Traditionally when migrating data, users, or organizations between storage platforms, the process was long, complex, and inundated with steps. The convoluted process slowed down the actual migration, created barriers, and overall just made it hard. The way we operate at Movebot is simplicity, ease, and affordability. With all of this in mind, cloud data migrations are zero risk and can be done at any time without impacting business operations.
The traditional cloud data migration process
Traditionally, moving data to the cloud was slow. This process could take weeks, months, and even over a year when it comes to the actual transfer of the data. And that's just the transferring part itself. The whole migration would typically go far beyond moving the data. It would start with Analytics and Discovery, the need to map ownership, and communication to prepare teams to deal with change.
Research and Planning
Researching and finding the right storage platform for the organization is important. However, once it's been determined that a storage platform is a better fit, the migration itself had been a major obstacle for many organizations.
Analyzing how long a migration would take and how much it would cost was a long, complicated process. Even when moving to a new storage provider would provide a lot of benefits for the organization, make work easier, and be more cost-effective over time, the time, risks, and cost of the cloud data migration itself could be too much of a barrier. If moving 100TB of data was going to take half a year to finish and cost over 100,000 dollars, would saving a couple thousand a month be worth it?
Choosing a cloud data migration tool
Perhaps the biggest factor for estimating time and cost depended on which data migration tool would be used. Unfortunately, direct comparisons could be nearly impossible because some tools require a long setup process involving multiple calls and hands-on demos, followed by pushy sales with sticker shock just to see if the tool would work.
With so many unknowns, comparing tools was a challenge, let alone users trying them out for themselves to see if they were a good fit for their use case.
Testing and running the migration
After choosing a tool, then the process transitions to a trial or pilot migration, followed by the migration itself. In the traditional process, communications would be sent out to teams to let them know about upcoming disruptions, and in the worst cases, some files wouldn't be able to be accessed until the migration finishes. All of the data would be moved over in one large job, with slower tools taking months to move a few terabytes. Someone would need to monitor the migration closely to make sure it was running as expected.
Finally, a delta sync would then be configured up until cutover to ensure the data is up to date. On completion of this it moves into business as usual (BAU) where the data migrated is checked and user training and onboarding persist.
A better cloud migration process
The traditional need to work through all of the above is simply wasted time and only delays your migration and creates work for the sake of it. Especially in the busy world we live in, who has time to spend months on a task that should just be simple?
And with Movebot, cloud data migrations are just that: simple.
The updated cloud data migration process with Movebot
As migrating data with Movebot does not impact your source/current storage provider you can move data, users, or drives anytime without degrading business operations. Movebot enables you to migrate in such an easy, simple no disruptive manner, that you can be away running without the stress of overplanning.
Instead of dozens of steps, complex communication and planning, and endless checks and monitoring, Movebot follows a simple three-step PAC process of Plan, Advance, Cutover. Simply PAC and get ready to get moving!
Plan
Even though Movebot is the fastest and simplest data migration tool there is, a little bit of planning goes a long way. With Movebot, that planning takes a different form. There's no need to coordinate with teams and departments to make sure they aren't working on files while the migration is running, plan the job for a long weekend or holiday, nothing like that.
Instead, planning involves what files you want to move and how you want them to show up. Depending on the destination and the project scope, this step can be incredibly easy. For instance, suppose you're migrating from on-prem to SharePoint online. Instead of having to memorize filename and path limits, character restrictions, and other SharePoint online Migration best practices, you can decide what you want to move and let Movebot handle the rest. If you come across an issue like duplicate files or bad character names, Movebot can fix them for you automatically during the migration if you leave deduplication and filename sanitization enabled. And if you hit a hard restriction, like a file too big for the source or a file path that is too long, Movebot will let you know so you can make necessary adjustments.
Planning cloud migrations is even easier because Movebot can help you find data based on criteria you set and exclude it from the migration. For example, if you have a set of archive files that haven't been touched for years, you don't have to move them to cloud storage. Movebot can find them with filtering and you can leave them behind on the file server, or move that group of files to another storage platform like cold storage with lower data rates.
Using the file server agent
When moving from an on-prem file server to the cloud, you'll need to download and run the Movebot agent on the server. Once you run the agent, connect to it using the token given in Movebot. Then Movebot will be able to connect to the server and any NAS devices on the same network. The server will then be treated like any other store for cloud data migrations and you can move files on the server to any of the 30+ supported storage platforms.
Advance
When your source and destination are connected, you can move on to the next stage, Advance. Here is where you'll set up your individual transfers and start moving data. Unlike many other data migration tools, you don't have to move the entire source to the destination at once when doing a cloud data migration.
Instead, we recommend breaking the project down into smaller pieces, like doing a transfer for a shared drive, group, or user. This way you can control what data moves at what time, and be able to monitor the progress of important files in an isolated environment instead of all the stats being melded together in one giant transfer.
Cutover
When your transfers start finishing, the final step is Cutover. Once a transfer completes, Movebot will generate a post-transfer report that gives you stats like the amount of data and number of files moved. You'll also see if any files failed to move over. A few failures is normal, and fortunately Movebot can rerun just the failures so you don't have to restart the entire transfer.
There's no need for downtime or anything like that either; if users were still working on the source while the migration is running, you can run delta migrations to pick up any updated files and move only those across. Movebot will check for differences between the source and destination and then only move files that are new or modified more recently in the source over to the destination.
And that's it! Migrations are quick and simple with Movebot.
5 tips to make your cloud data migration a success with Movebot
While migrations are simple and straightforward, you can make them even easier by following a few best practices. Here are 5 ways to help make your cloud data migration process a success with Movebot:
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Communicate. Talk with your teams and let them know that there will be a change and what to expect. If they're going to be working in a brand new storage platform give them a heads up and ideally an adjustment period. Because of Movebot delta migrations, you can also have a transition period and give users time working in both platforms before final cutover.
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Run the migration. As mentioned above, you can migrate everything at once or do your cloud data migration in smaller pieces. We recommend keeping the default settings in Movebot as it covers most scenarios, but if you're a data migration expert you can fine-tune options in the Expert settings.
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Enable Delta Sync. This will keep the data to the new platform up to date. Remember, you can do as many delta migrations as needed to pull over all of your files.
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Move users across to the new platform. Educate and support users about the new platform and let them know if any standard practices are being updated to take advantage of the features of the new platform.
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Transition into BAU. You can download a governance audit from Movebot as a reference of what has been transferred across for future reference.
More than cloud data migrations
Movebot offers lightning-fast, simple, cost-effective cloud data migrations. Take the complexity out of your next migration with a data migration tool that makes data moving fast and easy, and scales to meet your needs. Whether you need to move 1TB or 1000TB, Movebot can make it happen. Give it a try today by registering for a free with 250GB free, with no credit card required.
