When SAP bought Sybase in 2010 it was cynically viewed by some as an attempt for SAP to get on the supplier list of Sybase’s extensive list of customers. Having achieved this you would have thought that SAP would then provide extensive investment to continue the success of Sybase. Alas, it has not played out that way. Instead, SAP invest in HANA and Sybase is being killed off…
With Sybase going out of support many people working in regulated industries now have a problem. They have thousands of Sybase databases and some of those databases are important enough that they are going to need to be moved off Sybase. But how?
The most obvious answer is for internal teams to move the database and applications. The teams will look at the existing code, rewrite it by hand in whatever new flavour of SQL is required for the target database, move the data, rewrite the application and test everything.
And then weep when none of it works.
Most people do not regularly migrate databases. This inexperience means that the project is almost certain to take longer than expected, cost more than expected, and there is a genuine risk the project will fail outright. For some businesses this will be an acceptable risk, or the cost of doing business. If that is not acceptable to you, then perhaps you should consider the ADAM option.
The ADAM option? ADAM is a software package, developed by Prolifics, that our expert consultants use to provide a database migration service. ADAM looks through every single line of your Sybase code (in advance) to give you a highly accurate schedule of what work is required to convert your code. Where possible ADAM will automate code conversion, and will even offer suggestions of enhancements at the database layer to minimise the code changes required in your application. The consultants using ADAM are database migration professionals who migrate databases every day. Combined, this means your project will have significantly reduced risk, shorter timelines, and lower cost.
ADAM is the Automated Database Agnostic Migrator.
But what does that mean?
Automated – Prolifics went to market searching for a database migration tool to help with moving our customers between database vendors. We found many, but none that worked for us. They were either just a bunch of scripts that didn’t do the job, or a ‘black-box’ with no auditability that also didn’t suit our needs. What we needed was customisable automation. A system that tells us what it is going to do before it does it, takes the application into account, and then automates the creation of the best solution under the guidance of a database migration expert. It didn’t exist so we built it.
Database Agnostic – Most migration tools move code from A to B, or from C to D, but unless they specifically target A to D you need a different tool. ADAM works differently as it doesn’t convert directly, but rather works on a hub and spoke model. This means that it converts A, B, C and D into a central model, and then converts that into your target database A, B, C or D. Obviously it does not work with every single database ever made but it does work with all the major relational DBMS’s. So if you want to move to Postgres, Db2, Oracle, SQL Server, Aurora, etc etc – then ADAM will work for you.
Migrator – The tool is an assistant to our consulting services. We do not provide the ADAM software to our customers, we provide a migration service using ADAM. We do not just run your code through a tool and hope for the best. ADAM will analyse all of your SQL code upfront as a part of the planning process. From that analysis we will then identify every line of code as one of the below
• Needs a re-architecture as it is not supported on the target database, storing parquet files on postgresql for example (correct at the time of writing)
• Needs a sensible decision made by the consultant, distribution keys for example.
• Code that could be migrated a few ways, and so the specific conversion is application dependent, how to store numbers for example.
• Code that can only be migrated one way, and so can be automatically converted without further analysis.
So in summary, what do Prolifics offer to help me move off Sybase?
Prolifics offer a database migration service, where our consultants will use our proprietary ADAM tooling to offer an accelerated migration program and minimise project risk.
Ways we minimise risk:
• Technical and Commercial viability assessment before any work takes place.
• Comprehensive code assessment upfront, before any investment in services.
• Automated changes where possible to minimise human error.
• Experienced consultants on hand to provide guidance every step of the way.
• Detailed project plans in advance with fixed price costings where possible.
What is the process?
Reach out to one of our team who will help you conduct a viability assessment over a short 30 min call. From there we will provide a questionnaire about your environment for your application teams to respond to, and we will request all SQL code from your database (table definitions, stored procedures, triggers, the lot). Prolifics will run the code through ADAM and assess every single line of code. From there Prolifics will issue a quotation to migrate the database for you, and then you either sign up or you don’t.
We are a busy team, how much help can Prolifics provide?
Prolifics usually help our customers with the planning, data migration, code migration, and then database tuning – leaving most of the testing and application changes to the client’s internal teams. However, Prolifics can offer testing services and application development consultancy too if required.
“We can do this with you, or we can do this for you”.
How do I get started?