Data Migration involves the movement of data from one location to another. It could also include moving data between different applications or formats. In the ideal situation, data migration should involve no data loss and minimal recreation or manipulation of data when it finally gets to the intended destination and format.
However, the success of data migration will largely depend on several factors, which include the tools you choose to use. In this article, I will discuss some of the best data migration tools you should consider for your next data migration project. I will discuss the capabilities of each of these tools to help you make an informed decision about which ones to use.
But first, let’s look at the types of data migration tools and the factors you should consider while choosing one.
Type of data migration tools
There are three major types of data migration tools; On-premise tools, self-scripted tools, and cloud-based tools. Let’s discuss each of these in detail;
1. On-premise tools
These are the data migration tools used when moving data within the enterprise’s network. They are the ideal choice when using cloud-based solutions is not an option. One of the major benefits of using on-premise tools is that they give full control to the company’s IT team to take care of every process of data movement. The only downside with these tools is that the IT team needs to keep applications up and running during the process.
2. Self-scripted tools
Self-scripted data migration tools are usually used for small data migration projects or when using other types of tools is not an option. These tools are developed by the data migration team, but they require extensive coding knowledge and take time to build. If the team doesn’t have this expertise, then hiring external experts is the way to go. Writing the code from scratch also takes extra time, which may not be ideal if you want the process to be done fast.
3. Cloud-based tools
Cloud-based data migration tools are used when data is being moved from an on-premise location to the cloud or between cloud environments. Among the three, cloud-based tools are usually the most flexible option and also handle different types of data. Among the benefits of using cloud-based solutions is their ability to scale up and down depending on your needs. Most of these tools also have the Pay-as-you-go pricing model, so you will only pay for the resources you utilize.
Those are the three major types of data migration tools. You can choose to use any of these depending on the situation of the data migration project you intend to execute. Let’s now look at some factors you must consider while choosing the best data migration tools to use.
Factors to consider while choosing data migration tools
4. Data sources and destinations
Self-scripted tools can be created to work with different data types and any location. The only downside, as we shared earlier, is that they are complex and require much time to create. They also need to be more easily scalable. The good news is that most of the ready-to-use On-premise and cloud-based tools support most of the data types and locations. However, it is crucial to first check the list of supported types and locations to ensure you don’t choose an incompatible tool.
5. Functionality
You need to choose a data migration tool that can be used for all parts of the data migration process, including planning, data profiling, data backup, migration design, execution, testing, and post-migration audit. Choosing a tool that cannot perform any of the above tasks will require you to use additional tools or task the data migration engineers to script one that can do the remaining tasks. This may lead to incurring extra costs and wasting more time on the project.
6. Performance and scalability
One of the major benefits of using cloud-based data migration tools is their ability to scale up or down according to the changing needs of data migration. This makes cloud-based tools the ideal solution for large projects that need high performance and scalability. On-premise tools are usually limited by the hardware on which they run. Scripted tools are not easily scalable and don’t offer the best performance for large projects.
7. Reliability
Again cloud-based tools are the most reliable since their uptime is close to 100%. Using On-premise tools requires your data migration team to make sure the infrastructure being used is not interrupted during the process. This may require having backup power sources, which is an extra cost if the backup solution is not already in place.
8. Security and privacy
When moving sensitive data that is subject to meeting regulatory requirements, then it is crucial to choose a tool that meets these requirements. Most of the cloud-based tools are compliant with HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, and many more privacy and security regulatory policies.
9. Ease of use
Your team will save way more time if they use data migration tools with an intuitive UI and straightforward procedure to do things. It should be noted that most of the free options do not make the cut when it comes to ease of use.
10. Pricing and customer support
There are plenty of free data migration tools, but as we shared earlier, these are usually not intuitive and easy to use. There are also open-source tools that are developed by communities. These are also free or way cheaper than commercial solutions, but they usually have limited functionality and lack customer support. Commercial tools are the best option when it comes to ease of use, support, and reliability. Cloud-based tools are usually the most price friendly, especially when dealing with the migration of huge amounts of data.
11. Customer support
Some data migration projects will not be flawless, so you need to choose a data migration tool with a team that can help you when you run into problems. Take time to read reviews by previous customers to find out what they say about the tool’s customer support.
The top data migration tools
1. Azure CosmosDB (free)
This is a data migration tool designed by Microsoft. It is known for delivering highspeed read and write time. Azure CosmosDB is a free, open-source, command-line tool that you can use to move data from different data sources to the Azure Cosmos database. Some of the data sources that Azure CosmosDB is designed to work with include MongoDB, SQL Server, Table Storage, Amazon DynamoDB, JSON files, and CSV files.
Key features of Azure CosmosDB
- It can filter data during migration
- Supports different data sources
- This tool can map data from the source to the corresponding Cosmos DB SQL API collection.
- It allows users to monitor progress and also cancel migration at any point
2. AWS data pipeline ($0.65 to $2.5 per activity)
This is one of Amazon’s web services that enables users to process and move data between different AWS storage or computer services. It can also be used to move data from on-premise storage to the cloud. With AWS data pipeline service, you don’t have to manually move your data from one region to another.
It will automatically transfer your data to a new region with minimal effort on your side. AWS Data Pipeline also allows you to define a multi-step data pipeline, which further minimizes the risk of failure during the data migration process. Amazon data pipeline is a cloud-based tool that is ideal for moving databases to AWS.
Key features of Amazon Data Pipeline
- It supports homogeneous and heterogeneous migration. For instance, migration between two Microsoft SQL databases or between Microsoft SQL and Oracle.
- Application downtime is significantly minimized.
- Ideal for continuous data migration, thanks to its high availability.
- It is very flexible and scalable.
3. Informix by IBM (Contact IMB for price)
It is a data migration tool designed to move data between IBM databases. Informix is mainly designed for homogeneous data migration, so it is not ideal for transferring data between different kinds of databases. It can also be used to move data from a traditional or hybrid transactional system to an IBM Informix database.
Key features of Informix by IBM
- It has the potential to perform high-speed data checking transfers thanks to its utilities such as db export & db import utility, db load utility, on load and on unloading utility, and more.
- It can do migrations for databases running different operating systems
- It can also be used for migrations from one server to another.
4. SnapLogic (contact their support)
This cloud-based data migration tool enables users to move data from different data sources in the cloud and on-premise. It gives users the option of using its pre-built connectors for popular applications and data sources or their custom-built connectors. SnapLogic has a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create data pipelines. It also has machine learning capabilities that enable the automatic mapping of data fields between various data sources.
SnapLogic key features
- Supports real-time monitoring and alerts
- It also has an extensive library of pipelines created by its community.
- Its drag-and-drop UI eases the process of creating pipelines.
- It has data transformation and enrichment capabilities.
5. Hevo Data ($249 to $1399 /month or custom offer for large-scale users)
It is a cloud-based data migration tool that enables organizations to collect, prepare, analyze, and move data between different databases. Hevo Data is an all-in-one solution for data warehousing, data lakes, and data science. This data migration platform uses a serverless architecture and is built on top of cloud-native Apache Hadoop and Spark ecosystem.
Hevo data key features
- It has built-in transformation capabilities
- Supports in-transit data formatting
- Flexible schema management
- Supports syncing from one or multiple databases
6. Fivetran (from $60 to $240 with the option of a custom quote)
Fivetran is another reliable cloud-based data migration tool that automatically extracts, transforms, and loads data from different data sources to a central database or data warehouse. This tool has pre-built connectors for most of the popular data sources, including Amazon Redshift, Google Analytics and PostgreSQL, and Salesforce. It also allows the creation of custom connectors for other data sources.
Fivetran key features
- Supports data blocking that lets users omit specific tables or columns from replicating to the final destination of the data.
- It also supports column hashing that anonymizes sensitive data in the destination database without compromising its analytical value.
- Data synchronization capabilities, including re-sync, full re-sync, and table re-sync.
7. Stitch Data ($100 to $1250/month and custom offer option)
Stitch Data is also a cloud-based data migration tool that enables users to collect, connect, and analyze data from most of the popular data sources. This migration tool integrates with several databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle Database, Asana, and more.
Stitch Data key features
- Supports real-time data visualization during migration
- It quickly and easily connects with most of the popular data sources
- It is highly scalable, making it ideal for moving high volumes of data
8. DBConvert Studio (from $599 per year)
It is a data migration tool designed to convert database structure and data between different databases. It is one of the most reliable data migration tools for database migration and synchronization. DBConvert Studio supports most of the popular databases, including SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle.
DBConvert Studio key features
- Allows renaming of all database objects during migration
- It comes with a flexible built-in scheduler
- It supports applying filters to make extracting the necessary data from the Source database easier.
Final thoughts
Those are some of the data migration tools that you can choose from based on the kind of data migration project you want to execute. We have also shared some of the major features for each to guide you as you choose which one to use. At the end of the day, choose a data migration tool that will give your organization and customers the most value.
