Data platform modernization
Navigating the challenges of data platform modernization/ migration
Modernizing to a cloud‑native lakehouse collides with three stubborn forces:
Volume, the mountain of legacy data jobs and petabytes of data that must be sifted and triaged;
Complexity, the maze of undocumented macros, hard‑coded paths and on‑prem dependencies that hide critical business logic;
and change, the human shift to new tools, processes and governance models that ultimately decides whether the new platform is embraced or bypassed.
Use case – Migration challenges
A simple way to frame the risk and effort of moving from legacy SAS & on-prem analytics stacks to a modern cloud lakehouse: Volume, Complexity and Change.
| Challenge | What it looks like in practice | Why it matters during migration |
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📦 Volume “There’s just so much of it” |
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🧩 Complexity “We don’t know what we don’t know” |
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🔄 Change “Technology is the easy part—people make it stick” |
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At SBI we believe that an effective migration approach
is based on 3 principles:
Expert guidance in shaping/designing your target platform.
- Conduct a comprehensive current state assessment (data sources, workloads, SLA requirements).
- Define a target architecture and phased roadmap aligned to measurable business outcomes.
- Prioritize “quick wins” and long term investments to maximize ROI from day one.
AI-based Automation as a key
enabler
Automation is key to face the 3 challenges, without this capability the migration project will be an unpredictable, high-cost venture
- Leverage GenAI powered tools to refactor and convert thousands of legacy SAS scripts at scale
- Automate data model. transformation, schema mapping and pipeline scaffolding to cut costs and timelines.
- Embed CI/CD and AI-based testing frameworks to ensure repeatable, reliable deployments.
Human Empowerment & Change Management
- Deliver hands on training, documentation and “train the trainer” programs for your IT and business teams.
- Establish governance guardrails, best practice playbooks and support structures for ongoing evolution.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement so your organization sustains and builds on its new platform.
By combining deep SAS migration expertise with cloud‑native best practices and GenAI‑driven automation, SBI ensures your platform modernization is efficient, risk-free and fully adopted across the enterprise.
Partners
At SBI Consulting, our partnerships with SAS, Microsoft and Dataiku form the backbone of our innovative approach.
Together, we deliver end-to-end solutions that future-proof organizations.
Our clients benefit from consultants who are fluent in these combined technologies, allowing us to build integrated solutions that bridge legacy and modern platforms — faster, smarter, and with less risk.
Since 2007 SBI has been a proud and leading SAS Partner in Belgium.
Since 2016 SBI Consulting joined forces with Dataiku to make data science and AI solutions accessible to organizations of any size, in any sector.
