Data Migration Checklist - ThirdSectorLabs
5
ThirdSectorLabs 800.383.3854 Home About Us Services Resources Blog Contact Us Home → Resources → Data Migration Checklist Data Migration Checklist Data migrations, sometimes referred to as data conversions, are a common, if not necessary step in the growth of any nonprofit organization. Both donor data and program outcomes data expand exponentially as the nonprofit grows. Furthermore, data migrations are notorious for creating as many problems as they solve. Why? Everything from unrealistic expectations to a lack of planning and documentation to the “pealing back of the onion” where the more work that you do, the more issues you find with the data. A successful data migration depends on planning, realistic expectations, experience, and flexibility during the process. Planning … write it down … like a data migration checklist. Remember this simple rule: you can’t take all of your data with you to the new system, nor should you want to. To help you with your plan, start with a good data migration checklist. Here’s one. Premigration planning – 6 steps: 1. Team Establish a migration management team. Include key stakeholders (ex. marketing, fundraising, leadership). In particular, include the person(s) responsible for configuration management of the new system, if this is not the same person(s)
description
IT
Transcript of Data Migration Checklist - ThirdSectorLabs
-
ThirdSectorLabs
800.383.3854HomeAboutUsServicesResourcesBlogContactUs
HomeResourcesDataMigrationChecklist
DataMigrationChecklistDatamigrations,sometimesreferredtoasdataconversions,areacommon,ifnotnecessarystepinthegrowthofanynonprofitorganization.Bothdonordataandprogramoutcomesdataexpandexponentiallyasthenonprofitgrows.
Furthermore,datamigrationsarenotoriousforcreatingasmanyproblemsastheysolve.Why?Everythingfromunrealisticexpectationstoalackofplanninganddocumentationtothepealingbackoftheonionwherethemoreworkthatyoudo,themoreissuesyoufindwiththedata.
Asuccessfuldatamigrationdependsonplanning,realisticexpectations,experience,andflexibilityduringtheprocess.Planningwriteitdownlikeadatamigrationchecklist.
Rememberthissimplerule:youcanttakeallofyourdatawithyoutothenewsystem,norshouldyouwantto.
Tohelpyouwithyourplan,startwithagooddatamigrationchecklist.Heresone.
Premigrationplanning6steps:
1. Team
Establishamigrationmanagementteam.Includekeystakeholders(ex.marketing,fundraising,leadership).Inparticular,includetheperson(s)responsibleforconfigurationmanagementofthenewsystem,ifthisisnotthesameperson(s)
-
managingthedatamigration.
2. Plan
Documentyourplanandincludeaflexibleschedule.Identifythetoughdecisionsupfrontandaddressthem.Forexample,howmuchdatacleaningisrequiredwithyourmigration,andwhenshouldthatcleaningoccur?Doyouhavelegacyfieldsthatneedtobeparsed(i.e.,separatedintomorethanonedatafield)?Looktoyourdatagovernancepoliciesforhelp.
3. Establishsecurityprotocols
Makesureeveryoneunderstandsthegroundrules.Createnewlogincredentialsforthirdpartiesworkingwithyoursystems.Whocanaccessthedata,wherecanitbestored,andwhatflexibilitydoesaconsultantorCRMvendorhaveinworkingwithyourdata?
4. Prioritize
Prioritizethereasonswhyyouaremigrating.Forexample,ifyouaremovingtoanewCRMsysteminordertosupportexpandedfundraisingcampaigns,thenfocusonthefeaturesandbenefitsofworkingwithnewdatainthenewsystemoverthestressoftryingcrammoreofyourpoorlyformattedorincompletelegacydatafromyouroldsystem.
5. Definestandards
Definethestandardsforasuccessfulmigration.Mostimportantly,determinewhatdatashouldandshouldnotbemigrated.Forexample,inaCRMdatamigration,doyouwanttomigratearecordthathasnotbeeneditedin5years?10years?Anotherexample,howwillyouhandlefileattachments?
6. Writeatestplan
Developatestplantodetermineifyouaremeetingthestandardsforsuccess.Donotwaituntilafterthemigrationhasbeenattemptedtofigureouthowyouwillmeasuresuccess.Largerdatamigrationsusuallybenefitfromindependentvalidationresources,includingsoftwareifyouneedthem,linethemupnow.
-
Migrationtasks14steps:
1. Analyzethedata,revisetheplan
Nodatamigrationprojectgetsveryfarwithoutathoroughdataanalysis.Thiswilldeterminethestartingpointforyourdataquality,uncoverpotentialproblems,andeitheraffirmtheoriginalscheduleandplanorcausethemtoberevised.
2. Mapthedata
Mapthedataschemafromthelegacydatabasetothedataschemainthenewsystemdatabase.Identifyinconsistencies,missingfields,andfieldsrequiringeitherconsolidation,conversionorparsing.Thisisatimeconsumingstepthatgetsshortchangedwhenorganizationsareinarushtocompletethemigration.Forexample,ifyouaremigratingfromanoutofdatedonordatabasetoanewCRM,thedifferencesindataschemascanbesubstantial.
3. Configurethedatabase
Configurethenewdatabasesystem.Payattentiontofieldattributes.Besuretocheckstoragecapacityrequiredtosupportthemigrationimportandtakeamomenttoconsiderprojectedgrowth.
4. Preparesupportingtechnology
Prepareanydatamigrationsoftwareorcustomscriptsbeingusedtosupportthedataloadtothenewsystem.Forexample,willthedatamigrationrequireconversionscripts?
5. Test,test,test
Wecantstressthisenough.Createatestfilefromlegacyandimporttothenewsystemdatabase.Forexample,testtheaccuracyoftheimportedrecords.Testnewsystemdatamanagementandreporting.Testallexportcapabilitiesofthenewsystem.Inparticular,howdoyouextractallofyourdatainthefuture,whenyoudecidetomigratetoanotherCRM?
6. Reconfigurethedatabase
-
Basedontestresults,makeanynecessarychangestothenewsystemdatabaseconfiguration.
7. Extractthelegacydataandcreatenewimportfiles
Extractthenecessarylegacydatathismayrequiremultiplesteps.Thenpreparenewimportfilesforuploading.
8. Normalizeandclean
Normalizepoorlyformattedrecords,purgecorruptdata.Applyadditionalcleaningsteps(e.g.deduplication)nowifthisistheappropriatetimeinyourplan.Otherwise,youwillneedtopracticedatahygienepostmigration.
9. Loaddatafile(s)
Importthefulldata.Payattentiontoloadtimes,fileorders,interruptions,andotherdatamanagementbestpractices.Anybadrecordsfoundintheexportfileshouldfailonimport.Comparerawresultsoftheloadnumbersofrecordsexpectedtoimport,numberexpectedtofail,filesize,etc.
10. Test,test,test
Rerunyourtests,followingyourtestplanandanyrevisionsfrompriortestperiods.Ifyouencounterdataqualityproblemswiththeimport,research,repair,andrepeatuntilyouachievethestandardsforasuccessfulmigration.Yourvalidationworkmayidentifyadditionalchangesrequiredinthedatabasemakethem.
11. Finalcleaning
Assumingthatyourplandidnotaddressalldatacleaningstepsaspartofthemigrationtasks,nowisthetimetorevisitremainingdatahygiene.Doyouhavededuplicationworkorplanneddataconsolidation?Didyouhaveadditionaldatafilesscheduletoappendyournewlymigratedrecords?
12. Parsing
Parsingisataskthatwealmostalwaysrecommendbeaddressedoutsideofthescope
-
ofthecoredatamigration.Why?Becauseitisaprojectinandofitself.Parsinginvolvesadditionalanalysis,filepreparation,databaseconfigurationandtesting.Itmaywarrantitsownbudgetandschedule.Smallamountsofparsing,likeanamefieldbeingseparatedintofirstandlastnamefields,canbedoneaspartofthemigration,whenthedatabaseisconfiguredandtheimportfilesarecreated.Butaddressingmultiplefieldswithlotsofdatatobeaddressisoftenbestmanagedpostmigration.Bytheway,didyouknowthatMicrosoftExcelhasparsingtoolsthatmaysuityourneedsjustfine?
13. Support
Yourworkisdone,butdontjumpshipyet.Turnoverthenewsystemdatatothebusinessusersthatstherealtest,bytheway.Keeptheteamassembledandsupportthenewdatabasepostmigrationforatleast30daysbeforeconcludingthatthemigrationisfinishedandlettingtheteamgo.MakesureanyconsultantsorCRMvendorswhohaveassistedontheprojectremainavailableifneeded.
14. Archives
Archivesareyourpieceofmind.Retainacompletecopyofthelegacydatabaseyoumayneedtoreturntoitifyouhavemissedanyimportantdata.Yourespeciallywanttoarchiveanydatanotmigrated.ThegoodnewsisthatyoudontneedtokeepacopyofyouroldCRMsoftwarerunning.Instead,usesimpledatastoragetoolslikeMicrosoftExceland/orAccess.
SiteMap
AboutUsBlogContactUseBooksandGuidesHomeNewsletterOurTeamResourcesServicesTestimonials
