Choosing the Best Data Migration Tools: Our Top 10 Picks

Alexander Kirpichny

Product Owner, Ispirer Systems

Data migration is essential for businesses to update their systems, adopt new tech, or improve efficiency. However, navigating the data migration endeavor can only be challenging with the right strategies. In the digital era, where data is the lifeblood of businesses, selecting the proper data migration tools is paramount to ensure a smooth data transition.

What is data migration?

Data migration is the crucial transfer process between storage systems, formats, or computer systems. It is essential for implementing new systems and meeting organizational needs. Data migration involves analyzing data, planning, designing, executing, and validating to ensure data integrity and functionality. It is often part of larger transformations like consolidation or system implementation.

Data migration also involves data type mapping, determining how fields are changed from the original to the new system. Migration difficulty varies based on source/target databases, data structure, and volume. The ultimate goal is to transfer data efficiently, accurately, and securely, enabling organizations to manage their data quickly in the new environment.

Additionally, organizations often need to migrate or merge data from multiple sources into a single, centralized repository. Usually companies need to combine systems when they merge or are acquired. It also occurs in organizations with data stored in different places.

Whether moving data to a public, private, hybrid, or multi-cloud setup, a secure, cost-efficient, and practical approach is essential to successfully ensure the data reaches its new destination.

Types of data migration

There are six commonly recognized types of data migration, though these categories are flexible rather than rigid. A specific data transfer scenario might fall under multiple types simultaneously, such as a database and cloud-based migration or one involving both application and database migration.

Storage migration

Storage migration involves moving data from one storage medium to another. Companies undertake storage migrations to upgrade to newer technology or infrastructure, which offers significantly faster performance and more cost-effective scalability. This process also enables essential data management features like cloning, snapshots, backup, and disaster recovery.

Database migration

Databases store data in a structured and organized manner, and database management systems manage them. Database migration is moving data from one database to another or updating to a newer version of the same system.

Transitioning between various Database Management Systems (DBMSs) can be intricate, particularly if the originating and receiving systems possess differing data frameworks. This process is even more complicated when discussing heterogeneous migration, i.e., between different RDBMS.

Application migration

Application migration happens when an organization transitions from one platform or vendor application to another. Each application has its unique data model and is not inherently portable, meaning the operating systems, virtual machine configurations, and management tools can vary across development and deployment environments. These differences add to the complexity of the migration process. Middleware products can simplify this process by bridging the technology gap, making the software migration more manageable.

Cloud migration

Cloud migration is moving data or applications from a physical location to the cloud or between different cloud services. Essentially, it is a specialized form of storage migration. IT experts are noticing a trend of companies transitioning to cloud services. They predict that by the late 2030s, most large corporations will have adopted cloud technology.

Business process migration

Business process migration involves transferring business applications and data related to processes and metrics to a new environment. These metrics can encompass customer, product, and operational information. This type of migration often enables business optimization, reorganization, and mergers and acquisitions, which are essential for entering new markets and staying competitive.

Data center migration

Data center migration means moving a data center's infrastructure to a new location or upgrading equipment in the same area. A data center includes the storage systems that support an organization's essential applications, including servers, network routers, switches, computers, storage devices, and other related hardware.

What are data migration tools?

Many data migration tools are designed to streamline data transfer across various applications, databases, platforms, or data warehouses. These tools ensure migration projects' accuracy, efficiency, and overall success.

The tools you choose for your project will depend on your data migration strategy and your desired business results. Your organization needs a reliable data integration tool.

This tool will help you combine data from different sources, replace or upgrade hardware, move data centers, and recover data from damaged sources.

When choosing data migration tools, there are usually two options to consider. These options depend on the data user's needs and situation.

• On-premises data migration tools are used to move data between servers or databases located on-premises.
• Cloud-based data migration tools help move data to big data lakes or warehouses in the cloud. It is useful when transferring old data to a system that can analyze it quickly.

What are the Requirements for Data Migration Tools?

Choosing the right tool for data migration requires taking into account several criteria:

• Scalability. A tool must be easily scaled up and down to allow you to work with any volume of data.
• Compatibility with legacy systems. The tool must support legacy systems when moving data from outdated systems.
• Automated workflows. The larger the project, the higher the chance it will involve complex operations. So, choosing a solution that can automate the workflow is better.
• Easy data comparison. Pay attention to the drag-and-drop feature to eliminate any potential troubles with data transfer. It is especially crucial if you plan to deliver the tool to employees needing more technical skills.
• Auto-detection of missing elements. Automated detection of missing elements drastically reduces migration time and allows for detecting an error while stopping the operation.
• Pricing flexibility. Consider factors such as the complexity of your data migration, the volume of data to be moved, and its type and system requirements.
• Documentation and training. Instructions, guides, and documentation make understanding how the tool works easier.
• Security. As data is often confidential, the highest security standards are essential for moving data from source to target with confidence.

Top 10 data migration tools

Here's a comprehensive list of the top 10 data migration tools you can choose to complete your migration process.

Ispirer Toolkit

Ispirer Toolkit is a tool for migrating database schema and data designed to facilitate seamless database transfers across different platforms. SQLWays Wizard is part of the Ispirer Toolkit. It has advanced features and many functions. This tool helps migrate over 40 RDBMSs, including Oracle, IBM DB2, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and more.

SQLWays Wizard is an AI-powered tool that migrates the whole database, including its schema and data. It also uses AI to improve error handling after migration and help with code refactoring. With AI, post-migration database optimization is 80% faster than manually.

Ispirer Toolkit has a range of advantages:

• High quality of data integrity during data transfer. Ensures data remains accurate and consistent throughout migration, preventing data corruption or loss.
• The user-friendly and intuitive graphical user interface simplifies the migration process, making it accessible even to users with limited technical expertise.
• Possibility to run migration in Command Line Mode. Provides flexibility for advanced users to automate and script migration tasks, enhancing efficiency.
• Secure and reliable connection to databases using ODBC and native utilities. Users can utilize familiar tools, which further enhances the flexibility of migrating with the Ispirer Toolkit.
• Migration to the cloud, including GCP, AWS, and Azure. Ispirer Toolkit is a comprehensive tool for migrating from on-premises to cloud and from cloud to cloud. Its versatile pool of features, settings, and customization options make it appropriate for almost any migration scenario.
• Automation significantly shortens migration time. It reduces manual effort and speeds up the migration process, allowing for quicker project completion.
• Support of all data types.
• Quick and easy data extraction from diverse sources without the need for complex coding. Streamlines the extraction process, saving time and reducing the need for specialized coding skills.
• Migration speed up to 100 GB/h and more.
• Possibility to transfer tables and data separately.
• Possibility to run in parallel mode. Increases efficiency by performing multiple migration tasks simultaneously, further speeding up the process.
• Migration of part of data from each table (using query). This feature allows selective data migration, enabling organizations to transfer only the necessary data.

The Ispirer data migration tool provides many customization options. This allows users to adjust the migration process to meet their needs and ensures that the tool works well with the target database platform. Book a demo with experts to see Ispirer Toolkit in action and learn how it can automate data migration, speed up the process of transferring data to a new database, and simplify it.

Whether you're migrating a small database or a large-scale enterprise system, the Ispirer Toolkit provides the tools and capabilities needed to ensure a smooth and successful migration process. This enables organizations to leverage their data assets more effectively and efficiently.

Azure Migrate

Azure Migrate helps you transition to Azure by providing tools for various migration tasks, such as data transfer. It makes transferring data from on-premises, hybrid clouds, or within Microsoft Azure to Azure storage solutions easy and efficient. Azure Migrate provides a centralized migration hub, a unified platform that lets you plan, implement, and track your migration strategy. With Azure Migrate, organizations can easily move their data to the Azure cloud platform with minimal downtime and maximum efficiency.

AWS Database Migration Service

AWS Database Migration Service is a comprehensive solution tailored to simplify database migration tasks within the AWS ecosystem. This service helps move databases to and from AWS quickly, allowing organizations to transition their data efficiently from different locations.

Users can execute database migration projects with AWS DMS while minimizing downtime and ensuring data integrity. AWS DMS makes it easier and faster to migrate to Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, and other AWS database services, simplifying the process of adopting AWS cloud infrastructure.

Fivetran

Fivetran is a data integration platform that handles data management and synchronization. It enables companies to link different data sources, including databases, applications, and cloud computing services, and consolidate their data in one unified place.

Fivetran offers numerous connectors that simplify the connection to more than 150 data sources, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB. It also integrates with cloud applications like Salesforce, Google Analytics, and Zendesk. This extensive connectivity enables businesses to swiftly and effortlessly pull data from various sources, eliminating the need for intricate coding or manual setup.

AirByte

Airbyte is an open-source solution designed for seamless data integration and ETL operations. It offers unparalleled versatility and empowers users to move and orchestrate data across diverse platforms. Supporting migration from over 350 sources to many destinations, AirByte ensures compatibility with databases, data warehouses, and beyond.

Among its standout features is the support of incremental data synchronization. Users can transfer and update only the changed data since the last migration, which improves operational efficiency. Moreover, this intelligent approach reduces the volume of data transferred, resulting in a resource-efficient migration process.

Matillion

Matillion is a data integration platform built for the cloud. It enables data extraction, transformation, and loading. It offers a user-friendly platform for creating and controlling data pipelines. This platform enables fast data transfer between various cloud data warehouses and databases. It works well with many different systems, such as BigQuery, AWS, Oracle, SAP, and Azure Cosmos.

Talend

Talend is an instrument that facilitates the transfer of data across diverse systems, streamlining the process for better efficiency. It helps companies migrate data from a multitude of sources to their preferred destination. Talend offers an intuitive interface and a vast selection of connectors to simplify the process, empowering businesses to handle and modify their data more efficiently.

Talend is adaptable and scalable, allowing users to tailor data migration procedures to suit their requirements. Whether transferring vast amounts of data or executing incremental updates, Talend provides powerful features to maintain data accuracy and dependability during migration.

HevoData

Hevo Data is a platform that makes it simple for organizations to collect and merge data from various sources. Users can migrate data to their preferred destinations, such as data warehouses or cloud storage.

Hevo Data provides a reliable solution for your data integration needs. It works with live data, data in chunks, or a combination of both. The platform is dependable and expandable to meet your requirements.

Snaplogic

SnapLogic is an IPaaS solution for the enterprise that delivers data integration and workflow automation solutions. It enables businesses to transfer data among diverse systems, applications, and cloud platforms. SnapLogic simplifies the creation of user integration pipelines through a straightforward drag-and-drop interface. Its intuitive design is suitable for individuals with different degrees of technical skills, promoting effective data integration procedures throughout the company.

Integrate.io

Integrate.io, formerly known as Import.io, is a platform that makes it easy to move data between different systems and platforms. With its user-friendly interface and robust automation capabilities, Integrate.io allows companies to effortlessly move data from various sources like databases, applications, and cloud services to their preferred location.

A primary advantage of Integrate.io is its proficiency in effortlessly managing intricate data migration operations. Whether you're transferring data between on-site systems, transitioning to a cloud-based setup, or amalgamating data from various sources, Integrate.io provides a reliable solution to meet your migration requirements.

Moreover, Integrate.io offers sophisticated data transformation features, enabling users to modify and purify data as it progresses through the migration procedure. This guarantees that data stays precise and uniform across various systems and platforms.

How do you choose the right tool?

Choosing the appropriate data migration software involves assessing several critical factors:

• Data complexity and volume. Evaluate the complexity and volume of your data to ensure the selected software can effectively handle the migration process.
• Compatibility with source and destination systems. Confirm that the chosen software is compatible with both the source and destination systems involved in the data transfer.
• Budget and timeline constraints. Consider your project's budget and timeline to align with the capabilities and deployment timelines of the migration software.

Analyzing the intricacy and size of your data and its frequency of changes is essential to determining the most suitable tool. Additionally, it ensures compatibility and scalability across systems, anticipating potential growth and expansion.

Lastly, factor in your team's expertise and availability. For tighter budgets or timelines, opt for automation-driven solutions, while customizable tools may be preferable for skilled teams seeking flexibility and customization options.

Conclusion

Data migration tools are essential for successful data migration projects. They help simplify and automate complex processes. Picking the best tool for your needs is important since data is becoming increasingly extensive and complex. By considering factors such as data complexity, compatibility with source and destination systems, budget, and time constraints, organizations can make informed decisions and choose the most suitable data migration tool for their project.

Using the right data management solutions can make moving to the cloud, updating systems, or combining databases easier. Book a demo with the Ispirer experts to see the Ispirer Toolkit in action and get acquainted with its potential for data migration endeavors. If you first want to choose the appropriate pricing of the Ispirer Toolkit, check the pricing page.