Guide · data migration

Data migration that reconciles — beating the 83% failure rate

Most migrations fail on unvalidated assumptions, not data volume. The method that works: validate at every step, run old and new in parallel until the numbers reconcile, and treat undocumented business logic as the real migration object.

The uncomfortable number

According to Gartner, 83% of data migration projects fail outright or exceed budget and timeline. Legacy compatibility issues affect two-thirds of enterprise migrations, and timeline estimates miss by 40–60%. The cause is rarely the data volume — it is unvalidated assumptions about what the data means.

What actually works

Migration that reconciles: the discipline

Validation at every step, not at the end

Field-level rules catch errors at extraction — not at go-live billing, when fixing them costs 100×.

Parallel running until numbers reconcile

Old and new systems run side by side; cutover happens when results match across full business cycles, not when the calendar says so.

Business logic archaeology

Decades of undocumented rules live in legacy data. We map what the data means operationally — with the people who use it — before a single record moves.

Full audit trail

Every transformation recorded: what moved, what changed, what was excluded and why. Regulators ask; the answer should be a report, not a meeting.

Common questions

FAQ

How long does a serious migration take?

For insurance cores we plan 6–12 months including parallel running — but the honest answer depends on data quality discovered in week one. We scope after a data assessment, not before.

Can operations continue during migration?

Yes — that is the point of parallel running. The old system stays the system of record until the new one proves itself on real cycles: billing runs, renewals, claims settlements.

What happens to data that does not fit the new model?

It is mapped, transformed with recorded rules, or consciously archived with documented rationale — never silently dropped. The audit trail covers every record.

Related

Where to go next

Planning a migration?

Start with a data assessment — real scope, real risks, before you commit to anything.

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