While organizations of all sizes and industries are moving from Oracle to Postgres, they all ask similar questions about the time and effort required. EDB's Global Migration Leader Raghav Rao and Technology Strategist Marc Linster dig into these questions in the third webinar of our Legacy Database Migration series and deliver answers and advice to streamline migration and increase peace of mind.
Here are some of the key points:
Question #1: How long does it take to move from Oracle to Postgres?
How long will it take to migrate is the question we hear the most. Every executive wants to know if migration is worth it, and if it’ll take twenty years or be completed in a year.
Here’s the good news: 61% of migrations from Oracle to EDB Postgres are easy or moderate.1 This means the business logic is very limited and the schema and data migration can be done in approximately 5 to 20 days. So rest assured it’s usually not hard to migrate to Postgres.
Since the time we compiled the data on how long migrations take, we’ve added an AI copilot to our migration portal and made many other improvements to our solutions so migration is even easier.
Question #2: I have 1,000 Oracle databases that should go to Postgres. Where do I start?
When we began assisting with Oracle to Postgres migrations, executives typically had one or two databases they wanted to transfer. Today, as data and the advantages of open source have grown, many customers need to migrate thousands of databases.
As you can imagine or perhaps have even experienced, it’s difficult to know where to begin.
One of the first steps in a migration journey is to do an assessment. You’ll want to thoroughly evaluate your databases, focusing on three key areas: the presentation layer, the connectivity tier, and the database tier to gauge the compatibility of your databases with Postgres. Since no single tool can assess all of these areas, you can collect information through targeted questions about applications, details, connectivities, third-party drivers and more.
For the database tier, various assessment tools are available, including one from EDB. Our EDB Compatibility Assessment Tool (ECAT) is designed to rapidly assess numerous databases and categorize them from very easy to very hard, based on analysis of the data model, compatibility of Oracle features with Postgres, and application sequences. The generated report offers a detailed analysis of the incompatible features and provides a projected migration timeline.
The next step after assessing your databases is creating a business case and migration plan. If you have multiple databases, you’ll want to take a phased approach to migrating. Start with the easiest databases first! This strategy allows for quick wins and builds momentum as you progress from simpler migrations to more complex ones, saving the most challenging databases for last.
Want to try ECATs? Contact us.
Question #3: I picked my first five databases to start migrating. What now?
After the planning phase is the ‘doing’ phase. All databases have to be converted, and failed features highlighted in the ECAT report have to be rectified. EDB’s free Migration Portal can help.
The new AI copilot we added to our Migration Portal quickly converts schemas and details to significantly reduce manual work for incompatibilities. It also allows you to load converted schemas directly into EDB Postgres AI cloud or download SQL files for use in your own proprietary databases.
The Migration Portal has a quality EDB SPL Check feature to help ensure converted code is valid, syntactically accurate, and ready for functional testing.
Resources for learning more
Drawing from our years of experience helping companies move from Oracle to Postgres, we’ve seen what works best, and we’re sharing these key strategies and best practices with everyone in the following resources:
Factors to Consider When Migrating
The Complete Oracle to Postgres Migration Guide: Tools, Schema, and Data
We know migration can be intimidating. But regardless of how many databases you have, our AI-powered MIgration Portal, ECAT, and other tools can help to ensure a successful transition.
For details and a demo of our Migration Portal, watch the full Cracking the Code Oracle Database Migration webinar.
Have questions or need a hand with migrating? Just contact us!
Legacy Database Migration Webinar Series
Webinar #1: Decoding Oracle Migration: Insights Into Scope and ROI
Watch the webinar Read the blog
Webinar #2: Navigating Legacy Database Migration: Mastering Change Management
Watch the webinar Read the blog
Webinar #3: Navigating Legacy Database Migration: Mastering Change Management