Companies are moving from one cloud application to another all the time. They may want to streamline their cloud services and move from several apps to a single all-in-one tool, or they may find an application they like better. Other times a company just isn’t happy after switching to a SaaS service, so they leave.
This constant switching of cloud tools is called churn, and companies are currently churning through about 30% of their cloud applications per year.
Whenever you move from one cloud app to another, data has to be migrated. But it’s not as easy as exporting from one cloud application into another. Some of the problems that users can run into when trying to migrate cloud data on their own are:
- Fields don’t match up exactly
- Some data doesn’t have a place to migrate to (no receiving field)
- Migration fields can be matched incorrectly
- Only data is migrated, not other settings
Data migration mistakes can mean hours of downtime trying to get a mess sorted out, lost or garbled data, or losing hundreds of hours that has been spent optimizing a prior platform.
Here are some of the key reasons that it makes more sense and can save you time, money, and frustration having a professional migrate your cloud data for you.
The Migration is Validated First
One of the biggest mistakes that users make when trying to migrate their own cloud data is to do it all at once without validating the migration first.
Professionals know how important it is to test a migration setup with just a record or two before hundreds or thousands of records are transferred.
This allows any field mismatch errors to be caught and also any garbled data problems. Validating a migration first saves hours of rework having to delete data and redo a migration from scratch.
No Data is Left Behind
Data can often be left behind in an old application if being migrated by a novice and not properly exported and transferred to the new app. Then once the user finds out, they may contact the old SaaS provider only to find that the data from their closed account has already been purged.
A technology professional will ensure as one of the first things we do that every bit of data is exported from your old cloud tool, so you aren’t at risk of losing anything once your account is closed.
All Fields Are Properly Matched & Created as Needed
One big problem businesses can run into when staff is trying to migrate data on their own is that some of it won’t “fit” in the new application.
For example, they may have several representative notes by date under each sales lead in a CRM, but the new CRM handles notes differently, and they can’t figure out how to put them into the right field.
So, they end up either losing all those important notes, or having them in a text only field grouped together and no longer searchable by date.
This is the type of issue that a cloud migration professional handles all the time. We can create custom fields if needed to capture specific data, and we basically ensure that all fields are matched up and data has a logical place to migrate in the new system.
Automations Are Transitioned Where Possible
Companies can spend hundreds of hours having custom automations put into SaaS tools to save time and reduce manual tasks. When they try migrating from one tool to another themselves, these an often be wiped out, and employees go back to a less efficient workflow.
When you work with a cloud migration pro, you can have those automations, where possible, migrated over to the new software. We can also come up with workarounds for any that can’t be recreated in exactly the same way. We work to ensure efficiently isn’t going backwards when you switch to a new tool, but rather look for ways to make it even better.
Data Goes Into the Most Efficient Places
When you’re migrating to an all-in-one platform such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, there is more than one place files can be migrated. But most users just dump them into the main cloud storage module, missing out on important optimizations and security benefits.
A cloud migration specialist will ensure you’re making use of al the areas of a new platform, such as putting certain files into OneDrive and migrating others to SharePoint team sites or MS Teams.
Large platforms put these different “data buckets” in their tools for a reason, so you want to ensure you’re using them in the most effective ways and migrate data accordingly.
Get Help With an Efficient & Trouble-Free Cloud Migration
Unity IT can help your Fresno area business with a smooth cloud migration that is minimally disruptive and sets you up for a more efficient workflow.
Contact us today to schedule a technology consultation at 559-297-1007 or reach out online.