Data modernization for SIs: From migration vendor to strategic partner

For many companies, a data migration is the most urgent and visible step toward modernizing their analytics stack. It’s high-stakes, resource-intensive, and under close executive scrutiny. If you can execute cleanly and ahead of schedule, you not only earn their trust but the right to shape what comes next.

But getting the data moved and code translated is only part of the modernization journey. Clients also need new systems that are testable, scalable, and resilient, and most don’t know how to get there on their own. That’s where your opportunity as a Systems Integrator (SI) expands. A successful migration gives you the momentum to introduce foundational practices like automated validation, CI/CD workflows, and embedded data testing.

To get there, you need to deliver the migration quickly and with the kind of proof that earns executive sign-off and unlocks future scope. There are three ways SIs can reduce risk, accelerate timelines, and turn migrations into long-term partnerships: 

1. Automated translation and validation
2. Prove success early and often with data parity reports
3. Use the migration to establish better defaults

1. Automate the bottlenecks that delay delivery

For most SIs, code translation and validation are where migration timelines start to slip. The process is manual by default: engineers rewrite SQL line by line or rely on vendor-specific software, translate stored procedures from legacy platforms, and patch dialect differences as they go. 

Validation typically involves spreadsheet comparisons, row sampling, and hand-written queries to confirm parity.

This approach is fragile. It depends on individual expertise, creates inconsistent outputs, and burns valuable engineering time on work that doesn’t scale. And when timelines slip, as they inevitably do, the fallback is to throw more engineers at the problem, multiplying cost without addressing the bottleneck. 

More critically, it’s a missed opportunity. Every hour spent rewriting brittle SQL is an hour not spent building systems that position your team as a long-term strategic partner.

Datafold’s Migration Agent (DMA) eliminates the two biggest bottlenecks in this process: code translation and value-level data validation. It can handle everything from stored procedures to nested queries and ETL workflows, across multiple dialects. The result is clean, testable code in the target system and precise diff reports that verify functional equivalence.

‍By automating the slowest, most error-prone parts of the migration, SIs accelerate delivery, reduce risk, and free up their teams to focus on higher-leverage tasks like architecture, optimization, and client enablement.

For technical details on how DMA performs SQL translation and data validation, check out our docs. 

2. Prove data parity with confidence

SIs know that one of the most frustrating phases of any migration is getting final sign-off. Even when the logic has been translated and the models rebuilt, proving that “everything still works” can become a drawn-out process. Stakeholders across data, finance, operations, and compliance want assurance that nothing important has changed. 

But validation is often fragmented and informal. Engineers might compare sample queries by hand, analysts run manual checks in spreadsheets, and team leads write one-off tests to validate critical dashboards. It’s time-consuming, hard to reproduce, and difficult to communicate, especially when different stakeholders define “correct” in different ways.

This ambiguity creates delays, erodes confidence, and forces SIs to manage stakeholder expectations without having the tools to back it up.

Datafold solves this with visual, verifiable data diffs. 

SIs can compare outputs across legacy and target systems at the row and column level, highlight only the differences, and package the results into clear, audit-friendly reports. These parity reports are easy to review, export, and share, making it easier to align with stakeholders and meet compliance requirements. In one case, we helped a leading sports betting platform reduce validation time by four days per regulatory report migrated. With dozens of reports under strict regulatory oversight, this level of transparency was a critical accelerant to getting stakeholder sign-off and avoiding costly delays.

3. Establish better defaults like shift-left testing

Clients come to SIs for help migrating to modern data stacks but most don’t fully understand how to operate them effectively. A modern stack doesn’t automatically produce high standards of data quality, performance, or trust. Understanding this, and acting on it, is what separates a one-time vendor from a long-term partner.

That’s why the most strategic SIs use the migration as a launchpad, not just a handoff. By embedding the right defaults during delivery, you leave clients with systems that are easier to scale, maintain, and trust.

With Datafold, these defaults come standard:

• CI/CD for data, so every change is tested before deployment
• Data diffs across environments, to catch silent changes before they cause downstream issues
• Schema and metric monitors, to alert teams when something drifts out of bounds

These tools build reliability into the workflow from day one–not as a separate modernization initiative, but as part of the migration itself.

Beyond tooling, high-performing SIs also introduce patterns like model ownership, standardized testing practices, and change management strategies. These improvements compound over time, giving the client real leverage, and giving you a clear path to future scope.

Deliver with confidence and earn the next engagement

Clients hire you for a one-time migration, but the SIs they trust, and rehire, are the ones who deliver fast, validate with precision, and leave behind systems that scale. 

With Datafold, you accelerate migrations by automating code translation and validation, eliminate ambiguity with clear data diffs, and embed modern data practices that help your client move forward with confidence. You turn migrations into systems, and one-time wins into durable infrastructure.

Show clients you can deliver and position your team for what comes next. Book a demo to see how Datafold helps SIs reduce risk, prove success, and unlock future scope.