Data migration is often viewed as one of the most challenging aspects of digital transformation. It’s more than just moving data from one place to another—it involves ensuring security, maintaining business continuity, and preventing data loss. The recent IT
overhaul of a leading aged care provider following a $1 billion acquisition demonstrates how organisations can successfully execute large-scale data migration with minimal disruption.
The success of this transformation hinged on collaboration, meticulous planning, and partnering with experienced IT consultants. Here's how they did it and what your organisation can learn from their experience.
The Importance of a Comprehensive Plan
As part of their IT modernisation, the aged care provider migrated critical business data, including identities, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data for over 500 users. Secure Agility, the company’s managed service provider (MSP), led the charge on this massive data migration project, ensuring that no data was lost during the process.
“By providing secure access to all applications, including SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive, we are ensuring consistent security standards across the organisation." said Mark Peoples, Solutions Architect Team Lead at Secure Agility.
This situation mirrors what many mid-sized companies and government organisations face today: outdated legacy systems, an increasing reliance on digital solutions, and a constant push for modernisation under strict deadlines.
Key Strategies for Successful Data Migration
1. Start with a Gap Analysis: Secure Agility conducted workshops before diving into data migration to identify gaps in the process. This allowed the team to foresee potential issues and mitigate risks.
2. Prioritise Security: Data migrations are prime targets for cyber threats. The organisation used secure cloud services, such as Microsoft Azure, to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data during the migration process.
3. Maintain Business Continuity: Migration often comes with the risk of downtime. However, Secure Agility’s approach ensured minimal disruption to the organisation’s day-to-day operations by carefully managing the timeline and executing the migration in stages.
Lessons for IT Leaders
- Preparation is Key: Conduct a thorough assessment of your data migration requirements before the project begins.
- Security First: As seen in this case, modernising IT infrastructure is about meeting current needs and laying a foundation for future growth. Automation, cloud integration, and a centralised support desk ensured that this provider’s IT environment could scale as needed without constant intervention.
- Collaborate with Experts: Risk reduction was essential with just three in-house IT staff managing 59 communities. Automating user management processes and centralising service requests reduced the chances of data loss and ensured compliance with industry regulations.
Read the full case study here.
