Jumping into the cloud sounds like an obvious next step. Improved performance. Lowered costs. A scalable, modern data stack. But here’s the thing… Most businesses skip the data architecture planning stage.
That’s their most critical mistake.
Without a thoughtful blueprint, the promise of the cloud quickly turns into a budget-busting nightmare. Sure, there are always things we don’t plan for. But hoping for a successful cloud migration without mapping out your modern data stack from the start is like betting against yourself.
Failure is common. 83% of data migration projects fail or overrun their budgets & timelines. But it’s not a technology issue. It’s completely avoidable by planning the data architecture first.
If you’re about to start moving data to the cloud — or you’re stuck in a cloud migration gone bad — take a few minutes to learn what you can do about it.
Key Takeaways
- Planning data architecture is crucial before cloud migration to avoid budget overruns and project failures.
- Without a proper plan, organizations face issues like data duplication, broken pipelines, and increased costs.
- Successful migrations require a blueprint for data storage, pipelines, governance, and dependencies.
- Companies that assess readiness before migrating are 2.4 times more likely to succeed with their cloud migration.
- Follow seven steps to prepare for migration, including understanding data flows and testing with a subset of data.
Table of contents
What Is Data Architecture Planning?
Data architecture planning is the process of designing where data will live, how it moves, and who can access it before you start the cloud migration.
This stage of planning essentially builds the blueprint for your modern data stack. When you skip it, you’re left moving data into a cloud environment that isn’t ready for it — and your teams are just moving furniture into a house that isn’t built yet.
Good data architecture planning should cover:
- Data storage (warehouses, lakes, databases, etc.)
- Data pipelines (movement between tools)
- Data governance (permissions, security, ownership)
- Dependencies between all of the above
This is where data architecture services come into play. While internal teams can (and should) perform some level of architecture work, you don’t want to approach your cloud migration without a proven partner that has helped hundreds of businesses succeed where others have failed.
Expert guidance from a third-party will help you design a modern data stack that makes sense for your business — and ensure your migration efforts aren’t wasted.
Interested in learning more? Check out the guide to data architecture consulting services.
Planning your data architecture isn’t optional if you want your cloud migration to succeed.
Why Cloud Migrations Fail Without It
Here’s the dirty truth most IT teams won’t tell you…
The cloud isn’t to blame for migrations gone wrong. Bad data architecture is.
Without a planned data architecture in place prior to migrating, teams run into the same issues over and over again:
- Duplicate data in multiple systems
- Broken pipelines during transfer
- Inaccessible data permissions & security
- Huge cost overages
Interesting enough, 82% of cloud customers say that managing cloud costs is the number one reason their cloud migration failed. It’s not the tools they used. It’s because they had no plan when they started.
Migrations take far longer than most leaders anticipate as well. 46% of project delays are caused by unforeseen legacy application dependencies. Dependencies that could have easily been flagged weeks or months in advance with a proper plan.
A migration without planning for your data architecture doesn’t just create roadblocks. It makes your goals impossible to achieve.
The Modern Data Stack Problem Nobody Discusses
Data architecture problems only compound as you grow your modern data stack.
The modern data stack was a gamechanger. Cloud-native platforms, scalable storage, real-time data pipelines — companies of all sizes were finally empowered with better tools and technologies to improve their business.
But this also means more complexity.
Today’s modern data stack looks different for every company, but it will always include multiple layers. Each layer needs to be properly designed — not just picked and tossed into your tech stack.
A common modern data stack will include:
- Ingestion layer (Fivetran, Airbyte)
- Storage layer (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, etc.)
- Transformation layer (dbt)
- Activation layer (Looker, Tableau, etc.)
If you skip data architecture planning before migrating to the cloud, these layers won’t work together. Data silos sprout up. Dashboards break. Reports generate garbage data that no one trusts.
Your modern data stack does more harm than good.
And you know what’s the root cause of all of these problems?
Bad planning.
What Poor Planning Actually Costs
Here are a couple of statistics that may bum you out.
When cloud migrations fail or don’t go according to plan, it costs serious money. Budget overruns average at 23% above planned migration costs. For large enterprises, that’s millions of dollars.
That’s just the beginning.
- Migrating to the cloud without a plan stalls productivity.
- Security holes are uncovered in sloppy cloud environments.
- Technical debt skyrockets when migrations need frequent upkeep.
- Poor data quality degrades decision-making across the business.
Pretty much all of these issues can be avoided by simply planning your data architecture first.
When was the last time an IT project — planned perfectly — went entirely according to plan?
It’s impossible. But you can dodge most of the migraine-inducing issues cloud migrations cause by mapping out your modern data stack from the very start.
7 Steps to Prepare for a Successful Migration
Here’s how to solve the problem.
Migrating to the cloud isn’t difficult if you prepare properly. Here are the 7 things every team should do before migrating a single byte of data.
Get your data house in order.
- Know what data you have & where it lives. Create a data inventory & audit of your current landscape.
- Map your dataflows. Understand how data moves between systems today.
- Design your modern data stack. Which tools do you want for each layer?
- Highlight dependencies. What legacy systems could slow down your migration?
- Establish governance rules. Define access permissions, security standards, and data ownership.
- Test with a subset of data. Do a partial migration first to verify everything works.
- Continually monitor your data architecture. Your blueprint will evolve as your business grows.
Teams who perform a readiness assessment before migrating to the cloud are 2.4x more likely to have a successful migration. That means the migration will be less likely to fail with a plan in place.
Want the cloud migration process to work for you?
Plan your data architecture before you touch a byte of data.
Data architecture planning doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, it’s the foundation for any IT project you want to succeed.
Start with these 7 steps, and make sure you have a plan to migrate your data to the cloud before you take the leap.
If you need help at any point, data architecture experts are here to help you build a plan that sticks.
Planning Makes Perfect
Data migration without architecture planning is one of the riskiest decisions a business can make on their cloud journey.
The costs of failure are high. But when you migrate without mapping out your modern data stack first, you’re betting against yourself and your teams.
Data architecture planning should happen before the start of your migration. Every time.
Here’s your quick reading guide:
- Plan out your data architecture before migration starts.
- Every layer of your modern data stack should be intentional.
- Know every dependency & dataflow between systems.
- Test your migration plan with a pilot import.
- Bring in an expert to ensure your architecture is ready.
