How do you plan and execute a successful ArcGIS Enterprise migration or upgrade project?

1 Assess your current situation

Before you start any migration or upgrade project, you need to have a clear understanding of your current ArcGIS Enterprise configuration, components, dependencies, and usage. This will help you identify any potential issues, risks, or gaps that may affect your migration or upgrade process. You can use various tools and methods to assess your current situation, such as the ArcGIS Enterprise Health Check tool, the ArcGIS Enterprise Migration Assistant tool, the ArcGIS Enterprise Backup and Restore tool, and the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder app.

2 Define your goals and requirements

Once you have assessed your current situation, you need to define your goals and requirements for the migration or upgrade project. What are the main reasons and benefits for migrating or upgrading your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment? What are the expected outcomes and impacts on your users, workflows, and data? What are the technical and business constraints and priorities that you need to consider? You should also review the system requirements, compatibility, and licensing changes for the new version of ArcGIS Enterprise that you want to migrate or upgrade to.

3 Choose your migration or upgrade strategy

Based on your goals and requirements, you need to choose the most suitable migration or upgrade strategy for your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. There are different options and scenarios for migrating or upgrading ArcGIS Enterprise, depending on your current and target versions, architectures, platforms, and environments. For example, you can perform an in-place upgrade, a side-by-side migration, a cross-platform migration, or a hybrid migration. You should also decide whether you want to migrate or upgrade all components at once or in stages.

4 Prepare your environment and data

Before you execute your migration or upgrade project, you need to prepare your environment and data to ensure a smooth and successful transition. You should perform a backup of your current ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, including the portal content, the server configuration store, the federated servers, the relational and tile cache data stores, the hosting server, and any customizations or extensions. You should also test your backup and restore procedures, validate your data integrity and quality, and resolve any errors or warnings.

5 Execute your migration or upgrade project

When you are ready to execute your migration or upgrade project, you should follow the detailed steps and guidelines provided by Esri for your chosen migration or upgrade strategy. You should also monitor the progress and status of your migration or upgrade process, and troubleshoot any issues or errors that may arise. You should also document any changes or deviations from your original plan, and log any incidents or lessons learned.

6 Verify and validate your new ArcGIS Enterprise deployment

After you have completed your migration or upgrade project, you need to verify and validate your new ArcGIS Enterprise deployment to ensure that it meets your goals and requirements. You should perform a post-migration or post-upgrade health check, using the same tools and methods that you used to assess your current situation. You should also test your new ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, using a representative sample of users, workflows, and data. You should also communicate the changes and benefits of your new ArcGIS Enterprise deployment to your stakeholders and users.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?