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Sandra
Shin

Sandra Shin is a problem-solving analyst with extensive experience in data modeling, database development, and technical writing.

Schaumburg, Illinois

Sandra Shin currently divides her time between the Schaumburg, Illinois and the Charlottesville, Virginia areas. As a professional consultant, Ms. Shin’s business dealings allow her some degree of flexibility regarding onsite work versus telecommuting. Sandra Shin’s consulting business, Effective Data Consultants, Inc. was established in 1995, and for over a decade, Ms. Shin has been solving problems for companies, using data modeling, database development, and technical writing. Sandra Shin works mainly with small to mid-sized businesses, providing technical solutions that draw upon her years of experience. Sandra Shin also puts her problem-solving skills to work as a contract employee for businesses, most recently with Aerotek/Ensemble-Chime/EWork. Collaborating with Exelon Energy (ComEd and PECo), Sandra Shin demonstrated the value of results in a business environment by planning projects and overseeing a successful conversion of technical materials from digital to controlled documents. Sandra Shin organized and tracked the progress of her efforts by means of a custom database that cross-referenced the corporate database. As part of a cross-functional project team, Sandra Shin established the initial scope of the assignment and then readjusted the engineering processes to clarify procedures and lay groundwork for success. Ms. Sandra Shin attended the University of Chicago for her Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Chemistry. Ms. Shin is presently working towards the completion of the University of Phoenix Master’s program in Computer Science. In her spare time, Ms. Shin proves a true bibliophile, reading the works of Jeffrey A. Carver, L. Sprague de Camp, and H. Beam Piper.


Sandra Shin's Schools

Sandra Shin's Publications

  • Keys to Successful Data Migration, by Sandy Shin
    May, 2011
    Keys to Successful Data Migration, by Sandy Shin

    With the increased reliance on information technology (IT) across all industries and the ever-increasing pace of technological development, data migration has become a major concern for most businesses. Companies perform data migrations for a number of reasons, such as consolidating collections, improving the quality of data, adding functionality and efficiency, and moving to new software solutions.

    Historically, data migration has been a costly and somewhat risky endeavor, but with modern IT infrastructure and a proper migration plan, companies can avoid transitional difficulties entirely. Unfortunately, many businesses continue to experience expensive migration problems due to a lack of planning.

    The first step in a successful data migration involves understanding the information to be migrated. Source data should be profiled to gain an understanding of content and structure, taking into consideration the type of data in each field and dependencies between data in different fields. In addition, data that is replicated or overlaps between sets should be identified.

    Next, data should be organized into a mapping structure that will allow it to be moved to the correct location in the new system. Such a map will require the data to be represented by a normalized relational model that completely translates the relationships in the data from the old system to the new one. New structures should also be added to increase performance in the new system and address additional concerns. Finally, a set of protocols for transforming data from one format to the other can be established.

    A proper understanding of these general principles can ensure that a business will be able to conduct a data migration relatively quickly and with little or no loss of data. Ideally, such a migration should also add functionality and remove problems inherent in the original data structure.

    About Sandy Shin : An experienced business information consultant, Sandy Shin runs Effective Data Consultants, based in the Greater Chicago Area. She specializes in database development, data migration, and business intelligence analysis techniques.