Data Migration

Hi All,

today we will discuss on an important area in any implementation, which is migration of data in to Oracle Applications Database. First data migration means moving of data from one place to another. Moving of data does not mean a mere copy paste work, it means moving of Clean data (uncorrupted) in to proper database tables.

Which data is going to be migrated?

When we are going to implement a new ERP like Oracle Financials, setups are carried out based on the current business processes and policies, after setting up, we need access to past data in the application.

Why we need access to past data?

It may be a statutory requirement or companies requirement. Apart from which , it could be a normal business requirement. Assume that you have customer who bought goods or services from you on March 2007 and he need to pay you 1000 USD by end of June 2007. And if we have implemented Oracle Applications by May 2007, without past data, we will certainly loose the track of that customer, since the new system will not say that how much needs to be received due to previous transactions. So in order to account for Outstandings and Accruals one need to have access to past data. Apart from that , your opening balances are a resultant figure of Past data.

At which stage of the project this data migration will come in to picture?

It happens before Go Live or one could say after User Acceptance Testing.

Who has to decide on what data should be migrated ?

It is the client who needs to decide what are the data that needs to be migrated since he is the one who is going to access it. Client must also decide on how many years of data needs to be migrated. Assume that if a company is doing manual accounting for 20 years and now they are moving in to Oracle Apps, they need to decide whether they want access to all 20 years of data or they can decide a cut off date beyond which all data will be migrated.

How data will be migrated ?

Depending on the volume of the data, the consultant will decide on the suitable methodology. He can go in for data load or SQL scripts.

How data will be presented ?

Client must provide the consultant will the data in the prescribed format. It is the responsibility of the client to authenticate the data which he gives to the consultant for migration, consultant is more interested on how to move the data in to Applications, he is not expected to audit the data which you are giving. So client must take effort to provide a Clean data.

How it will be ensured, that data migration is successful ?

After data migration, enough testing will be carried out to find the accuracy and completeness. After migrating data, reports will be drawn out of the Oracle Applicaitons system and matched with the existing figures based on the current system followed by the client. Only after 100% satisfaction, of both the client and the consultant, data migration will come to an end.

How long this data migration will take to get complete?

It depends on the volume of data, if its going to be a newly started company the volume of data will be less, hence migration may take only months, where as for companies wanting years of data to be migrated, requires years including testing.

Who will migrate the data ?

Normally it will be a role of a Technical Consultant, if the data is very less, then a Functional consultant can perform it by using dataload. Also it can be outsourced to any other firm apart from the consulting company which implements oracle apps. There will be many companies which specialize in this area alone, one can make use of them to perform this job.


Regards
Karthikeyan P
Karthikeyanp1981@gmail.com