Mlogica Thought Leaders: Overcoming Challenges in Sybase Database Migrations to the Cloud

In the rapidly changing enterprise landscape, businesses are shifting more and more of their applications and workloads to the cloud to leverage its key value drivers, including agility, security and scalability.

One subset of administrators and CIOs that’s looking particularly hard at cloud migration these days are Sybase users worldwide. Since Sybase has announced the end of mainstream maintenance in 2027, qualified support resources are bound to become scarcer and higher-priced—and a system without support is an untenable risk for business.

However, even with these incentives to modernize, cloud migration of complex Sybase databases is a strategic initiative that requires a deep understanding of the inherent challenges. It necessitates in-depth knowledge of the source Sybase technologies, including Sybase ASE, ASA, IQ and Replication Server, as well as the destination cloud platform.

Since most Sybase database applications were developed in the 1990s, there are also obsolete libraries and APIs such as DB-LIB, CT-LIB, Open Client, Open Server and more that must be remediated. Therefore a successful migration also requires comprehensive system analysis and planning as well as a robust strategy to mitigate risk and transition seamlessly.

As Sybase moves towards end of mainstream maintenance in 2025, administrators and CIOs are facing the imminent need to modernize, and most likely they’ll be planning to put part or all of their legacy workloads in the cloud. However, it’s a move that must be approached strategically, since this transition cannot impact business continuity.

As with any legacy system, Sybase databases have both innate and accumulated complexities that have accrued over decades in use. These include characteristics unique to Sybase technologies as well as years of user-generated system modifications. This is why it’s critical to work with a modernization team that has deep understanding of the unique characteristics of both Sybase and legacy systems.

At mLogica, our leadership and technical teams include experts with decades of experience in SAP/Sybase technology. In fact, many of our principal modernization team members are former Sybase employees or consultants. Some of the typical challenges the mLogica migration team has been brought in to remediate during Sybase migrations to the cloud include:

Selecting a destination cloud platform that is compatible with the source database is one of the main hurdles in legacy migrations. Since features, specifications and performance capabilities vary for each cloud platform, it’s vital to accurately assess all aspects of the existing system prior to selecting a destination platform to avoid corrupted applications, data loss or even complete system failure.

This is why it’s essential to conduct a comprehensive compatibility check of the desired cloud platform and document any technological gaps between the Sybase and cloud architectures. A provider with expertise in both Sybase and the target architecture can determine all existing upstream and downstream applications and, based on that granular analysis, craft an end-to-end migration roadmap that documents all phases of the project, including detailed time and cost estimates.

Security is always a top priority, particularly when moving business-critical data to the cloud. Migration of Sybase databases that have been in operation for decades requires the transfer of large amounts of data, which, if not managed expertly, can lead to security breaches. At mLogica, we ensure all data to be migrated is securely encrypted prior to migration to the cloud. Use of encryption in Sybase databases must also be analyzed and remediated, which can be a complex challenge.

Fortunately, hyperscalers including Oracle, GCP, AWS, Azure and more spend billions every year to ensure their customers’ data is protected. Therefore, migrating to the cloud means gaining immediate access to leading-edge data security tools.

Cloud platforms also allow you to put role-based controls in place that tightly regulate which staffers in your organization have access to privileged data. Enforcing such compliance procedures and conducting regular audits to immediately detect and fix any issues can mitigate the risk of a data breach and ensure all sensitive information remains secure.

Companies that experience frequent or extended downtimes during a legacy database migration may suffer serious repercussions, including reduced productivity, lost revenue and diminished team morale and momentum in support of the transition. Therefore, a crucial component of expert Sybase database migration is minimizing downtime and implementing enhanced protections for enterprises with high availability requirements. With database replication, which mirrors data in real time to the target environment, comprehensive testing, and a thorough defect remediation methodology prior to go-live in the new environment businesses can uncover potential error patterns and reduce the possibility of costly downtime.

A key concern during cloud migration is ensuring system performance meets or exceeds legacy levels. High latency due to performance issues can severely impact both internal and external user experience and overall system efficiency.

Performance testing prior to deployment in the cloud helps to identify bottlenecks in the destination environment, allowing the migration team to tune and optimize performance configuration accordingly. Cloud-native database performance and monitoring tools allow your teams to be certain the new database functions optimally in the target environment.

To ensure smooth functioning from day one in the cloud environment, it’s essential that all in-house support teams receive customized training in how to manage their new database. This is why a critical phase of database migration to the cloud is a comprehensive training program to familiarize your IT teams with their new menu of cloud-native tools and solutions.

As a software-based expert cloud migration provider, mLogica can help you craft and customize these training protocols and perform the knowledge transfer required. Ongoing support can also help your team continuously build their new cloud-based skillset and ensure they stay current with emerging technologies. Fostering a work environment that rewards professional growth is also a key strategy to incentivize teams to continue learning new cloud technologies.

Although moving Sybase workloads to the cloud is a complex project, a team with deep Sybase experience can easily address and mitigate challenges such as compatibility, data security, minimizing downtime and maximizing performance early in the planning stages. At mLogica, our team’s decades of experience in SAP/Sybase technology, and our customized STAR*M software for distributed workload modernization optimize this migration process. Addressing these challenges before they can occur is the key to seamless migration of legacy Sybase databases and creating a robust, secure and future-proof technology stack.

Correction: This post originally stated mainstream support for Sybase would end in 2025, as was previously announced. However, interim support has been extended to 2030.