As data volumes grow and systems diversify, every organization inevitably faces the need to migrate data, whether to the cloud, to modern platforms, or to unify siloed systems. And while migration is the backbone of any digital transformation, it's also one of the riskiest IT initiatives you can undertake.
Gartner’s 2024 study reports that 83% of data migration projects either fail or overshoot their budgets. Why? Without a clear understanding of the complexities and the right migration path, businesses risk spiraling development costs, prolonged timelines, and major operational disruptions.
To clear out confusion, we have brought you an updated look into the main types of data migrations, their importance, benefits, and challenges to guide you through the migration journey.
Storage Migration
Storage migration refers to moving data from one storage device to another. It is the simplest and most common migration. Standard scenarios include upgrading legacy hardware to modern storage solutions or transferring data from on-prem servers to cloud storage.
It is often done to improve the speed, capacity, and reliability of existing systems. The primary benefits of storage migration include increased efficiency, better accessibility, and lower operational costs. However, the key risks include data loss, system compatibility issues, and potential downtime during the transition.
Database Migration
Database migration refers to transferring data between DataBase Management Systems (DBMS) or upgrading to a newer version of the same system. This can be a homogeneous migration (e.g., Oracle to Oracle) or a heterogeneous migration (different DBMS, e.g., MySQL to PostgreSQL).
Even with challenges like complex data mapping, maintaining data integrity, and minimizing downtime, database migration offers improved performance, enhanced security, and better integration with modern applications.
Furthermore, an IJRCASIT Study found that using automated validation frameworks during database migration cuts post-migration reconciliation by 65% and ensures data accuracy above 99.95%.
Cloud Migration
Cloud migration is a hot topic, with businesses racing to move data, applications, and workloads from on-premises systems to the cloud or across hybrid environments.
One of the major benefits of adopting the cloud is reduced infrastructure costs along with improved flexibility, scalability, and remote access. Challenges that enterprises may face with cloud migration are potential downtime and sometimes integration complexities which can be overcome with the right strategy and implementation partner on their side.
Application Migration
Application migration involves migrating one software and its associated data from one environment to another (e.g., moving Synapse to Databricks). The common scenarios are switching vendors, upgrading systems, or moving from on-premises to cloud-based applications.
This offers advanced features to access new applications, improved scalability, and cost savings. However, there might be a few application compatibility and data format issues that can lead to higher development cycles.
Business Process Migration
Migrating business processes involves transferring both data and business workflows such as rules, policies, and KPIs. It is usually done while an enterprise-wide transformation is taking place, such as ERP or CRM implementations, or consolidating multiple business units into a unified SAP or Oracle environment.
Business process migration harmonizes processes across global teams, improves transparency and compliance, and enables centralized performance monitoring. Yet, aligning stakeholders across departments and managing change without disrupting operations are major challenges that enterprises face.
System Migration
System migration involves moving an entire IT system from one platform or architecture to another, for example, moving Databricks to Databricks (Unity Catalogue) or VM to Containers. System migration is essentially done to modernize IT stacks and improve compatibility with DevOps or microservices. The most common challenges for system migrations include bugs during code porting, performance tuning in new environments, and testing for backward compatibility.
Data Center Migration
Data center migration is relocating physical data center assets, virtual machines, or workloads from one facility to another or to the cloud. The latter is one of the most adopted migrations today. It offers cost optimization through reduced infrastructure costs and modernization of legacy infrastructure.
Conclusion
In today’s AI-driven rush, what often gets overlooked is the data that fuels it all. No matter how advanced your AI ambitions are, they’re only as good as the data behind them. Without a robust foundation and an experienced data engineering team, AI simply won’t deliver. Migration is the first and most critical step in that journey. It is a strategic and technical shift for enterprises to modernize and scale their systems. Each migration type comes with its own set of challenges and advantages, but choosing the right path lays the groundwork for how effectively your data can power the future.
Syren is already helping Fortune 500 companies migrate, modernize, and integrate with the right tech stack and business support, and we can help you too.
