Most companies are now migrating from Oracle
to PostgreSQL as their preferred alternative of an open-source platform. This
is a growing trend that several experienced DBAs have noticed in recent years.
One of the biggest reasons for the above migration is the cost-savings factor.
However, other specific factors drive companies to go ahead with the migration,
like supporting their businesses’ digital transformation efforts.
The migration process is not free from
challenges
Though cost reduction and digital
transformation are the key drivers for Oracle to PostgreSQL migration, the
process is not a seamless one. Companies encounter a number of challenges both at
the time and after the migration is completed. This post will look at some of
these challenges companies face so that if you, as a business owner, have
decided to migrate from Oracle to PostgreSQL, you are aware!
Challenges faced during the Oracle to
PostgreSQL migration
The following are the major challenges that
your business will face during and even after the migration process-
Maintenance of service continuity
Every skilled IT consultant as well as
experienced DBA in a business strives to offer reliable and continuous services
to their clients 24/7. This holds true during a database migration process as
well. You should note that the database migration from Oracle to PostgreSQL often
takes months or even years. The three challenges businesses face are-
·
The reduction of
downtime during the migration process,
·
Migrating the
business data, and
·
Reliability of
their targeted PostgreSQL database.
However, in the recent past, it has been seen
that reducing downtime is less of a major challenge for the business than
expected. Most of the companies that have gone ahead with the migration more or
less experienced the same period of downtime during the migration process. Get
in touch with RemoteDBA.com in case of
any queries.
The biggest challenge that all companies
actually faced in the above context was to train their Oracle team to maintain
the new PostgreSQL database. Survey and research reveal that training the
existing Oracle team for the new PostgreSQL database shares the same space
along with the challenges of data migration and its reliability in the new
system. Almost all companies unanimously agree these three challenges are the
topmost challenges faced by businesses today in the migration process.
Digital transformation and DevOps
An experienced and skilled specialist from a
reliable company in database management and administration states that one of
Oracle’s key drivers to PostgreSQL migration by modern businesses today is to
support their efforts for digital transformation. A vital part of any business
digital transformation drive for a company is to embrace DevOps.
Some of the key advantages’ businesses are to
gain here are: –
·
simplicity of use.
·
flexibility in
deployment.
·
developer
innovation.
The above traits are the characteristics of
fast-moving, agile DevOps cultured businesses. Some companies had assumed that
migration would interfere with their DevOps plans. However, several were
surprised at how simple it really was to practice DevOps processes with
PostgreSQL.
Preparing for the Oracle to PostgreSQL
migration
The following are the steps a business should
follow when it comes to preparing their companies for an Oracle to PostgreSQL
migration-
Inform and train the IT team
This is the first hurdle; you will encounter
during the migration process. It is evident that your IT personnel would need
to learn new skills for its maintenance. The teams that deal with operations
and development need training in PostgreSQL for deployment, security, tuning,
data governance, and data monitoring. Some team members welcome the prospect of
learning something new. However, there is a section of the team that might be
resistant to the challenge.
As a business owner, you can ease this
discomfort by encouraging the IT team to embrace a progressive IT culture of
open-source that focuses on innovation, transparency, and collaboration- these
are the qualities that IT developers embrace. You should make a core group of
team members that are willing to work for the cause and lead. With this
approach, you will find that those team members that are reluctant, with the
passage of time, will follow suit and embrace the challenge to take your
business ahead in the drive for digital transformation and DevOps.
Evaluate the environment for Oracle
In their drive to reap the advantages of
PostgreSQL as soon as possible, some businesses are tempted to begin shifting
their most critical business applications and databases to the new system.
However, this does nothing but call in disaster when you learn new technology.
If a business really wants to successfully
migrate from Oracle to a PostgreSQL database, it needs a measured approach. As
the owner of a company, you should begin by assessing all of your Oracle
databases to determine future migration processes’ future problems. This
approach is not limited to scouring the codebase. It should include
considerations for the IT personnel and process along with technical problems.
Skilled DBAs in the field of database
migration also recommend the business plan on migrating the simplest
environments first. This permits the team to get some fast wins and gain
experience that brings confidence to the members of an IT team when they shift
into complex and long-term projects in nature.
Bank on the original development professionals
It is a prudent idea for the business to
select applications that have the original team that took part in their
development process as their knowledge in the field will ensure early success
in the migration process. Their deep knowledge will give you insight into how
your database has been constructed and how the business applications currently
used by it are indispensable for its existence in case any particular
dependencies on the features of Oracle come up.
Wrapping things up
Skilled
IT specialists and DBA experts state that systems that have good QA procedures
and testing procedures in place are excellent choices as they make it simpler
to validate the results of the migration without incurring extra costs for
building new parameters and database checks.
