What is Data Migration and Why is it Important?

Regardless of the system you choose, data migration often is the least fun part of moving to a new agency management system (AMS) or customer relationship management (CRM) software. But, by preparing your team and effectively cleaning your data, your insurance agency can achieve a more streamlined, less stressful data migration process. The infographic below will show why preparing for data migration is crucial.

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Data Migration

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What is Data Migration?

"Data migration is the process of transporting data between computers, storage devices, or formats. It is a key consideration for any system implementation, upgrade, or consolidation."

91% of businesses engage in data migration projects.

—DMNews

The 5 Main Data Migration Challenges

  1. Poor interpretation of business rules
  2. Poor system design
  3. Lack of collaboration
  4. Lack of data standardization/consistency
  5. Inaccurate information

85% of businesses run into a significant problem during the process.

—DMNews

4 Ways Businesses Lose Information

  1. Poor data storage practices (paper files, external disk drives, etc.)
  2. Poor document control practices (multiple versions, multiple backups, lack of backup, etc.)
  3. Poor security practices (viruses, spam, etc.)
  4. Human or operational errors (failure to backup, failure to migrate data, losing 'master' copy, etc.)

Data Migration Best Practices

What can I do?

Instead of letting these data migration challenges scare you, choose to prepare. These data migration best practices can help you be more prepared for when the time comes:

  1. Understand Your Data—Before migrating any data to a new system, make sure you have a good grasp on what data you'll be migrating, how clean it is, the amount of data, and if any data needs to migrate under any specific security protocols. Scrub any data if necessary.
  2. Test and Validate—Make sure to test and validate your data, not only after the migration but throughout the migration process as well. You want to make sure that your data is in the right spots and looks how it's supposed to be. This can help avoid costly mistakes!
  3. Stick to the Plan—Create a data migration plan or strategy, and stick to it. Creating a step-by-step process, and who each step involves, will help the transition go much more smoothly.
  4. Back Up Your Data—Technology has undoubtedly made our lives significantly easier, but it's not perfect. Before doing any migrations, make sure you back up your data to prevent any unexpected data loss that could occur. Having the ability to restore your data if things go wrong is crucial.
  5. Establish a Schedule—Creating a realistic migration schedule is important. You'll want to make sure that your migration is as least disruptive to normal business operations as possible. It's also important to communicate these timelines with anyone who the migration will affect.

When you decide to move, make sure and ask the sales rep about data migration. Here are some questions to get you started:

  • Do they help with data migration? What does the data import process look like?
  • Do they offer templates for import?
  • What kind of communication are you going to get through the process?
  • How much will the migration cost?

For all the questions you should be asking and the answers you should be expecting, check out our blog: The 9 Questions You Should Be Asking About Data Migration.

Want to learn more about data migration?

This ebook can help your agency better understand what data migration is and how your team can get prepared to make it an easier transition.

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This blog was originally published on March 10, 2017, and has been most recently updated and republished on March 22, 2022.

Posted by Sarah Rosonke on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Data Migration

About The Author

Sarah Rosonke

Sarah is the Design and Content Specialist at AgencyBloc. She creates and designs helpful resources to support life and health insurance agencies in growing and automating their business. Favorite quote: "You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try." —Dol ... read more