How can you validate and cleanse data in Informatica PowerCenter for data migration?

1 Data validation

Data validation is a process of verifying the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of the data. It can help you identify and resolve data issues, such as missing values, duplicates, outliers, or invalid formats. Informatica PowerCenter provides several features and functions to facilitate data validation. For instance, data profiling is the analysis of the data sources to understand their structure, content, and quality; this can be done with Informatica Developer or Analyst tools. Additionally, data rules are expressions that define the expected or desired values, formats, or ranges of the data; these can also be created and applied using either Developer or Analyst tools. Additionally, mapping validation is used to verify the syntax and logic of the mappings that define the data transformation and movement; this can be done with Informatica Designer tool.

2 Data cleansing

Data cleansing is the process of correcting, standardizing, and enhancing data. This practice can help improve data quality and usability, as well as reduce data redundancy and complexity. Informatica PowerCenter provides various transformations and functions to aid in cleansing data, such as Expression transformation, Filter transformation, Lookup transformation, and Update strategy transformation. Expression transformation can be used to trim spaces, convert cases, format dates, or replace nulls. Filter transformation is effective for eliminating duplicates, outliers, or irrelevant records. Lookup transformation allows users to look up the data from another source or target based on a key. It can be used to validate, enrich, or standardize data using a reference table or master data source. Finally, Update strategy transformation helps specify how to update target data based on a condition. It can be used for inserting, updating, deleting, or rejecting data based on data quality rules or business logic.

3 Data migration workflow

Data migration workflow is a sequence of tasks and sessions that execute the data validation and cleansing logic and move the data from the source to the target. Utilizing Informatica Workflow Manager and Workflow Monitor tools, you can create, schedule, run, and monitor your data migration workflows. Generally, this process includes extracting the data from the source system, validating it with data rules or profiling, cleansing it with expression or filter transformations, loading it to the target system, validating the target data with data rules or DVO, and generating/reviewing the migration logs, reports, and metrics. By following these steps using Informatica PowerCenter, you can ensure data quality, integrity, and consistency across systems to fulfill business or technical objectives.