Anyone who’s ever been tasked with purchasing data analytics technologies can tell you: The market is a fragmented and confusing place.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different tools and solutions that target information-related challenges of every stripe—from business intelligence to warehousing and data movement. And while there seems to be no limit to the market output, there are real limitations to most teams’ ability to scale a major migration project.

The truth is, unless you’ve been intimately and repeatedly involved in the process of cloud migration, you probably have no idea where to even begin. 

In fact, even companies with a decent understanding of data and the cloud often find they need to call in expert help when it comes time to migrate. And that’s understandable. Data modernization is a huge investment of money, people power, and time. Your project deserves every possible chance at achieving transformative ROI, and its chances will be far improved with expert help.

But as you probably are already aware, not just any consulting partner will do. There are hundreds of providers in this space who claim to be experts in data modernization. But in reality many of these organizations operate as little more than IT services firms. What you really need is a partner who can demonstrate deep expertise, both in tactical approaches to cloud migration, analytics modernization, and in helping internal teams develop their bandwidth to meet specific organizational needs.  

The first rule of data modernization: don’t expect cloud results from a legacy partner

Going blindly into an analytics modernization project or cloud/digital transformation initiative is, of course, a recipe for failure. And sadly, many migration projects do in fact fail, mostly due to a lack of experienced guidance. Having taken part in countless migration projects of every scope and size, the experts at DAS42 have seen just about every challenge there is. We’ve learned how to position organizations for success from the outset. 

It starts with taking a holistic approach that accounts for every interrelated piece of the data stack. In addition, DAS42 has evaluated every major platform in the current data marketplace. And while there’s a place for tech-agnosticism, as some of the top experts in this field, we won’t deny we’ve developed strong opinions over the years about which tools and solutions work best to meet each customer’s unique needs and goals. 

But we also acknowledge there’s no such thing as an end-all-be-all partner. Just as vital as expertise is the ability for a consultant to admit they’re out of their depth with a given tool or solution. That’s why DAS42 maintains deep relationships across the industry. When a customer comes to us with needs that are outside the scope of our expertise, we are happy to connect them with resources from our close partners. Because it’s about more than gaining your business; it’s about delivering results.

As an additional service to our customers, DAS42 offers fixed-fee or retainer based pricing. This flexibility gives you the freedom to stop worrying about what your data migration project will cost, and start seeing it as an important investment that will continue paying dividends over time. 

3 keys to effective migration planning

Our following three-pronged approach helps guide even the least experienced company through the process of cloud migration. To begin, we conduct a thorough data strategy evaluation. Its focus is to identify opportunities to improve in the areas of:

1. Acceleration. Speed is essential to any data modernization effort, but even more essential is the ability to fail fast (read: money-saving) and switch gears quickly. After all, time is money. When your organization is investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a data modernization project, there’s no time to stand around and wait for ROI.
2. Risk management. There are many risks involved with migrating to the cloud. Not knowing the right questions to ask of your data is one risk. Failing to modernize applications and processes to fit the cloud is another. Our experience mitigating these risks for customers is what makes DAS42 an ideal partner for companies planning a large data modernization project. We can help your teams resolve key infrastructure and application issues while gaining the buy-in necessary to migrate at scale. 
3. Communication. At DAS42, we’re experts in more than just troubleshooting; we’re also good bridge builders. We start each engagement by getting to the heart of the business needs our customers hope to satisfy after migrating their data to a cloud-based platform. What do marketing teams hope to gain from the exercise? How do their goals differ from those of the sales teams? From that modern-day standpoint of current goals (and obstacles), we begin working backward to forge a migration strategy with IT teams. It’s all about empowering these teams to conscientiously address company-wide challenges, both immediately and in the long term. 

Stop spinning your wheels and start envisioning the possibilities

Perhaps the single most important facet to consider as you prepare for any data modernization project has to do with your own expectations. At the end of the day, you can’t keep approaching your data the same old way and expect to leverage all the transformative benefits the cloud has to offer. Failing to innovate will ensure that those same legacy problems keep coming up in your systems and processes.

Relying on the speed and efficiency of the cloud and modern analytics technologies, we can give you a big-picture view and help you find flexible ways to slice and dice your data for your unique business needs. Soon, your organization will be well on its way to creating new metrics and adding new data sets to support a promising and holistic data outlook for years to come.