Often a business will have to consider migrating data. Here are some examples:
- Moving from a legacy system to a new platform
- Upgrading systems to the latest version
- Consolidating data from various sources to streamline processes
- Implementing a new system to bring existing data to a digital platform
- Merging data to build business dashboards
These cases are as varied as the businesses involved. There usually is no one solution – “no one size fits all”.
The business will need to handle the migration internally, consult with the vendors involved or outsource the work.
Common Data Migration Terms
ETL is a common term associated with data migration. It describes the process as distinct steps but this is often transparent to the end user.
Transferring data between system can be a complex process involving direct access to the underlying database of the legacy system or as simple of downloading a backup file.
Common Data Transfer And File Formats
- CSV, TSV, text – these are flat file formats with one row per record and the data fields separated by commas, tabs or spaces. Often there is a header row of column names.
- XML, JSON – these are referred to structured data formats. Although these are text files the encoding of each record uses special formatting which allows structures within structures and defines different field types.
- SQL – This is a common database language and can contain the database records and the commands required to rebuild and populate the new database.
Old Dogs Creative
Old Dogs Creative is based in Townsville Australia and available to work with local, regional and remote businesses with their data migration needs.
How can we help you with your data migration project?
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