Qbd blog

Main keyword(s) Data Migration, CSV, computerized system

Working title Do you know what a Data Migration is about?
Short summary for Google (200 characters max. Decommissioning is to retire a solution IT, or
if possible) computerize system that non longer is
required, is the controlled shutdown of a
retired system.

Do you know what a Data Migration is about?

The Data Migration takes places in the last phase of a computerized system cycle life, called
Retirement, which covers system withdrawal, system decommissioning, system disposal, and
migration of required data.

Data migration is an activity that can occur often during the life cycles of the various computerized
systems used by regulated companies. Data migration is the activity of transporting electronic data
from one system to another, or simply the transition of data from one state to another. In practice,
data migration efforts can vary greatly in scope, complexity, and risk, e.g.:

• An in-place version upgrade of a database or application

• Data conversion (e.g., from one supplier's database to another)

• Same system migration (e.g., transporting an application's data from one server platform
to another)

• Migration from one source system to one target system

• Migration from multiple source systems to a target system

The complexity and risk of the data migration effort also may increase significantly if rules are used
to select a subset of data from the source system, or if data is transformed (e.g., data type
conversion, filtering, cleansing, aggregation, renormalization) prior to being inserted into the target
system.

The purpose of any data migration is to have data that remains usable and retains its contextual
meaning. Quality management controls should be in place to assure that data migration efforts are
successful, compliant, and repeatable.

Each data migration should be managed within the framework of a Data Migration Plan and Report.

Data Migration Plan

The data migration plan should describe the entire migration process, including as a minimum:

 Migration project purpose and scope

 System description(s)
 Roles and responsibilities
 Required deliverables
 Risk management strategy
 Configuration management strategy, including the source, staging, and target environments
  Software tool overview and strategy for ensuring compliance and fitness for the intended
use
 Migration steps and technical activities
 Data mapping and modeling activities
 Transformation rules
 Data verification strategy and acceptance standards
 Cutover plan
 Roll back strategy

Data Migration report

The data migration report summarizes the activities that were conducted during the data
migration effort. It describes any anomalies or deviations that were encountered and lists the
results of verification activities including objective evidence as appropriate. Because the report will
be used to establish the reliability of the migrated data. it should clearly state the overall outcome of
the migration activity, such as: full success, partial success, failure.

In the case where data migration is being performed as part of a computerized system project, such
as a system replacement or upgrade, the data migration report can be documented as appropriate
within the project documentation and may not need to be a separate document.

Need help to carry out the Data Migration of a computerized system?? Need help to draft a Data
Migration Plan?