# Understanding Migration, Interfacing, and Hybrid Integration in Novulo (post 1)

**URL:** <https://community.novulo.com/t/understanding-migration-interfacing-and-hybrid-integration-in-novulo-post-1/732>\
**Category:** Wiki\
**Created:** [June 2, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.novulo.com/t/understanding-migration-interfacing-and-hybrid-integration-in-novulo-post-1/732 "2025-06-02T12:47:43Z")\
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**Author:** ![Joost](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex008/user_avatar/community.novulo.com/joost/32/87_2.png) [@Joost](https://community.novulo.com/u/Joost)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.novulo.com/t/understanding-migration-interfacing-and-hybrid-integration-in-novulo-post-1/732/1 "2025-06-02T12:47:43Z")

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# 🧭 Post 1: Understanding Migration, Interfacing, and Hybrid Integration in Novulo

* * *

## 👋 Welcome to the Series

This is the **first post in a series** on **import and migration best practices** for Novulo developers and implementation consultants.

Whether you’re preparing for go-live, setting up a long-running interface, or dealing with edge-case data structures — getting your import strategy right is essential for performance, reliability, and long-term maintainability.

In this series, we’ll walk through the **core concepts** , **real-world challenges** , and **specific design decisions** that come up during Novulo implementations.

🔜 Upcoming posts in the series:

1. **[Why Import Design Decisions Matter – Laying the Groundwork](https://community.novulo.com/t/import-and-migration-strategies-post-2-choosing-between-direct-import-and-staging-with-temporary-tables/733/1)**
2. **Key Factors That Shape Your Import Strategy**
3. **Handling Normalization and Reverse-Normalization**
4. **Record Fragmentation and Other Edge Cases**
5. **When (and How) to Use Temporary Tables in Novulo**
6. **Error Handling, Monitoring, and Operational Stability**

We’ll link each post here once they’re published, so you can follow along or revisit relevant sections later.

* * *

## 🧱 Why Start Here?

Before diving into import design or technical options, it’s important to step back and answer the most basic — yet often overlooked — question:

> **Why are we importing data at all?**

In Novulo projects, data integration happens in three primary forms:

1. **Migration**
2. **Interfacing**
3. **Hybrid approaches**

At first glance, these might feel like completely different use cases. But from an implementation point of view — especially when using the Novulo Import Engine — they’re deeply connected.

This post explains each scenario and sets the foundation for the rest of the series.

* * *

## 🔁 Migration

Migration refers to a **one-time or limited-run** transfer of data from a legacy system into Novulo. It typically occurs at or before go-live, when the old system is being phased out.

### Examples

- Moving all customers, contracts, or product records from an ERP into Novulo
- A cutover migration where the last week of transactions are synced during go-live weekend

### Characteristics

- **Source system is retired** after migration
- Novulo becomes the **new system of record**
- Data is typically loaded once
- Source system is **always leading**
- Can include multiple migration phases (e.g. master data first, then transactional data)

* * *

## 🔄 Interfacing (Incoming)

In many implementations, Novulo receives **ongoing data** from external systems. This is what we refer to here as **incoming interfacing**.

> 📝 **Note:** While Novulo also supports **outgoing** or **bi-directional** interfaces, this post focuses on **large incoming interfaces** , where Novulo consumes data from an external master system. Outgoing interfaces are a different implementation topic.

### Examples

- Nightly product catalog sync from a PIM system
- Real-time updates from an HRM system
- Weekly updates of asset data from an external platform

### Characteristics

- Data is imported **repeatedly** (e.g. daily or real-time)

- Source system **remains active**

- Novulo acts as a **consumer** , not the master

- Typically **one-way** inbound

- Requires more attention to:

* * *

## 🔁🔄 Hybrid Approaches

Some projects need a **temporary interface** as part of a larger **migration strategy**. These hybrid approaches are common in phased rollouts.

### Examples

- Gradual migration of a CRM system by region
- Temporary sync during long data cleansing cycles
- Parallel running of old and new systems for a transition period

### Characteristics

- Source system remains active **during** migration
- Data is imported **repeatedly** , but with a planned stop
- Often used for **large-scale** , **high-risk** projects
- Must be clear that the **source remains leading** during the sync

* * *

## 🤝 Why We Cover Them Together

Even though migration, interfacing, and hybrid setups serve different **business goals** , they all:

- Use the **same Novulo Import Engine**

- Share the same **data modeling challenges**

- Require similar choices about structure, mapping, and error handling

- Can be implemented with either:

Whether your data is loaded once or every hour, the import design principles are remarkably similar — and the decisions you make early on will impact maintainability, performance, and traceability later.

That’s why this series discusses these topics **in one connected flow**.

* * *

## 🧭 What’s Next?

In the next post, we’ll zoom in on why **import design decisions matter so much** — and what kind of questions you need to ask **up front** before picking a strategy.

If you’ve ever thought:

> _“We’ll clean the data later,”_  
> or  
> _“We just need a quick import for go-live,”_

…you’ll want to read [Post 2](https://community.novulo.com/t/import-and-migration-strategies-post-2-choosing-between-direct-import-and-staging-with-temporary-tables/733/1).

* * *

## 📌 Visual Summary

| Scenario | Description | Source Active? | Frequency | Novulo Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Migration** | One-time data move into Novulo | ❌ No | One-off | New system of record |
| **Interfacing (Incoming)** | Continuous data sync into Novulo | ✅ Yes | Recurring / Real-time | Data consumer |
| **Hybrid** | Temporary sync during phased migration | ✅ Yes (temporary) | Recurring | Future system of record |

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_[View the full topic](https://community.novulo.com/t/understanding-migration-interfacing-and-hybrid-integration-in-novulo-post-1/732)._