Migration To Blogger Beta #3

In the previous article in this series, I described a homogenous migration, where all of the principals (involved computers, software, and users) are identical. In a homogenous migration, you can easily substitute one principal for another. Whatever works for one will work for another. No surprises.

Guess what? There is no such thing as a homogenous migration. There will always be some surprises, when you deal with computers, software, and users. You cannot easily substitute one principal for another, unless you enjoy being yelled at.

You can, though, use a phased migration process.

• Pilot.
• Main.
• Followup.

You just organise it differently. You identify the differences between the principals, and customise the process to allow for the differences.

Identify the features of each principal. The people, network connections, software. Which features make the various principals unique? Here are just examples - I'm sure that you could think of a dozen more.

• A computer that is connected differently.
• A computer with a different version of the operating system.
• A different software product.
• A user who is a key performer in the department.
• A user whose manager thinks is the key performer.

All of these are surprises waiting for you to enjoy. Or challenges, waiting to challenge you.

So you try and identify the challenges, and plan for them. And you pray for some simpler principals, with no challenges. And in between the two - lots of challenges, and no challenges - you will find the bulk of the population - some challenges.

This process, where you identify the challenges, we call triage.

• No challenges.
• A few challenges.
• Lots of challenges.

If you triage properly, you'll end up with a nice even distribution.

• 10% - No challenges. Pilot.
• 80% - A few challenges. Main.
• 10% - Lots of challenges. Followup.

See where we are going? Next, we'll explore a phased migration.