programmatic

Data Migration

Migrations are judged on whether the numbers reconcile.

Move data between platforms with profiling, reconciliation, cutover planning, and a tested rollback, so the target system is trusted from the first day it is used.

Inside the delivery

Prove data completeness before the cutover decision

Inspect keys, duplicates, missing values and records the target cannot represent directly. The flow below shows the main delivery stages and the evidence produced at each step.

Reference approachAdapted during discovery
  1. 01

    Source profiling

    Inspect keys, duplicates, missing values and records the target cannot represent directly.

    Output

    Source profile and exception inventory

  2. 02

    Mapping and conversion

    Agree field mappings, transformations and treatment of incompatible records with business owners.

    Output

    Approved mapping and conversion scripts

  3. 03

    Trial and reconciliation

    Run rehearsals and compare counts, balances and representative business records.

    Output

    Reconciliation report and unresolved exceptions

  4. 04

    Cutover and recovery

    Coordinate final changes, acceptance checks and the period in which recovery remains possible.

    Output

    Cutover checklist and recovery procedure

Controls across the workflow

  • Mapping approval
  • Exception ownership
  • Control totals
  • Cutover sign-off

Decisions that shape the scope

Can migration proceed with unresolved data exceptions?
Only with explicit owner decisions. Some exceptions can be quarantined or corrected later; others invalidate reconciliation and should block cutover until resolved.
How long does a data migration take?
The moving is rarely the constraint. Timelines are driven by how much profiling and cleanup the source needs, how many downstream systems depend on it, and how much rehearsal the business requires before it will accept a cutover window.

Before you commit

Is this the right engagement?

What we need from you
Source and target schemas, sample records, data volumes, quality issues, write patterns and the permitted cutover window.
How you accept the work
Coordinate final changes, acceptance checks and the period in which recovery remains possible. Acceptance records the tested scope, unresolved issues and the owner's decision.
Scope & alternatives
Only with explicit owner decisions. Some exceptions can be quarantined or corrected later; others invalidate reconciliation and should block cutover until resolved.

Overview

The risk is not moving the data, it is proving it arrived

Copying rows is the easy part. The work that decides whether a migration succeeds is profiling what the source actually contains, agreeing what to do with the records that do not fit the target model, and being able to show the business that the totals still reconcile after cutover.

  • 01Source profiling and data quality
  • 02Target modeling and mapping
  • 03Reconciliation and validation
  • 04Cutover, rollback, and decommission

Capabilities

Engineering scope and deliverables

Select the work that addresses your constraint. Responsibilities and acceptance criteria are agreed before delivery.

01

Profiling and assessment

Establish what the source really contains, how much of it matters, and which records will not survive the target model without a decision.

  • Volume and structure profiling
  • Quality and anomaly analysis
  • Dependency and downstream mapping
  • Scope and phasing options
02

Mapping and transformation

Translate the source into the target model explicitly, with the business rules for defaults, merges, and exclusions written down and approved.

  • Field and entity mapping
  • Transformation rules
  • Reference and lookup data
  • Exception handling
03

Validation and reconciliation

Prove the migration rather than declare it, using checks the business recognizes as well as technical row counts.

  • Control totals and counts
  • Business-rule validation
  • Sample and full-set comparison
  • Reconciliation reporting
04

Cutover and rollback

Plan the switch as an operational event with rehearsal, a defined window, a go and no-go decision, and a tested way back.

  • Dry runs at real volume
  • Delta and catch-up loads
  • Rollback procedure
  • Source decommission plan

Integrations

Selected for your environment

Tools are chosen around your existing systems, access requirements and operating constraints.

Snowflake
Databricks
Microsoft Azure
AWS
Operational databases
Data warehouses

Frequently asked questions

Questions to resolve before starting

01

Can migration proceed with unresolved data exceptions?

Only with explicit owner decisions. Some exceptions can be quarantined or corrected later; others invalidate reconciliation and should block cutover until resolved.

02

How long does a data migration take?

The moving is rarely the constraint. Timelines are driven by how much profiling and cleanup the source needs, how many downstream systems depend on it, and how much rehearsal the business requires before it will accept a cutover window.

03

Can the migration run without downtime?

Often, using an initial bulk load followed by delta catch-up and a short switch window. Whether that is worth the additional complexity depends on the cost of the outage to the business, which we size before committing to an approach.

04

What happens to records that do not fit the target model?

They are surfaced during profiling and handled by an explicit decision: cleanse, merge, default, migrate to an exception area, or leave behind with an archive. That decision is the business owner's, not a silent technical one.

05

How do you prove the migration was correct?

Through reconciliation agreed in advance: row counts and control totals for the technical view, plus business-level checks such as balances, statuses, or period totals that the owning team already trusts and reviews.

06

Do you handle the old platform after cutover?

Retention, archive, and decommission are planned as part of the migration. Leaving the source running indefinitely is a common way migrations fail to deliver the saving that justified them.

07

What should we prepare for the first technical discussion?

Source and target schemas, sample records, data volumes, quality issues, write patterns and the permitted cutover window.

08

What evidence is available at handover?

The agreed delivery includes cutover checklist and recovery procedure. Coordinate final changes, acceptance checks and the period in which recovery remains possible.

09

How is the engagement estimated?

We review the available inputs before estimating: Source and target schemas, sample records, data volumes, quality issues, write patterns and the permitted cutover window. The proposal identifies dependencies, review milestones and excluded work; the scope determines the schedule.

Start a conversation

Discuss your next technical step

Share your current situation and the constraint you need to resolve. We will use the discovery inputs above to define a practical scope for Data Migration.