Definition
Data migration is the process of transferring data from one storage system, database, or format to another. This complex undertaking involves planning, extraction, transformation, loading, and validation to ensure data integrity and accessibility. In practice, it often requires specialized tools and expertise to manage the complexities of different data structures and potential compatibility issues. Successfully migrating data is crucial for system upgrades, cloud adoption, or consolidating disparate information sources, minimizing downtime and operational disruption. For instance, moving a company's customer relationship management database from an on-premises server to a cloud-based solution is a common data migration scenario. This process differs from data replication, which creates identical copies of data, whereas migration involves a fundamental shift in data location or structure. Understanding data migration is vital for roles involved in IT infrastructure management and system architecture, appearing in domains like PMP and AWS SAA.