Five Questions Every Data Migration Project Must Answer Before Day One

A data migration checklist published on DEV Community argues that most migration failures stem from key questions that were never asked at the project's outset. The framework identifies five critical areas: defining measurable success, identifying who holds budget authority, naming a single decision-maker for data queries, planning a clear rollback strategy, and settling how new work is handled during the transition period. The author stresses that success criteria must be countable and checkable, such as specifying exact record counts and date ranges, so they can serve as reconciliation benchmarks. Rollback planning should include a named decision-maker, a specific threshold for reverting, and a policy for retaining migration files beyond go-live. The piece also warns that undocumented constraints like expert availability, holidays, and decommission dates are common schedule risks that belong in the project plan from the start.