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Azure Data Migration Strategies
Switch Healthcare Mergers Acquisitions to
the Fast Lane

Balachandran A.V, Tech Advisor Group Member & Enterprise Architect, Payer Ecosystem, CitiusTech

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INSIGHTS

  1. Well-strategized cloud migration can not only accelerate post-merger integration but can also drive synergy between the two organizations.
  2. Healthcare data migrations should be planned and executed with the utmost caution, as they can critically impact care delivery outcomes. However, the consistency and completeness of the data must be maintained.
  3. Azure-native migrations can leverage several services and patterns to speed the migration and mitigate key risk factors.
  4. CitiusTech's six-step Azure migration strategy and best practices can help healthcare organizations achieve repeatable success in M&A migrations every single time.

Data migration in M&A events: a 2023 perspective

Over the last few years, healthcare organizations have rapidly redesigned their core operating models with digital technologies.

Cloud transformation has been a top priority for healthcare organizations, and not without reason – it enabled them to digitize core processes, activate new use cases like telehealth, and operationalize big data applications.

It is no surprise that when a merger or acquisition happens, data migration is one of the key PMI milestones that mark the IT consolidation of the two organizations.

During their cloud transformation, several healthcare organizations have chosen Azure as their destination, owing to its vast portfolio of solutions to healthcare verticals and compelling compliance certifications. As a result, data migrations triggered by M&A events usually involve Azure technologies. In this article, we glance at some of the key data migration scenarios that arise during healthcare M&As, and how to navigate them with a well-defined data migration strategy.

M&A migration scenarios at a glance

Organizations involved in mergers or acquisitions can have significantly different technology footprints and architectures. Therefore, data migrations triggered by these events can create challenging migration scenarios. Here are a few of them:

  1. Both organizations use a SaaS product, and data has to be migrated from one tenant to another. This is usually the most straightforward migration scenario.
  2. Source and target systems use a PaaS product instance, but the underlying technologies differ. For example, a migration involving Azure SQL DB and Azure SQL Managed Instance.
  3. Migration of data from one repository to another – for example, moving datasets from an Azure Synapse warehouse to another.
  4. Migration involving disparate source and target technologies. This is one of the most challenging scenarios and requires a value-driven decisioning approach to reconcile different technology stacks.

Organizations should thoroughly evaluate the reconciliation approach from a business, technology, and compliance perspective in the latter scenario. In addition, alignment to the overall business strategy, architecture maturity, minimization of technical debt, and low TCO should be sought when devising a solution.

Healthcare M&A migrations in Azure: a six-step strategy

Healthcare data migrations are fraught with complexity and risk factors. However, these can be mitigated with a well-planned migration strategy that systematically addresses each of these aspects.

Here are some of the key risks involved in healthcare data migration scenarios.

  1. Migration of data from one tenant to another for a SaaS product like hospital management software.
  2. Data migration from source to target product instance in a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution.
  3. Migration of assets from a data or a file repository, for example, a data warehouse.
  4. Data migration between disparate application systems, where source and target technologies differ.

“While every data migration initiative should follow a targeted strategy, it is even more important in M&A events involving healthcare organizations. Building on numerous experiences in such engagements, CitiusTech has built a six-step migration framework to achieve successful outcomes.”

RECONCILING BETWEEN DISPARATE TECH STACKS DURING MIGRATION

In case of disparate source and target ecosystems, organizations should undertake an application rationalization assessment based on the following five parameters:

  • Business value: Which technology aligns better with the overall business strategy? Map critical functional gaps, impact on SLA compliance and business-critical workflows, etc.
  • Technical value: Which solution represents higher technical debt? Is the architecture mature, and does the code follow best practices? Also, consider performance factors like availability, scalability, extensibility, etc.
  • Operational value: Which stack incurs higher overheads to manage, monitor, and sustain? What is the degree of automation available and implemented in each?
  • Cost value: Which technology offers a lower TCO? Each cost factor should be assessed here, including hardware and software license costs, cost of training users, cost of re-architecting, etc.
  • Risk value: Which technology is closer to its end-of-life support? How do they fare in terms of OOTB security and regulatory compliance capabilities?

"Because of the complexity that such scenarios can bring to light, technology consolidation should ideally begin early in the M&A process. This gives decision-makers ample time to evaluate ways to reconcile the critical data and systems driving each organization's operations."

Healthcare M&A migrations in Azure: a six-step strategy

Healthcare data migrations are fraught with complexity and risk factors. However, these can be mitigated with a well-planned migration strategy that systematically addresses each of these aspects.

Here are some of the key risks involved in healthcare data migration scenarios.

  1. Migration of data from one tenant to another for a SaaS product like hospital management software.
  2. Data migration from source to target product instance in a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution.
  3. Migration of assets from a data or a file repository, for example, a data warehouse.
  4. Data migration between disparate application systems, where source and target technologies differ.

“While every data migration initiative should follow a targeted strategy, it is even more important in M&A events involving healthcare organizations. Building on numerous experiences in such engagements, CitiusTech has built a six-step migration framework to achieve successful outcomes.”

Step 1: Due diligence and inventorying (Pre-game)

Prepare an inventory of all data assets, their source, format, schema, and types. Then, map these data assets to target systems and finalize the scope of migration.

Step 2: Devise a migration plan (Design and Develop)

Create a migration pathway and finalize the migration approach. Different data assets may require differing approaches. The migration schedule and order (data assets to be migrated) are also formulated.

Step 3: Migrate the data (Execution)

Migrate the data as per the defined plan. Migration can be executed using scripts or no/low-code tools. Consider validating the migration approach in staging/test environments before migrating production data.

Step 4: Live data migration (Integration)

Integrate the pipeline that ingests the data from the source system into the target system. If new data was added to the source, update the target system with new records to ensure consistency.

Step 5: Cutover and signoff (Go-live)

Cutover involves switching the workload/application to the target system to which the data has been migrated. Successful migration is followed by signoff from business owners.

Step 6: Post-migration checks

Retain the data in source systems as per requirements, then delete it before retiring the source systems.

PERSPECTIVES FROM A CITIUSTECH ENGAGEMENT

Look at this data migration process in action in this initiative led by CitiusTech following an acquisition.

Background
A large health benefits organization wanted to sell one of its lines of business (LoB) to a US-based payer organization operating in 5 states, with 17m+ active memberships.


Requirements: As a part of this acquisition, over 12 TB of data had to be migrated from three sources in Azure (SQL, Synapse, and ADLS) to corresponding targets. The data comprised PHI and PII from members, providers, and other domains. The enterprise had only four months to complete the migration.

Solution delivered
CitiusTech completed the migration on time and within budget, leveraging its proprietary accelerators and vast experience migrating healthcare data. Here are some of the notable highlights of the solution:

  • Automated source and target data comparisons with a proprietary ETL validator.
  • Leveraged low/no-code Azure-native services (ADF with SQL scripts, Azure Copy, Azure Change Directory, and Azure Resource Mover) to minimize development efforts and speed migration.
  • Executed the migration within a firewall boundary to ensure 100% compliance.
  • Ensured zero end-user impact by performing weekend migrations to eliminate downtime.
  • Ensured zero data loss by conducting automated, script-based validation of migrated data.

Here is a schematic of the end-to-end migration solution.

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BEST PRACTICES FOR HEALTHCARE DATA MIGRATION IN AZURE

Here is a set of best practices to guide Azure migrations triggered by healthcare M&As with repeatable success:

  • When sources and targets are within Azure, minimize the amount of data to be moved by exploiting common Azure service boundaries.
  • Leveraging Azure-native services for moving data can speed the migration as these are low/no-code tools that minimize the need for custom script development. For example, ADF with SQL scripts, Azure Copy, Azure Change Directory, and Azure Resource Mover to name a few
  • Parallel execution and synchronization should be addressed in the migration strategy. In addition, migrated data should be validated before cutover, and it's best to have a rollback plan in place if things go south.

FINAL WORDS

With more and more healthcare organizations building digitization capabilities with the cloud, M&A scenarios are bound to pose data migration requirements at some point during post-merger integration.

Because healthcare organizations deal with critical data which strongly impacts care delivery outcomes, migrations should be carried out cautiously.

However, a well-strategized migration can turn the cloud into an accelerator for realizing and maximizing the deal's outcome. With the Azure migration strategy and best practices, healthcare businesses can achieve positive outcomes with critical data migration and transform into a cohesive, data-driven organization.