This is an age of information and data. There is data floating everywhere. Whichever site you visit, it at least asks you for your name or e-mail ID. When there is so much data available with each one of these businesses, it is important to manage it properly. Nowadays, this data is stored and managed in new database systems. The old business CRM systems are not only complex but also are not reliable. So, everyone wants to switch to new and updated systems.
But the older data, saved into these CRM systems, is also very valuable and leaving it behind is not an option. So, migrating this data into new systems is a task. This not only involves transferring the data to new systems but also modifying it according to these systems. This is what Data Migration Mapping means, migrating the data to a new database and mapping it according to that. But, before getting into the concept, let’s see what data migration is, and why is data mapping important.
Data Migration
Data Migration is a process of transferring data from old and complex systems to new and upgraded systems. It not only transfers the data to a better environment but also reduces the expenses.
Types of Data Migration
The three main types of data migration are:
- Application Migration: This process transfers application programs into a modern and innovative environment. It can also move the whole application system to cloud.
- Cloud Migration: This process transfers all crucial business elements to the cloud. These elements could be data or applications.
- Storage Migration: This process transfers data from older systems to a modern and updated system. With this, better performance and cost-effective scaling can be achieved.
Various service providers help businesses in replacing and updating their business management tools. And also in transferring crucial data from one database system to another.
Data Migration Benefits
Some of the benefits that migration of data provides are:
- It boosts efficiency and effectiveness, and also upgrades the in-use applications.
- It improves ROI by reducing the costs of storage and media.
- It helps to scale the system so that it matches the needs of growing datasets.
- It reduces manual efforts in minimizing the daily business operations disruption.
- It ensures the overall integrity of data.
- It improves the relation between the company and the customer by eliminating the obstacles. This results in building a better customer base.
So, data migration is not a one-step process. It needs a separate approach and planning, in order to achieve all the benefits it offers.
Data Mapping
Once the required data is migrated, it needs to be mapped according to the new system. For example, the older system might have a column ‘Name’ and the new system has a column ‘CustomerName’. Now, both of them stored the name of the customer, but while transferring data from older to the new system, the system has to be asked to transfer the ‘Name’ column into the ‘CustomerName’ column. Mapping is the most complex and time-consuming task.
Data Mapping can be done in three ways:
- Manual Data Mapping: In this process, the mapping between the two systems is hand-coded. It gives flexibility in mapping small systems, but for bigger systems, this is not feasible.
- Semi-Automated Data Mapping: In this process, two semantically related objects are identified and the mapping is built between them. Once the mapping is done, a code is generated. This code helps in achieving the data conversion tasks that are required.
- Automated Data Mapping: This is the easiest way of mapping the data. Some tools are there in the market that helps in providing an environment in which mapping can be done in drag and drop manner. These data migration mapping tools also convert data into its required form, making the whole process very convenient.
Data Migration Mapping Tools
With the increased demand for data migration, keeping on the manual mapping was not really an option, as it would require a complex procedure, a lot of time-investment and efforts. To minimize all this and make the process more convenient, Data Migration Mapping tools were made. These not only help in transferring the data from one system to another but also make sure that the data is properly mapped according to the new system. These tools are reliable and reduce the overall cost of data migration mapping. There are many tools available in the market, and you can choose one according to your need.
