IT Tips & Tricks

Missing Data and How the Power of Three Can Boost Your IT Reputation and Paycheck

Published 10 December 2024

As a number, three is powerful and, without us even realizing it, appears everywhere. Think of the Three Blind Mice, the Three Musketeers and the Three Stooges. Think of the beginning-middle-end, ready-set-go or going-going-gone. Abraham Lincoln spoke “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Julius Caesar said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Three primary colors. Three strikes, you’re out. Rock, paper, scissors. “Three guys walk into a bar …” Threes.

Aristotle — the great philosopher and the dude who laid the groundwork for modern science — hit the nail on the head when he said, “Omne trium perfectum,” which (in case you don’t speak Latin) means “Everything that comes in threes is perfect.”

Although Ari had absolutely no way of knowing it at the time, it would transpire, two and a half thousand years later, that the solution to missing data — caused by link breakage during data migration — would also align with the all-powerful number three.

Zip, Nada, Nothing

This can cause everything from downtime, false data, useless files, wrong numbers in customer accounts, wrong numbers in your own accounts and violations of compliance regulations to embarrassing presentations and user confusion (not to mention having to rollback a migration). There are a lot of bad ways to try to handle this — and one good way.

The one thing you don’t want to hear after a data migration or file system restructure are the three little words a user might utter when they open a file, click on a link and get … zip, nada, nothing. Whether you’re an IT manager or a data migration consultant, you know the pain of the post-migration phenomenon known as missing data.

You also know the time-suck of manually fixing broken file links after the fact — when the damage is already done, some of your data is missing and it’s preventing employees from doing their jobs or the boss from displaying crucial data at his meeting with an important client.

Shall we talk about the mountain of service tickets piling up in the IT department or the resources and man-hours it will take to find and fix a gazillion broken links after a migration or file system reorg? No? Sensitive subject? We understand.

End the Trouble With One Word

We hear it all the time from customers looking for a solution to their problem: Broken links are the most prevalent cause of their data damage during migration. And if you’ve ever spent time trying to find and fix a broken link manually, perhaps you’ve heard its plaintive cry, “Let me sing you the song of my people, left to wander the wilderness, lost in the dark …” Poor little link.

Shall we talk about the mountain of service tickets piling up in the IT department or the resources and man-hours it will take to find and fix a gazillion broken links? No? Sensitive subject?

But if you don’t want to listen to their sad songs — or end up singing one of your own — we’ve got one word for you: Protection — and we don’t mean private bodyguards or the Secret Service — we mean protection of your links against breakage.

When it comes to links and their penchant for breaking, we believe protection is something every IT manager or migration consultant should know about because it means you’ll never again have to deal with unanticipated or undesired consequences. Protect that data and look forward to a future free of broken links and the resulting data loss. Frankly, once you know how easy it is to protect your linked data, you’ll never look at moving that data the same way again. You’ll have world-class protection: sunglasses, sidearm and Armani suit — the full package. No more sad songs for you.

Have a “bodyguard” protect your linked data, whether at rest or in transit.

Kicking Chaos to the Curb

If you’re not a fan of migration outcomes that cause chaos in your IT department, we’ve got the solution for you.

Would you appreciate a way of preventing the chaos, saving yourself a ton of time, doing wonders for your state of mind and minimizing disruption to the organization? If it also boosts your reputation or your paycheck, well, that wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Broken links are the most prevalent cause of data damage during migration.

Before we get into the solution, let’s ask this question: In the context of broken links, what do people mean by “data loss”?

Answer: It means your users open up files and discover that a lot of the data that’s supposed to be in those files is no longer there.

The missing data was being brought into the file via a link to another file (or multiple links to other files). That other file was moved or renamed and so their file can’t find and fetch that data anymore.

Numbers go missing; Excel^® formulas spit out wrong figures (or no figures at all); graphics have disappeared; empty holes are where logos used to be; pie charts are false or absent entirely; and/or formatting is suddenly a mess, to list a few examples.

This can create everything from frustrating annoyances to significant problems such as downtime, false data, useless files, wrong numbers in customer accounts, wrong numbers in your own accounts, violations of compliance regulations, embarrassing presentations, and user confusion (not to mention having to rollback an entire migration).

There are a lot of bad ways to try to handle this — and one good way.

Perfection in Threes

So, what’s the relevance of three when it comes to missing data and how can you turn it to your advantage?

LinkFixer Advanced^™ has three different functions that it can perform for you — all with one singular goal: the elimination of data loss due to broken links — so that you don’t have to deal with the typical chaos that ensues.

We’ll briefly outline all three functions so you can see that you’re covered during every phase of your migration.

Seriously? We’ve got how much missing data?

Pre-Migration Protection

Stop fixing links. Don’t do it ever again. Never write another “search and replace” script to fix links. Never again try to pacify upset end-users who can’t access their data. Never again cover your face and sigh, “Oh, [four-letter expletive],” as you resign yourself to the horrible find-and-fix task that lies ahead. Toss all of that out.

LinkFixer Advanced can protect your links before you move anything — so that you can do all the migrating, renaming and file-system restructuring you want — with complete immunity against data loss due to broken links. (Yeah, there are other ways to lose data, but at least you won’t have to worry about this one.)

Magic Mover

The second way you could use LinkFixer Advanced is to have it move and rename all your files and folders for you. You can move anything that contains any number of file links from somewhere to anywhere with zero data loss due to broken links. LinkFixer Advanced automatically maintains all your working links, so you don’t have to deal with data loss, disruption or complaining end users. The peace of mind that brings? It’s good, better, best.

Aristotle would give LinkFixer Advanced the thumbs up.

Disaster Recovery

If the post-migration chaos has unfortunately already kicked off and you need a way to reel it in — fast — LinkFixer Advanced to the rescue. Regardless of how many broken links you have, LinkFixer Advanced can fix them faster than any other method on Earth. Legit, no BS. The missing data is instantly restored and the complaining users simply go away and leave you in peace.

An Abundance of File Types

A question we’re often asked is what file types LinkFixer Advanced supports. When we respond that LinkFixer Advanced supports over 70 file extensions, people seem genuinely surprised — in a good way, of course. If you’re curious, go ahead and check out our supported file types and extensions.

Customer Feedback

What do our users say? “This software is hands-down the best, if not the only, software of its kind on the market. Don’t mess around with trying to solve a problem on your own. Get LinkFixer!”— K.S., Experian

Got Questions?

If you need answers to questions, call 727-442-1822 to talk to a LinkTek Consultant. Alternatively, visit LinkTek.com to learn more, chat with us online or request a free trial of LinkFixer Advanced (no credit card required).

Link management done three ways: Before, during and after. Aristotle was right. Perfection comes in threes. Sing it, Ari: Omne trium perfectum.

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