Why Data Migration Defines Transformation Success

Ask any CIO who has led a core or payments transformation what kept them up at night. More often than not, it wasn’t architecture, uptime, or even APIs. It was the data - specifically, how to migrate data from a legacy platform to a modern system without breaking downstream processes, exposing operational risk, or eroding customer trust.

Modern banking platforms are modular and cloud-native by design, but the data that feeds them often is not. It’s fragmented, embedded in legacy schemas, and frequently enriched by undocumented manual processes. When migration begins, banks face a harsh truth: no matter how modern the system, if the data fails, the transformation doesn’t land.

The Hidden Complexity of Commercial Banking Data

Migrating retail data is hard. Migrating commercial banking data is far more complex. A commercial customer is rarely a single account holder-it’s a multi-entity structure with layered entitlements, custom approval chains, and integrations with ERP or treasury systems.

When these relationships are disrupted, even slightly, the impact cascades. Reference data loss-fee codes, cutoff times, approval rules-can trigger silent transaction failures and compliance violations worth millions.

Where Migrations Fail - And Why It Matters

Many migration failures don’t appear as system errors. They surface quietly: missing workflows, invisible exceptions, “working” UIs that break under real usage.

Only 36% of data migration projects stay within budget; fewer than half (46%) finish on time. Typical failure points