Guest Blog: Buying New Storage, or Planning the Migration – Which Comes First?

It’s a Chicken or Egg thing! Having delivered hundreds of successful data migration projects, Headwaters Group has seen first hand that when a company spends all of it’s budget on hardware and doesn’t leave any for the data migration services, it results in delays and increased project risk.

As a primer to our upcoming blog series on data migration, we wanted to point out one important item that sometimes falls through the cracks when budgeting during the storage refresh cycle – remembering to allocate funding for data migration professional services post hardware acquisition. Don’t be caught by surprise late in the game when you suddenly have the new hardware on the data center floor, but your wonderful new array is idling because your data migration project is delayed.

Two Key Points to Consider During a Storage Refresh Cycle

Purchasing Process
It is highly advisable to not attempt to carry out an important task such as data migration without the assistance of experienced data migration engineers. Whether working with a Value Added Reseller (VAR) or direct with the manufacturer to purchase the new storage array, make sure the data migration is discussed early on in the purchasing process and that any quote you receive includes line items for data migration and other desired professional services. Don’t be caught by surprise late in the game when you suddenly have the new hardware on the data center floor, but your data migration project is delayed. The goal should be to fully leverage the asset from the get go, not 9 months after you turn it on.

Resource Considerations
In addition to any third-party assistance you hire, you must be prepared to dedicate internal resources to the project. This may include a project manager for larger projects and will definitely include system administrators and application owners. There should also be designated points of contact between team members. Anyone who has a vested interest in the success of the project should be included in all telephone and email communication. Not all participants will be required to engage full-time on the project, but they are all critical to the success of the project when they are required to be on deck.

Conclusion – Don’t forget to include a budget for the inevitable data migration project. Make sure your vendor includes data migration services in their proposals.

This post – Buying New Storage, or Planning the Migration – Which Comes First? – originally appeared on the Headwaters Group blog and is reprinted here by permission. Headwaters Group is an authorized Cirrus Data Solutions Inc. Partner. To learn more about the CDS Data Migration Server, visit the DMS Product Page, or contact Cirrus Data Solutions Inc. or Headwaters Group.