data that is 4GB in size, you will need more space. Data migration is almost similar. Check to see if there are technical obstacles to bring over some certain amounts of data.

Generally, when you have carried out these planning tasks, you will have an easier time with the data migration. As a beginner, it might be hard doing the planning, but with time you will get a grip of the issue.

This guest post was written by Peter Strauss, he has been using Flosum for his data migration projects for as long as he can remember. He recommends this data migration tool to everyone who seeks to carry out such projects. This tool is available at Flosum.com