Head of Database Migration Department, Ispirer Systems
SQLWays Wizard is a tool for automated database migration and one of the tools included in Ispirer Toolkit. Out-of-the-box, it automates a migration to a certain extent depending on how developed the migration direction is in the Wizard and how complex the source database is. There are several ways to improve the quality of automated migration - through the optimum configuration of the Wizard and its customization. This article will help you to understand both notions and answer all the questions about them.
What is SQLWays configuration?
The automation rate is determined by a wide range of settings that SQLWays Wizard provides. So the first step on the path to the maximum automation of your migration is to ensure that SQLWays Wizard is configured properly. Our support team will be happy to assist you with that.
However, the right configuration of the tool is only the first step. Next, you should consider tool customization. Customizing SQLWays Wizard will greatly enhance the quality of automated migration, and we will delve into this topic further.
What is customization?
Customization is modification of SQLWays Wizard core, which consists of a number of conversion rules. There are two main ways to customize SQLWays Wizard - either by adding new conversion rules to the tool, or altering existing ones.
The main goal of customization is to maximize the efficiency of automated database migration. This includes eliminating errors which occurred during the test migration with SQLWays Wizard, as well as shortening the migration project timeframe.
What determines the number of customization requests?
When buying an Ispirer Toolkit license, customers can purchase customization requests. In order to understand how many requests you need for a successful migration project, you need to take into account a number of factors:
- Current default level of automated conversion using SQLWays Wizard which varies for different databases. The lower automation rate is, the more customization requests are needed.
- Database code complexity. The more complex database code, the more customization requests are required.
- Customer’s team of developers and their availability for manual code adjustments. The more available your team is, the fewer customization requests are required.
- Required timeframe of the migration project. The shorter your desired timeframe is, the more customization requests are needed.
In order to correctly calculate the number of necessary customization requests, at first, you should single out a representative database code. Then it is necessary to convert this representative code with SQLWays Wizard free trial license. Customers can also send this highlighted code scope for analysis to our experts, so that they can help to assess the default automated conversion rate, as well as the required number of customization requests. Keep in mind that the number calculated should be adjusted for the overall database volume.
How to calculate customization requests?
Based on the test conversion results and the information about your team size, migration budget, project timeframe, the following scenarios are possible:
1) The level of automated database conversion is higher than 90%. There are few recurring errors, and several isolated ones. In case you have enough resources, it makes sense to correct those errors manually. If your resources are not sufficient, we recommend purchasing the required amount of customization requests to maximize the automation rate.
2) The level of automated conversion is 70-90%. According to test conversion results, there are some recurring errors. In this case, it is recommended to take a sufficient number of customization requests in order to correct these recurring errors automatically, which will significantly reduce the manual effort required to fix them.
The exact number of requests depends on an initial ratio of the representative code to the overall database code volume. For example, if your representative code is 10% of the database code volume, then the rule of thumb is that 5 recurring errors will require 15-20 customization requests.
3) The automation rate is lower than 70%. If your database code contains a great number of complex code structures, then you may identify a considerable amount of recurring errors when testing the tool. It may also happen if your database migration direction is one of those less developed in the Toolkit.
In such a case we recommend proceeding with an extension stage. This is a major customization of the tool before the migration even begins. For the extension stage, the client is billed based on the outcome (the automation level to be reached) rather than the quantity of customization requests.
How do we customize SQLWays Wizard?
In order for our team to start customizing the tool for your project, we need the following information.
- Code snippet with an error
- Result of migration with SQLWays Wizard.
- Customer’s expectations for the code conversion result.
Ispirer experts may request source and target scripts as well as complete information about the error, if provided conversion results are not sufficient (part of the log import, an error message when creating an object, or other information). It is also crucial to understand the result a customer expects to get. If it is not clear, Ispirer experts consult customers and determine the right migration outcomes.
Having received all the necessary data, we will add all the required changes to the tool and provide a new version of SQLWays Wizard. Usually, this process takes 3-5 business days.
So, we have considered all the potential customization-related questions you may have at the purchase stage. For an easier alternative to working on a migration project, you may consider hiring an Ispirer team to provide end-to-end migration services and take full control over the process.
Our customer onboarding process includes assigning a dedicated account manager to each customer in order to simplify communication with other Ispirer departments and address any concerns a customer might have in a timely manner. If you have any questions regarding customization or would like to run a test migration, please, get in touch with us via the contact page.