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IT Tips & Tricks

The Key to a Successful Data Migration Strategy

4 April 2023

If you’ve got a data migration lurking on the horizon, you’re in a similar position to a treasure hunter. Don’t believe us? Let’s put it this way: If we told you that there was about $15,000,000 in gold buried 15 miles up the Suwannee River, in the sand near Fowler’s Bluff, not far from Chiefland in Levy County, Florida, what would you do? Would you start prepping for an expedition? Yeah, we’d be tempted too. What if we could be even more specific about its location? What if we told you that the gold was buried 30 feet inland from the high-water mark? If you’re still reading this and not packing to go treasure hunting, we’re going to assume it’s because you want to know what any of this has to do with a data migration strategy. Fair enough.

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A vintage map of the US indicates hundreds of tempting treasure locations. The only problem is that since the map was issued in 1957, many locations now have towns, highways or other buildings on them, making them a little tricky to dig up.

Well, all of the above information is 100% accurate. The maps dating from that time period are accurate too. Maybe now you’re wondering, “Where’s the problem? Let’s go already!” Ah, hold your horses, friend. There is a teeny-weeny little problem. In the 200 years since the gold was buried, there have been natural changes to the channel of the Suwannee River. Shifting land and water means that, currently, it’s entirely possible that the gold is now closer to the water, or potentially even under it. See the problem? A change in the terrain brings the whole dream crashing to the ground.

And the same can be said of a data migration, right? Everything’s great until you actually move the data.

Now you’re dealing with missing data, a blizzard of open service tickets in the IT department, end-users calling and emailing you until you’re ready to scream, and a boss that’s watching you with a beady eye and a disapproving stare. It’s enough to make you head for the hills, with or without that damn treasure map.

Everything’s fine until you actually move the data.

How To Dig for Treasure

So, you’re out in the sun, sweating and swatting mosquitoes, hell-bent on finding the treasure marked on the map. Finally, with the gods clearly on your side, you stumble across the location of the proverbial “X” on the map. You’ve done it! You’ve found the secret sweet spot! You’re about to recover a motherlode of gold. Others have dreamed of this moment, but you’ve actually gone and found it! Can you believe it? Untold riches! Your whole life is about to change! Excited, you look around … and then your head starts swiveling like a madman. And your hot sweat is replaced by a cold sweat. The shovels? Where the hell are the shovels? You thought you had them! Did you drop them? Are they all the way back at your vehicle, miles away? Will someone else find them and follow your footprints to the location? Panic sets in (as it should) as you realize that you have definitely, categorically screwed up, big time.

Panic sets in (as it should) as you realize that you have definitely, categorically screwed up, big time.

Luckily, in a data migration situation, you don’t actually need to lug heavy shovels through the jungle with you and we bet there aren’t many mosquitoes in your air-conditioned office. But when a data migration does go wrong, hoo boy, does it ever.

So, what’s the key to a successful data migration?

Strategy to Save Your Sanity

You can’t change the map. The data has to go where the data has to go. But the smart thing to do is to make sure you’re armed with the map, your top-of-the-line GPS device, and that you’ve packed the shovels. Or, in the case of a data migration, that you’ve protected all your linked data so that nothing can go missing.

If this isn’t your first rodeo, you know that the likelihood of missing data after a migration is about as probable as grass on a prairie, and someone — maybe you — is inevitably going to get stuck with the tedious task of finding and fixing all the broken links that caused it. Depending on how many links are broken, it could actually take days, weeks or months — with a whole team working on it — to repair the broken links and recover all that missing data. It’s time you probably don’t have, and it is most definitely not money well-spent.

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Why get stuck at the office, fixing broken links, if they can be completely avoided in the first place?

So, how do you protect those links? What can you do to save your organization time and money, and, perhaps more importantly, save your own sanity and reputation?

Are You Covered When It Counts?

There is only one tool on the market that can protect your linked data before you migrate it. That tool is LinkFixer Advanced. It can prep your links pre-migration and then, after the migration, it can auto-repair the links that broke so that you never have to deal with the ball-and-chain that is missing data. And, if you didn’t know about it in time and performed a data migration without protection, consider LinkFixer Advanced your disaster recovery tool that can help you pick up the pieces. And it does it fast — thousands or millions of links at a time.

There is only one tool on the market that can protect your linked data before you migrate it.

But you needn’t reserve LinkFixer Advanced only for migrations. You know how users have a knack for moving files around and then complaining to you that they can’t find their data? We both know it’s because they’ve unknowingly broken the links contained in their files, but now you’re stuck with fixing it.

Well, if you ran LinkFixer Advanced every evening (or whenever you do your backups), your users could literally knock themselves out moving files around and LinkFixer Advanced would take care of it for you.

You can find out more at LinkTek.com, where you can also request a free trial (no credit card required). Alternatively, to pick the brain of a knowledgeable Service Consultant or discuss your specific situation, call 727-442-1822.

Never worry about missing data due to broken links again. With LinkFixer Advanced, you’re golden.

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Protect your links, pre-migration, to buy yourself some much-needed time away from the office.

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