Combining or Moving Data Between the Systems You Run
Data integration and migration connects data across the different systems your business already runs, or moves it cleanly when you switch software, so information stays consistent and complete across the change.
Two Related Jobs: Connecting Systems and Moving Data
Two different situations sit under this service. Integration combines data from systems that continue running side by side — a CRM and an accounting package, for instance — so a question can be answered across both. Migration moves data out of a system that is being retired or replaced, so nothing from its history is lost in the switch. Both need the same care in mapping and cleaning.
Common Integration Scenarios
After Bringing Two Businesses Together
Two companies with separate systems need a combined view without immediately forcing one side onto the other's software.
Adopting a New CRM Alongside an Existing ERP
Leads and orders need to be linked across systems that were never designed to talk to each other.
Connecting an Online Store to Accounting
Orders placed on a storefront need to reach your books without someone re-entering each one by hand.
What a Migration Project Involves
- Mapping each field in the old system to where it belongs in the new one, including fields that do not have an obvious match
- Cleaning data before it moves, since a migration is the one moment a business is willing to fix long-standing errors
- Running old and new side by side for a defined period to confirm the new system reflects reality before the old one is switched off
- Agreeing a cutover date and what happens to transactions that occur during the switch itself
What Rushing This Puts at Risk
Data moved without proper mapping tends to lose context — a field that meant something specific in the old system becomes meaningless text in the new one. Cutting over before a parallel run is verified means discovering a mismatch after the old system is already gone, when it is far harder to reconstruct what was lost.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the ETL pipelines service?
ETL pipelines are ongoing, scheduled and repeat indefinitely to keep a reporting database current. Integration and migration work is typically a defined project — connecting two systems on an ongoing basis, or moving data once as part of a switch — though an integration can result in a standing pipeline once it is built.
Can you migrate data from a very old or unsupported system?
Usually, yes, as long as some form of export is possible — a database dump, a report export, or in some cases direct access to the old database file. The age of the system affects effort more than whether it is possible at all.
What happens to historical data that does not map cleanly to the new system?
We flag it rather than force a mapping that loses meaning. Some historical fields are kept as reference data outside the new system's structure rather than distorted to fit it.
How long does the old and new system run in parallel?
Long enough to reconcile a full reporting cycle — commonly one month — so differences between the two are caught before the old system is retired, not after.
Who decides the cutover date?
You do, once reconciliation confirms the new system's figures match. We recommend a date based on what has been verified, but the decision to go live is yours.
What is needed from us during a migration project?
Access to the old system, a named person who understands its data well enough to answer mapping questions, and time to review the reconciliation results before cutover.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private