WALLACE & WASHBURN RESEARCH REVEALS IMPORTANT DATA MIGRATION ISSUES

The 1998 Data Migration Survey conducted by Wallace & Washburn, and undertaken on behalf of Reliant Data Systems, reveals that data migration is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks when deploying new applications and integrating existing applications. More specifically, the 1998 Data Migration Survey discovers that:

• 62% of application deployment managers report that data migration is the most difficult application deployment activity.
• 61% of application deployment managers report that data migration frequently causes application deployment projects to go over-budget and miss their deadlines.
• Data migration typically consumes 23% of the total man-hours required to deploy a packaged application.
• 74% of the IT Managers responsible for deploying new applications can't name a commercial data migration tool.
• 84% of large companies are not using any commercial data migration tool.

"The low level of awareness about commercial data migration tools is astounding when you consider how much time and money these tools can save a company that is deploying a new application," said Russ Caccamisi, President and CEO of Reliant.

The arduous task of data migration is a problem that is not going to go away. According to survey results, 58% of large companies have performed three or more major data migration projects in the last twelve months and 62% of all large companies report that they will migrate more data over the next two years than they did in the past two years.

"Data migration is a problem for virtually every IS organization worldwide," said Mr. Caccamisi. "It is an issue they encounter every time they deploy a packaged application or try to achieve higher levels of application integration." Survey results indicate that 77% of application deployment managers would like to read more about data migration tools in industry trade magazines.

The complete survey, including charts and graphs, is available directly from Reliant Data Systems.

Founded in 1976 in Boston, Massachusetts, Wallace & Washburn has been in the forefront of action-oriented market research, specializing in innovative sales marketing research techniques. The company has developed ThoughtScan, the Argument Audit, and most importantly, the Decision Path Analysis techniques that are the basis of their new book, Why People Don't Buy Things. Wallace and Washburn's spectrum of clients includes ABC, CBS and NBC, Arthur D. Little, General Motors, Gillette, Lotus Development Corp., Polaroid Industrial and Procter & Gamble.

Reliant Data Systems, Inc. provides solutions and technology for rapid migration of legacy applications data. The company's breakthrough Data Conversion, Loading & Extraction Engine (DCLE Engine) provides a simpler, faster, more efficient way to migrate data. In addition to providing state-of-the-art software, Reliant offers a comprehensive range of consulting and support services. The company is privately held and is located in Austin, Texas. For more information, see http://www.reliantdata.com