Are you spending huge costs & efforts on SQL Server maintenance activities to slash performance bottlenecks?
Organizations are staying comfortable in legacy data landscapes like SQL Server as they hold the fear of missing out on business continuity, reluctance to adopt modern tech stack, and spending costs on shifting to modern data landscape. These legacy data platforms take a back seat in matured data models and lose the competitive edge.
“On the flip side, your competitors will be rendering advanced business solutions with AI & ML models to win the marketplace.”
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Worry not! Migrating to Azure Synapse will put a halt to all this chaos!
You’ll enjoy the holistic features of cloud data platforms such as pay-as-you go pricing, serverless architecture, scalable resources, and near-zero maintenance!
Azure Synapse aims at delivering a unified platform for data integration, exploration, warehousing, and analytics with near-zero maintenance. The platform encompasses advanced features such as plug & play integration components (low code/no code), preferred language scripting such as Python, Scala, Spark, T-SQL, .Net, 95+ built-in connectors, and much more. With Azure Synapse platform, your organization can leverage end-to-end analytics solutions with deep integration of Azure Machine Learning, Azure Cognitive Services & Power BI.
If your organization is looking to win the competitive edge with a data-driven business model, then adopting Azure Synapse would be a crucial move in the digital transformation journey!
Here’re the migration strategies that you can opt for in SQL Server to Synapse migration!
MS SQL Server to Azure Synapse Migration Strategies
In generic, the data platform migration strategy is categorized as follows:
Lift & Shift/ Rehost
This approach involves migrating the existing SQL Server “as-is” to the Synapse environment. Suits best for organizations looking for an immediate shift of infrastructure & uncompromised business continuity. Organizations can plan to rehost and then refactor the legacy components to ensure business continuity.
Refactor
This approach involves end-to-end or partial reengineering of the existing SQL Server to Synapse platform.Suits best for organizations aiming to adopt the holistic features of Azure platform and rearchitect the legacy data landscape with a matured data model.
Be it rehosting or refactoring, we follow a streamlined migration approach. Here’s our defined SQL Server to Azure Synapse migration roadmap!
Discover
Our data specialists initiate the Synapse migration by unveiling the key factors of the legacy data model in SQL Server. We inspect every corner of the SQL Serverstructure and gather the inventory of databases, servers, objects, data sources, integration points, pipelines, process dependencies, accessibility permissions, and toolsets.
With these details, we outline an “as-is” architecture diagram.
Assess
In this phase, we delve into the drafted “as-is” architecture diagram and brainstorm the possible migration solutions to adopt Synapse platform. Depending on the volume of SQL Server database and business needs, our team collaborates with the client’s executive team and data migration approach (Online/ Offline).
Based on our keen analysis of the legacy data model, we recommend the best-fit future architecture to adopt Azure Synapse platform. Our future state architecture encompasses a complete data lifecycle from ingestion to analytics with appropriate toolsets.
As a closure note to the analysis phase, we brainstorm with the executive team to set realistic project deadlines by considering the size, complexities, and migration strategies.
Migration
Our team gears up the Synapse environment by creating databases, schemas, and objects. Consecutively, we extract all the historical data to Synapse platform with online/offline loads.
Upon successful migration of historical data, our team establishes integration points to Synapse platform based on the concluded migration strategy.
Rehost
In this approach, we export and deploy the existing SSIS packages in Synapse platform by leveraging Azure SSIS Runtime. Successively, we validate the connection managers and remediate the integration issues. After all, we replicate the SSIS job schedules by utilizing the Azure Synapse Triggers.
Refactor
In this approach, we analyze the legacy SSIS packages, stored procedures, and toolsets leveraged to establish integration points with SQL Server. We understand the core business logic and proceed with building robust data pipelines and flows with native (Azure Data Flow Pipelines) or third-party tools and resources. Successively, we test and deploy these data pipelines as per the legacy job schedules. After establishing integration points, we synchronize SQL Server and Synapse platform till cutover based on process dependencies.
The legacy SQL Server is now shifted to Azure Synapse platform!
With years of industry excellence, our team holds pre-built accelerators across the data lifecycle from ingestion to analytics to help organizations migrate or implement Synapse seamlessly.
Remediation
Our team validates the migration success by comparing the SQL Server and Synapse platforms. We detect the migration issues and propose possible mitigation strategies. Further, as a closure to the remediation phase, we focus on post-migration bug fixes.
Finally, we plan and communicate the cutover of SQL Server to the stakeholders for hassle-free organizational change management. As a final note, we cut off the integration points to SQL Server and revoke the accessibility of the legacy database.
Support
Post-migration, our team supports you in technical expertise, user adoption, organizational change management plans, and much more. Our team highlights the benefits & outcomes of Synapse migration in the aspects of cost savings, performance, efforts reduced to the executive team. We wind off with guaranteed support based on the SLA!
Wrapping up!
Being a tech-agnostic industry leader, with years of hands-on expertise in legacy and modern data platforms, our team has built industry-specific migration accelerators and customizable strategies to make the migration quick and simple.
No matter, what your toolset or migration strategy is, our team helps you in seamless Synapse migration with the blend of technical expertise and customer journey. Burst the fear of missing out on business continuity!
We’re here to support you with best-in-class DataOps practice for faster time to market!
