IT systems migration: optimise before you migrate

Optimising software before migrating

Migrating IT systems is a crucial step in any organisation's technological evolution. It can range from moving legacy software and applications to new platforms, to adopting cloud infrastructure or upgrading obsolete systems.

But whatever the nature of the migration, it is essential to understand that software optimisation must come before it, just as it is a good idea to clear things out before moving house.

Optimising software before migrating systems ensures a smooth process, minimises disruption to business operations and protects the quality of service on the day after the migration (D+1).

Why is it important to optimise software before an IT systems migration?

Before starting to migrate a system, it is important to understand that the process is not simply copying and pasting data and applications. It requires careful planning and preparation.

As part of that planning, optimising software before migrating systems is essential because it:

• identifies hidden problems,

• reduces time and costs, and

• improves performance.

A thorough assessment and in-depth analysis of the existing system makes it more likely that hidden problems are found, such as data redundancy, inefficiencies in the database structure or obsolete code.

Software optimisation also increases and improves the performance of the current system, even before the migration, with better response times and more efficient operations.

During a systems migration, it is imperative to ensure there is no drop in the quality of service, both in data delivery (batch SLAs) and in application response times (the user experience). In our experience we have seen degradations of 20% that can be avoided or reduced with proper optimisation beforehand.

Addressing these problems before the migration not only prevents later complications, it also reduces costs and minimises downtime by removing unnecessary or inefficient processes. Ultimately, this guarantees business continuity by avoiding long service interruptions, since a problematic or failed migration can have serious consequences for the business.

At Orizon, we carry out the software optimisations needed for the migration to be as efficient as possible, advising on both z/OS mainframe and midrange systems. With more than 15 years of experience in the market, we have identified a series of fundamental steps for effective preparation before a migration.

Steps for good optimisation before a successful migration

Once the new infrastructure is defined and the migration plan is in place, it is crucial to optimise beforehand to guarantee the quality of service.

Following these steps ensures that the migration is carried out effectively and that the quality of service is maintained on the new infrastructure:

1. Migration audit/assessment

• Evaluate the current quality of service.

• Identify obsolete processes and cut unnecessary components.

• Compare current monitoring with monitoring on the target, to make sure no visibility is lost and the same information is available.

• Consider the complexity of monitoring on the target systems. It is always more complex, because migrations are usually to more heterogeneous systems, where visibility is the inevitable result of planning and of carefully combining several sources of information. And there is no single tool that covers the business's needs for cost and quality of service.

2. Run a pilot test

• Run a pilot test to understand the impact of the migration on run times (for example, 20% or 10%…).

• If a pilot test is not feasible in the early stages of the migration, run a simulation based on realistic assumptions.

3. Optimise before the migration

• Set concrete action plans for optimisation and to prevent breaches of service level agreements (batch SLAs) or degraded response times. The goal is to make sure the desired service level is maintained.

• Clean up obsolete code to avoid migrating unnecessary components, which could add extra costs to the migration.

4. Evaluate the system on D+1

• Evaluate the system on the day after the migration, as it is very likely that not every possible case could be reproduced. Inefficiencies are likely to come to light, but if the system was optimised beforehand, they can usually be resolved and will not stop the project from succeeding. Unless you have an identical pre-production copy of the target system for production testing, this step is essential.

To do all this, at Orizon we offer a service guided by a unique methodology, DevPerOps, together with our own BOA tool, which gives proactive control and performance optimisation across all IT environments: identifying and correlating inefficiencies, prioritising and triaging them, through to resolving them and measuring the impact.

Our optimisation service analyses 100% of the technical elements, whatever the type of infrastructure, and acts on those that offer the highest return on investment, cutting costs and/or improving service.

Optimising systems, not only before a migration but at all times, gives you control and guarantees that the organisation runs efficiently, through centralised observability and end-to-end traceability.

In short, optimising software before migrating is a crucial step in any systems migration project. It lets organisations address existing problems, reduce costs and minimise risks. It also improves the system's performance and efficiency before the migration, which means a smoother experience for end users.

Optimising before moving to a new technology infrastructure may seem obvious, but it is key to the project's success, and only Orizon achieves improvement ratios of more than 50% at the critical points, making the difference.

Ready to migrate your systems? At Orizon we know how to help you.

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