No-deal Brexit: Tips for migrating data to preserve the free flow of business

With Brexit looming large, the only thing that is certain is the uncertainty of Brexit’s impact. A no-deal Brexit conjures visions of trucks and ships backed up at border crossings and ports of entry, slowing commerce to a snail’s pace. But the real business impact of a no-deal Brexit is in the free flow of data between the EU and the U.K., and many small and mid-sized businesses are likely unprepared. It is estimated that 80 percent of Britain’s economy is founded on services, not goods. Between 2005 and 2015, the volume of data entering and leaving the U.K. increased 28 times, and 75 percent of this data was exchanged with EU countries.

In a no-deal Brexit, the U.K. will become a "third country," no longer part of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Consequently, according to the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office, data from EU countries will likely no longer be able to flow freely into the U.K. without a contract in place between the sender and U.K.-based SMBs that meets EU-approved terms. For those unprepared, the fallout from this could be disastrous. U.K. businesses that manage or store large volumes of data within the EU, such as those in the financial or tech industries, may look to relocate their operations to minimize the risks and impacts for their business. In moving their operations, businesses will need to transfer large volumes of data.

"GDPR is a pain point to most businesses," said Lilia Stoyanov, CEO of Transformify, an HR software and freelance platform. "As Transformify processes data of job seekers worldwide, it is still unclear how the requirements will change after Brexit. Do businesses like us need to be registered as data processors both in the EU and U.K.? Where is this data to be stored, especially when it comes to cloud-based solutions?"

Data migrations are notorious for being more complicated and costly than expected, but proper planning can help avoid this fate. So, what can businesses do to prepare for a smooth migration of data in the event of a no-deal Brexit? Below are some tips to help businesses with an effective plan and smooth transition.

Decide What to Move

Business leaders should start by assessing the size of the issue for their respective companies. Get a solid understanding of the personal data flows from the EU to the U.K. This should include consumer data, as well as operational, HR and financial data. Next, prioritize data flows and create a plan for what to address first. Workflows that are critical to the business or that include large volumes of personal data should be at the top of the list.

Any data that is not moved soon enough or is selected to remain in the EU for any reason will require a great deal of compliance work to continue data transfers and operate within the law. The government is recommending that U.K. businesses set up Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for all data flows between the EU and U.K., which can also be complicated and costly, creating a sizable compliance burden. And the legal implications of not getting it right are a real concern. Moving the data within the U.K. borders is a more attractive solution for many businesses. Even if only a portion of data flows can be relocated, it will ease the overall compliance burden.

Review the Environment and Determine Requirements

The best strategy for where to keep data will differ for each business and depend on how the data is used within the company. Companies should do a thorough assessment of their data flows to fully understand how their data is currently being stored, accessed and used. This will help inform the most important requirements and the ideal strategy. If the data in question is located on-premises within the EU, will it be moved to a new on-prem location within the U.K.? With a large percentage of businesses already migrating to the cloud, consider if now is a good time to migrate any on-prem data to the cloud. Businesses will need to be careful to select a cloud environment hosted entirely within the U.K.

Another important step in the planning process is to assess data quality. Lack of effective data quality management across all aspects of the project is seen as a primary cause for data migration failures. Also, be sure to have clear business rules for managing data quality. The rules address what to do once data errors are discovered and can have an important impact on the overall migration.

Migrate and Test

Given the serious implications of failing to act or failing to get it right, companies would be wise to consider employing a data migration tool to simplify and accelerate the migration process, minimize downtime, and ensure the data remains secure and compliant.

For businesses already in the cloud, it would seem that moving data to another cloud instance should be a more straightforward process. However, ensuring business continuity through a cloud-to-cloud migration is every bit as tricky as an on-prem-to-cloud move. Employing a technique called "coexistence" can minimize disruption to the business. At its core, coexistence allows the company to migrate different users and data sets at different times without disrupting the daily workflow. Users can continue collaborating without worrying whether a colleague in a different department has already migrated to the Destination. They don’t have to worry if their calendar is displaying accurate availability or if emails are getting through, for example.

Another consideration is setting up a cost containment plan in advance. A large migration can quickly run over budget without proper oversight. Companies hosting their data with an MSP should make sure to have a clear understanding of how much they’re paying and what cloud resources they are getting for that cost. That should be followed by informed recommendations that suggest cost-effective ways of managing the project and setting up cloud systems.

Finally, be sure to validate the integrity of migrated data. Testing whether it is accurate and in the expected format is essential.

Matters of Security

Migrating from one environment to another may require companies to adjust their security strategy. Fundamentally, the overall migration process remains the same, whether you’re moving from on-premises-to-cloud or cloud-to-cloud. Though in an on-prem environment, most companies are working with known systems and tool sets for security, network monitoring or mobile device management. Those existing tools might not translate to the cloud, even if fundamentally the processes haven’t changed. It’s important to plan for having the right set of security processes and tools during a migration that presents a hybrid infrastructure, either temporarily during the migration or as part of the ongoing architecture.

Create Documentation

Getting to the end of a major migration without proper documentation can leave businesses in a real bind. Make sure to document each stage of the process to maintain a clear audit trail. This will help the company troubleshoot issues and meet regulatory compliance.

"Data mapping is essential to comply with GDPR," said Ray Walsh, digital privacy expert at ProPrivacy.com. "Firms must know what data they have on file in order to process it legally in accordance with GDPR."

The full impact of Brexit is hard to predict, but it’s clear there is important work to be done to ensure business data isn’t hamstrung by a sudden end to the free flow of data across borders. Because the data migration process is complex and the risks are high, effective planning and employing the right tools are both essential to simplifying and accelerating the execution.

Photo credit: esfera / Shutterstock

James Clifford is BitTitan EMEA sales director. He is an experienced sales management professional with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Sales, Data Center, Management, Software as a Service, and Helping Clients Succeed. Strong business development professional with a BA (Hons) focused in Business Information Systems from DeMontfort University. You can simplify the migration process using BitTitan MigrationWiz. Find out more here.