Data Migration Project Checklist
This is a practical guide to building a project checklist for a data migration project — a step-by-step checklist covering the project from start to finish, adapted to the realities of moving data from legacy systems into a new platform.
What a Project Checklist is
A project checklist is a step-by-step checklist covering the project from start to finish. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Project Management Checklist. On a data migration project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Data Migration project
Data Migration projects live or die on moving data from legacy systems into a new platform. A well-built project checklist gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how data migration projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Initiation checks
- Planning checks
- Execution checks
- Closure checks
Data Migration-specific considerations
Tailor the project checklist to the risks that most often derail data migration projects:
- Data quality and lineage
- Field mapping errors
- Reconciliation and cutover
Example
On a real data migration project, the project checklist would be shaped by moving data from legacy systems into a new platform. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — data quality and lineage, field mapping errors, reconciliation and cutover — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.