Many wineries will encounter their most vulnerable moment at one point in their digital journey, that is, the moment you move from one DTC system to another, also known as the “data migration.”

It’s a fragile moment primarily because of the amount of data you would potentially lose if the migration is not handled very carefully and thoroughly. Your customers’ data is one of your most valuable assets. Securing it during a migration is top priority.

Here are our top three suggestions, spoken “from the trenches” so to speak of handling data migration projects for wineries from one DTC system to another.

1. Your single most valuable priority is to migrate and retain as much data as possible. Some migration partners might suggest migrating only the last few years of data, and/or only your current products, and/or only active clubs and club memberships, etc. This is exactly what you do not want to do. It’s easier and quicker for the migration partner, but your winery’s business will suffer in the longer term. Bottom line? Protect your data. Make sure that all of it migrates to your new DTC system.

2. Take advantage of the migration phase to augment your data. Add data elements that you would like to see in your new DTC system. It is a lot easier to copy and paste in a spreadsheet than to edit each product individually later on. Up-to-date DTC systems allow you to upload metadata, tags and other personalized parameters. Use them to track referrals, hobbies, etc. to aid you with your marketing and sales efforts.

3. Verify the accuracy of your data import. Ask that your data gets migrated to a sandbox environment first, and compare the data to your current DTC system. You can do this using reports or using analytical software system like Enolytics.

These three suggestions are a good start, and there’s quite a lot more to monitor over the course of your data migration. Please click here of you’d like to see the detailed version of our “tip sheet” for navigating the pitfalls and opportunities.

A data migration project is not the time to take chances. Enolytics can help. We know the ins-and-outs deeply and thoroughly.

The goal here is a no-data-loss migration for you and your winery. Let us get you there.

As always, please be in touch with questions and ideas. And thank you for reading.

Cathy and the Enolytics Team