Salesforce Data Migrations with David Masri of Capgemini

Last night I visited Third Republic’s new NYC headquarters, to visit a series of SFDC-focused events they’re kicking off in 2019. There were a few friends I already know, but I was fascinated by the first discussion on the subject of Salesforce data migrations. David Masri, the Technical Director of Data Strategy and Architecture at Capgemini Invent (Global Salesforce Practice) Capgemini gave an excellent talk about how we plan to migrate and import data, and then laid out the convoluted process we actually take really take in real life, using a messy mix of Excel and various other tools to sort of get the job done.

 He then talked about attribute driven design principles and Simon Sinek’s concentric circles of asking how, what and why, that enforce standards of both the process and the data in a migration.

 A good data migration should be “well planned,” “automatable,” “controlled,” “reversible,” "reparable” and testable.

I don't usually geek out on system-design and architecture, but I was amazed by how fascinating and practically useful this subject matter was.  If you're interested in learning more, check out David's book: Developing Data Migrations and Integrations with Salesforce: Patterns and Best Practices available on Amazon.