Strategy

At binary10, every successful data migration starts with a strong strategy, and that means focusing equally on people and systems. On the surface, moving data might seem like a simple binary task: shifting a pile of 1s and 0s from one database to another. But in reality, it’s much more complex — and more human. The data being migrated often represents years of institutional knowledge, operational processes, and customer relationships. It tells the story of your organisation.

That’s why our strategy phase is about more than just technology. It’s about understanding how your data is used, who uses it, and who will be involved in moving it.

Why strategy matters

We don’t dive straight into the tools — we help you build the right foundation first. We begin by getting under the skin of your organisation:

→ Clarifying goals

→ Determining High-level Data Scope for migration

→ Identifying key stakeholders

→ Mapping dependencies

→ Reviewing known data quality issues

We ask the right questions upfront to uncover risks, gaps, and opportunities. We also work to align your internal teams and define clear ownership, ensuring everyone understands the what, why, how and when of the migration.

This early investment in clarity pays off later, leading to better planning, fewer delays, and smoother delivery. Whether you’re replacing a legacy system, implementing a new ERP, or consolidating platforms, our strategy-first approach lays the foundation for a migration that is technically sound, operationally viable, and people-ready.

Systems Planning

Our teams audit the legacy systems and start to develop a full picture of the road ahead. The scope and scale of projects always vary, and understanding this early on is essential.

This step allows the project team to begin high-level technical planning of ETL and to define data reconciliation standards.

The length of time this stage takes varies by project, but every minute spent in systems planning is an investment in the long-term health of the migration.

Resource Planning

An often-overlooked step in data migration projects, resource planning helps us focus on the people delivering the work.

We compile a skills profile for the core project team and identify any gaps early. This might mean seconding additional team members, identifying freelancers, or broadening our remit — whatever it takes to ensure the project can move forward with confidence.

Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined for each member of the core team, but also the required involvement of the wider programme team. We work to understand the impact the DM project will have on the programme team’s time and provide realistic estimates for their involvement.

Data migration projects affect the entire organisation, and we understand the disruption that slippage can cause across departments. That’s why we’re realists when it comes to project timelines. We’ve seen many optimistic projections and have often been brought in to fix them when they fall apart. We build timelines collaboratively and work hard to keep them on track.

We also utilise our extensive experience of large scale IT programmes to feed into other areas and workstreams. Data migration doesn’t happen in a vacuum, so contributing to testing plans & test cases, systems integrations, cutover planning and project governance is all part of our process to help migrations run smoothly.

Data Scope Matrix

The final stage of our strategy process is the development of the Data Scope Matrix, a central document that outlines the data sets being migrated, the complexity of each one, and the stakeholders responsible for them. It becomes the project’s guiding reference, helping to align teams, clarify expectations, and eliminate ambiguity as the work progresses.

Once the Data Scope Matrix is signed off, the project moves into the planning phase with a shared understanding and a strong foundation for success.