The reconciliation mindset.
When it comes to data migration, most teams put 100% energy into extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) - but one of the most critical steps is often overlooked!
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Reconciliation is the difference between a migration that merely moves data and one that ensures accuracy, trust, and integrity. At binary10, we've seen how skipping proper reconciliation can lead to costly mistakes, sometimes to the tune of £1 million or more. That’s why we believe reconciliation isn’t an afterthought, it’s the foundation.
“Reconciliation is key to ensuring data integrity when undertaking migration projects. It is vital to ensure that data is accurate across both the source and target systems. By completing thorough reconciliation, you minimise errors, identify data cleansing opportunities & have auditable records to refer to.” – Danny White, binary10 Project Director
What is reconciliation in data migration?
Before answering this question, we must understand the difference between validation and reconciliation.
Validation checks if the data looks right.
Reconciliation proves that it is right.
Validation is about format and presence. Does a field exist, is it in the right format, or are mandatory fields filled?
Reconciliation, on the other hand, verifies that data has been correctly moved, is complete, and reflects the intended transformation. It checks the numbers, matches the values, and ensures consistency between the legacy and target systems.
Why can’t reconciliation wait until the end?
When the timeline is tight, reconciliation is often saved for the final stages of a project. But this mindset is dangerous!
The cost of skipping reconciliation
Post-go-live fixes can cost 10x more than catching issues during testing.
Small mismatches in reference data or mapping can break workflows.
That’s why at binary10, we embed reconciliation throughout the entire migration lifecycle, not just at the end.
The binary10 Way.
We are giving away our reconciliation framework here.
We’ve helped our clients in reconciling millions of records across different sectors like retail, higher education, manufacturing, central government, etc.
1. We automate reconciliation checks, so they happen every cycle.
Record counts are checked across every entity and table.
We check the content in each field, not just whether it’s there, but whether it’s right.
We make sure everything we planned to import did get imported, no missing records!
2. Fully managed reconciliation process.
All required reconciliations are planned and detailed in advance to ensure the key people are available.
Business data owners are fully briefed on the expectations and approach for their reconciliations and given advice and assistance on how to carry out their rec's.
3. Documentation & mapping transparency.
We provide field-level mapping documentation and transformation logic.
This empowers the business to understand and verify how legacy data becomes target data.
Even imported files are available for review.
4. Feedback management.
We will establish a framework for the capture of all reconciliation feedback.
Follow-up sessions are carried out to ensure that feedback is fully clarified.
5. Reconciliation sign-off.
We push for the need for reconciliations to be carried out thoroughly through multiple data migration cycles.
We insist on reconciliation sign-off before moving on to the next key stages of the project.
Conclusion.
Reconciliation is your insurance against bad data. When it’s done right, it saves time, protects budgets, and builds organisational trust in the outcome of your project.
At binary10, we bring decades of expertise to the table, along with a tested approach to reconciliation that’s helped organisations across the UK and beyond succeed.
“Regular, organised and thorough reconciliation is absolutely key to a successful data migration project, and therefore key to the whole programme. Starting reconciliations late or just making token efforts in the early stages will just store up any potential issues for later and introduce unnecessary risk. As well as planning the reconciliation approach itself, the resourcing of reconciliation work is paramount and is one of the consistent issues we encounter, as some key SMEs are spread thinly across Testing, Training and BAU activities. Detailed resource planning is therefore essential to ensure reconciliations can be carried out as planned, where no individuals become bottlenecks that result in delays or omissions. ”
– Steve Smales, Chief Operating Officer at binary10
The Binary10 Way.
Our vision is to offer an excellent service to our clients, providing them with the strategies and technical services they need to deliver on their critical projects. Not only will we ensure that their data is managed to the highest standard we will also look to help and advise on other project areas to assist in their delivery.
Led by James and Steve, two industry veterans, the Binary10 team cares deeply about our clients and the projects we work on. We are passionate that we make a difference, which means that we do everything in our power to ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and with the outcomes everyone expected.
We do this by merging deep insight in the field with the attitude and desire to work with the people that form the project teams. By focusing on the human element of data migration, not just the technical side we achieve successful projects and happy clients. We only win if you win!