Key Findings and Conclusion

Most industries are embracing integrated platforms to transition to a digital-first business model. Trending technologies with best-in-class digital B/OSS solutions on scalable platforms act as a central nervous system for organizations in their shift.

For smaller greenfield data migration targets, ETL-based big bang migration is adopted to quickly retire legacy applications
For larger transformations involving end-to-end stack and regulatory compliance needs, organizations may use a criteria-based migration approach, which could either be ETL-driven, or business process-driven
A criteria-based migration approach offers flexibility around controlled migration, customer experience, and ongoing capabilities building
In the telecom industry that has witnessed large transformations, a criteria-based migration approach works well and often runs across years

After examining several case studies from the past decade, including situations where the target IT system was either on-premises or cloud-based, and considering the industry regulations, this paper concludes that data migration is a significant project in its own right. Analyzing several influencing factors, such as the number of IT components involved in the source and target IT stacks, as well as the volume, multi-tenancy, platform limits, and stabilization needs, it is evident that data migration calls for a robust implementation strategy. For high-speed data migration, numerous components across the new IT stack must be seamlessly integrated and backed by operational support and delivery best practices. Industry, geo, and context-specific migration approaches can help drive growth and stability.