When businesses decide to downsize operational costs, upgrade their systems, improve security, or scale, they often need to transfer data from one destination to another. It can be a different server, an application, OS, or a database. The procedure can be pretty challenging, requiring expert skills and suitable tools. In this article, we’ll determine when data migration testing is provided and whether it is important for companies’ transformation.
Table of Contents
What is migration testing?
You can’t simply move data from an old to an emerging system and expect it will work correctly. So testing is performed with information and features from an existing (legacy) location and a new one to guarantee the process runs without errors and data loss.
An expert team, like Avenga, provides end-to-end data migration support, defining the project scope based on the company’s requirements and system interactions. A qualitative audit allows to examine if all the crucial data are accurately transferred to the new location and smoothly combined with additional features.
For the best outcome, verifications should be executed before and after data loading. Thus, it’s mandatory to detect security vulnerabilities and examine the performance of a new platform in a post-migration period. Tests should continue until an upgraded system becomes consistent and stable.
Reasons to provide migration testing
Businesses aimed at increasing productivity, cost-effectiveness, and workflow optimization transfer data to a more scalable and effective environment. Testing helps to ensure that moving from an initial platform to the improved one is provided without defects and losses, namely:
- Customers can continue using system features without (or with minimal) disruptions or data damages, while the migration is in progress.
- An original application is adaptable to a new technological stack.
- Old functions are available in the target system without changes or with higher loading and running speeds.
- The upgraded version response time is the same or less.
- There are no data flow breakages and the connection is stable.
- All the possible glitches are identified and thoroughly fixed.
Performing an audit throughout the entire migration will help timely identify bottlenecks and correct them before they cause system failures.
Challenges in data migration testing
Smooth verification requires careful pre- and post-study of the initial and final destinations. Skilled testers can help businesses to develop an effective strategy and overcome the following difficulties:
- Sometimes original data can have worse quality in the upgraded application. So it has to be improved to meet the latest standards.
- Often, information required for an upgraded system should have another format, type, or purpose. And the testers’ task lies in previous data correction or its redefinition at the end location.
- Data loss risks can be high enough during the relocation process. Therefore, its prevention is vital for a successful transformation.
- There are situations when a new large volume of data appears before an old location gets cleared. And it should be sent to an upgraded system again.
Conclusion
Migration results greatly impact the quality and productivity of the final system. That’s why its testing requires an expert approach, a well-planned strategy, and suitable tools. Effective data migration helps businesses scale, generate more income, and get undeniable advantages over competitors.
