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How to ensure Oracle® database migrations don’t fail

Nowadays many organisations want to migrate to the cloud to become flexible, scalable and to save costs. However, as many of them use Oracle, they are facing issues with their database management and the restrictive license terms that Oracle has put in place. A core reason is that most cloud environments are virtualised, something Oracle doesn’t like as they would lose control over their IP. So what was the solution? A migration to PostgreSQL.

With the demand to get to the cloud at all-time high, open-source PostgreSQL is uniquely positioned as the clear alternative to Oracle. There are no costly license fees and no lock-ins to expensive maintenance fees and you have all the digital freedom you need to grow the way you want. Of course, a database migration is no mean feat. Ultimately, the database migrated to PostgreSQL must function in the same way as the Oracle database. With a good approach, the right knowledge, thorough testing etc. you have a solid foundation to make a successful migration. However, migrating the code (the business logic) isn’t quite as straight forward, as it sits at the heart of the database and determines how it functions. This can lead to many migration problems. Added to this, a lot of time and money has been invested in it – something that must not be lost.

Your migration nemesis: code conversion.

The number one reason a migration fails is when you underestimate the complexity of migrating the code (PL/SQL and SQL), for example by using a tool like ora2pg. The problem with ora2pg is that you have to look at the code yourself to see what has been migrated correctly, what’s migrated partially and what’s not migrated at all. A laborious and time-consuming task, especially with databases containing a lot PL/SQL and SQL code.

As you may know, the code base (business logic) in a database not only builds the database, but it’s how your people interact with the database via an application. An Oracle instance may have millions of lines of DDL, PL/SQL, SQL and thousands of objects all depending on each other in one way or the other. Understanding how to rebuild and migrate that code within its context and make it functionally equivalent in native PostgreSQL, takes a great deal of experience. And so with the volume of code that is often present in an Oracle database, a quality automation tool to move that process along is essential. It’s for this very reason that Splendid Data developed Cortex for successful Oracle to PostgreSQL migrations.

Cortex. The fastest, easiest way to migrate from Oracle to native PostgreSQL without fail.

Cortex is able to migrate PL/SQL and SQL to a functional equivalent in PL/pgSQL incredibly fast. To give you an idea of speed, we’ve migrated an Oracle database containing 1.4 million lines of code (combines PL/SQL and SQL) in around 20 hours, with nearly 90% of all the code migrated automatically. This could never be achieved if you did it manually.

Another amazing feature is that Cortex migrations never fail. And that isn’t a bold claim, but fact. We run a sophisticated migration assessment beforehand, so everything is accounted for before we start any migration. With a high automation rate and the ability to recreate functionally equivalent code for tables, views, stored procedures, packages and functions, the problem of code conversion is automatically solved. Naturally, a bit of time is needed at the end to finalise the migration, but practically all of the heavy lifting is handled by Cortex.

So there you have it. The best way to ensure Oracle database migrations don’t fail is simple, just choose the industry-leading migration software – Cortex. It means you don’t need to let the problem of code conversion keep you from getting your infrastructure to the cloud. Cortex can efficiently migrate all of your databases regardless of their size from Oracle to PostgreSQL.

Work free from Oracle and all those hugely expensive lock-in fees and migrate to native PostgreSQL without causing any vendor lock-in. To get started on your migration assessment, and get an insight into the viability of migrating your Oracle database – contact our friendly team today.

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