The term “lift and shift” can mean different things to different people. It is most commonly seen as migrating data from one platform into a new (often more modern) platform without addressing any issues or concerns with the data first.
A lift and shift would come into play when a client is on a strict timeline to move the data and is looking for the most optimal way to do this. In simple terms, you could say it’s a kind of ‘copy and paste’ of data from one platform to another!
Often organisations lift and shift because they’ve run out of time to address the data and then migrate it, possibly because their current legacy system is going to run out of support.
When you are just ‘lifting and shifting’ you’ve lost the transformation aspect. This is the mindset in the industry, the urgency stops the transformation and therefore the client loses value.
A lot of companies are doing this because of a lack of planning, or they view the problem as too big, too challenging to sort out. This is why transformation is so important. Transforming data can give clients advantages, allowing them to start again and get rid of their old data habits.
If you’re going to work in the new world, why work with old data?
In this rapidly changing world, there is always something better being developed or that has just been released – view this as a good thing. You’re being given the opportunity to remove blockers and pain points.
If you lift and shift, you’re simply taking your problems with you. Often organisations will be resistant to change but if you take the bad with you then you’re going to have to deal with it in your new environment.
Sort out your data now- data cleansing, data governance, removing data risk etc.
Transform before you move. Evolve with the times.
