Data Centre Move Challenges - a question raised

I was interviewing this week with a prospective new Consultant to bolster our team and we got to talking about Data Centre Move Projects and out of the blue he asked me what the typical challenges we would expect to experience when running a Migration or Move Project. Not to pass over the opportunity to show the experiences we have had in delivering our clients Data Centre journeys. I did have to take a second to think it through though, but I rolled off the typical challenges I have experienced:

1. ?????????? The Technical Team going native

The biggest challenge in mid to large companies is the technical teams / towers doing their own thing at their pace and not always aligned to the project timelines. Very frustrating and it becomes a power struggle between the project and the technology team. Fortunately, they are not common but when they are it becomes a risk to the project.

2.??????????? Post move testing and validation

Organising and pulling a team together to undertake the Testing and Validation of the move is a challenge on its own and one where you need a dedicated resource to co-ordinate and track the testing activities from the team. Every organisation seems to have their own way of undertaking tests, some pay ‘lip service’ others provide representation from each of the end user departments. Just don’t leave it to the last moment to organise else you will be disappointed.

3.??????????? Sourcing suitable documentation and knowledge transfer

This challenge is at the heart of most moves – gaining access to the current documentation on how services are built – in many cases documentation is either very lacking, is out of date, or is not easy to obtain. I can’t remember how many times I have been handed inappropriate documentation of a system. Some organisations do have some very good documents so it's not all doom.

4.??????????? Application compatibility due to the opportunity to upgrade

One of the rules of Data Centre Moves is no changes when moving. It seems no matter how many times I state this from the commencement of every Data Centre move project, we end up transforming rather than transitioning services, adding some element of risk to the move. It doesn’t always work so now I insist that services are prebuilt and tested before the day of the move.?

5.??????????? Relationships with vendors

Maintaining a relationship with the Vendor is a positive move, this is not always possible as the Technical Teams keep their arms around their existing vendor. In many cases we have found meetings taking place with the Vendor without involvement from the Project Team. Not always a good position to be in but sometimes you have to accept the situation and ensure the Vendor owner provides the key data back into the project.

6.??????????? The challenges of migrating data

One thing that has stood out in recent years is the vast amount of data required to be migrated. Now to the lay man, migrating data does not appear too difficult once a solution has been identified for the first dataset. The problem you have is the dynamics around data being migrated. Firstly, the ‘move’ of data does not really happen, in nearly every occasion it’s a copy we move with the original source remaining in place. Never move the only copy of the data, else expect disappointment. The questions that need to be addressed are:

i.????? The Storage Platform the data is hosted on, notwithstanding the platform manufacturer (as in most cases they have their own tools) but also whether it’s a SAN (Block) or a NAS (File) platform.

ii.????? Distance between the current and future Data Centres, can I transport it physically (using a swing device of course) during a maintenance window as it may be quicker than copying

iii.????? Size of the data store to be moved. This will help dictate the method to used and the time window expected for the move.

iv.????? The available network bandwidth between the two Data Centres – in some moves I have had some temporary fat pipes laid in to expedite data replications for some big moves.

v.????? The current replication/backup strategy being used between the Primary and Secondary Data Centres, this can be used sometimes for a further replication leg.

vi.????? The change rate of data. Is this a heavy data change datastore.

vii.????? Is the data regulated by a regulator. This may impact the handling of the data.

viii.???? The criticality of the data to the business.

There are many more challenges, but what are your experiences and challenges during your Data Centre Move Projects?

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