Migration costs
Effort and expenditure for the planned move of data or functions to another environment.
What are migration costs?
Migration costs arise from the planned move of data, applications or functions to another environment. They may include inventory, data cleaning, field mapping, transfer, checks and training. Temporary parallel operation and orderly retirement of the old path can also require effort. A price for data transfer alone does not automatically cover this work.
In a fictional project, an old product list is to be migrated. Different quantity units need clarification, mappings need recording and the move needs checking with suitable examples. The plan needs owners and conditions for switching and returning. Work already included in the implementation package must not be counted twice. Unknown data quality is an open assumption, not a problem solved for free. Required work determines cost; the word “migration” does not supply a reliable flat price.
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Related terms
- Operating costsExpenditure to plan for the ongoing operation of an IT solution.
- Investment costsCosts of building a new or expanded IT capability, as considered in project planning.
- Exit strategyA prepared route to switch, take over or retire an IT service in an orderly way.
- Scope creepScope creep is gradual expansion of project scope without adequate assessment and corresponding changes to the plan.
- Project summaryA project summary briefly brings together an initiative’s purpose, boundaries, owners and key constraints.
- Decision briefA decision brief prepares a specific choice by presenting options, rationale, consequences and unresolved assumptions.
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