Removing barriers to migrating databases to Azure with Striim’s Unlimited Database Migration program
Alok Pareek, co-founder and Executive Vice President of Product and Engineering at Striim Shireesh Thota, Corporate Vice President of Databases at Microsoft Every modernization strategy starts with data. It’s what enables advanced analytics and AI agents today, and prepares enterprises for what’s to come in the future. But before services like Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI Foundry, or Copilot can create that value, the underlying data needs to move into Microsoft’s cloud platforms. It’s within that first step, database migration, where the real complexity often lies. To simplify the process, Microsoft has expanded its investment in the Striim partnership. Striim continuously replicates data from existing databases into Azure in real time, enabling online migrations with zero downtime. Through this partnership, we have collaborated to enable modernization and migration into Azure at no additional cost to our customers. We’ve designed this Unlimited Database Migration program to accelerate adoption by making migrations easier to start, easier to scale, and easier to complete, all without disrupting business operations. Since launch, this joint program has already driven significant growth in customer adoption, indicating the demand for faster, more seamless modernization. And with Microsoft’s continued investment in this partnership, enterprises now have a proven, repeatable path to modernize their databases and prepare their data for the AI era. Watch or listen to our recent podcast episode (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube) to learn more. Striim’s Unlimited Migration Program Striim’s Unlimited Database Migration Program was designed to make modernization as straightforward as possible for Microsoft customers. Through this initiative, enterprises gain unlimited Striim licenses to migrate as many databases as they need at no additional cost. Highlights and benefits of the program include: Zero-downtime, zero-data-loss migrations. Supported sources include SQL Server, MongoDB, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Sybase. Supported targets include Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure SQL. Mission-critical, heterogeneous workloads supported. Applies for SQL, Oracle, NoSQL, OSS. Drives faster AI adoption. Once migrated, data is ready for analytics & AI. Access is streamlined through Microsoft’s Cloud Factory Accelerator team, which manages program enrollment and coordinates the distribution of licenses. Once onboarded, customers receive installation walkthroughs, an enablement kit, and direct support from Striim architects. Cutover support, hands-on labs, and escalation paths are all built in to help migrations run smoothly from start to finish. Enterprises can start migrations quickly, scale across business units, and keep projects moving without slowing down for procurement hurdles. Now, migrations can begin when the business is ready, not when budgets or contracts catch up. How Striim Powers Online Migrations Within Striim’s database migrations, schema changes and metadata evolution are automatically detected and applied, preserving data accuracy and referential integrity. As the migration progresses, Striim automatically coordinates both the initial bulk load of historical data and the ongoing synchronization of live transactions. This ongoing synchronization keeps source and target systems in sync for as long as needed to actively test the target applications with real data before doing the cutoff, thereby minimizing risk. However, the foundation of Striim’s approach is log-based Change Data Capture (CDC), which streams database changes in real time from source to target with sub-second latency. This helps migrations avoid just moving the static snapshot of a database. Rather, they continuously replicate every update as it happens, so both environments remain aligned with minimal impact on operational systems throughout the process. While the snapshot (initial load) is being applied to the target system, Striim captures all the changes that occur. Once the initial load process is complete, Striim applies the changes using CDC, and from this point on, the source and target systems are in sync. This eliminates the need for shutting down the source system during the initial load process and enables customers to complete their migrations without any downtime of the source database. Striim is also designed to work across hybrid and multi-cloud architectures. It can seamlessly move workloads from on-premises databases, SaaS applications, or other clouds into Microsoft databases. By maintaining exactly-once delivery and ensuring downstream systems stay in sync, Striim can reduce risk and accelerates the path to modernization. Striim is available in the Azure Marketplace, giving customers a native, supported way to integrate it directly into their Azure environment. This means migrations can be deployed quickly, governed centrally, and scaled as business needs evolve, all while still aligning with Azure’s security and compliance standards. From Migration to Value With workloads fully landed in Azure, enterprises can immediately take advantage of the broader Microsoft data ecosystem. Fabric, Azure AI Foundry, and Copilot become available as extensions of the database foundation, allowing teams to analyze, visualize, and enrich data without delay. Enterprises can begin adopting Microsoft AI services with data that is current, trusted, and governed. Instead of treating migration as an isolated project, customers gain an integrated pathway to analytics and AI, creating value as soon as databases go live in Azure. How Enterprises Are Using the Program Today Across industries, we’re already seeing how this program changes the way enterprises approach modernization. Financial Services Moving from Oracle to Azure SQL, one global bank used Striim to keep systems in sync throughout the migration. With transactions flowing in real time, they stood up a modern fraud detection pipeline on Azure that identifies risks as they happen. Logistics For a logistics provider, shifting package-tracking data from MongoDB to Azure Cosmos DB meant customers could monitor shipments in real time. Striim’s continuous replication kept data consistent throughout the cutover, so the company didn’t have to trade accuracy for speed. Healthcare A provider modernizing electronic medical records from Sybase to Azure SQL relied on Striim to ensure clinicians never lost access. With data now in Azure, they can meet compliance requirements while building analytics that improve patient care. Technology InfoCert, a leading provider of digital trust services specializing in secure digital identity solutions, opted to migrate its critical Legalmail Enterprise application from Oracle to Azure Database for PostgreSQL. Using Striim and Microsoft, they successfully migrated 2 TB of data across 12 databases and completed the project within a six-month timeframe, lowering licensing costs, enhancing scalability, and improving security. What unites these stories is a common thread: once data is in Azure, it becomes part of a foundation that’s ready for analytics and AI. Accelerate Your Path to Azure Now, instead of database migration being the bottleneck for modernization, it’s the starting point for what comes next. With the Unlimited Database Migration Program, Microsoft and Striim have created a path that removes friction and clears the way for innovation. Most customers can simply reach out to their Microsoft account team or seller to begin the process. Your Microsoft representative will validate that your migration scenario is supported by Striim, and Striim will allocate the licenses, provide installation guidance, and deliver ongoing support. If you’re unsure who your Microsoft contact is, you can connect directly with Striim, and we’ll coordinate with Microsoft on your behalf. There’s no lengthy procurement cycle or complex setup to navigate. With Microsoft and Striim jointly coordinating the program, enterprises can begin migrations as soon as they’re ready, with confidence that support is in place from start to finish. Simplify your migration and move forward with confidence. Talk to your Microsoft representative or book a call with Striim team today to take advantage of the Unlimited Database Migration Program and start realizing the value of Azure sooner. Or if you’re attending Microsoft Ignite, visit Striim at booth 6244 to learn more, ask questions, and see how Striim and Microsoft can help accelerate your modernization journey together.
General Availability - DMS's PowerShell, Azure CLI, and Python SDK
We’re excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of DMS client tools - PowerShell, Azure CLI, Python SDK and more. This milestone unlocks efficient, stable, and scalable automation options for database migration workflows—making it easier than ever to integrate DMS into your DevOps pipelines and enterprise migration strategies. 💡Introduction: With the general availability of DMS client tools - PowerShell, Azure CLI, Python SDK, users can now use stable release of: PowerShell module 1.0.0 (https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/Az.DataMigration/1.0.0) Azure CLI extension 1.0.0 (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/datamigration?view=azure-cli-latest) DMS V2 APIs (version 2025-06-30) SDKs for multiple languages (listed below) SDKs Releases: Language GA Package / Link .Net https://www.nuget.org/packages/Azure.ResourceManager.DataMigration/1.0.0 Java https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.azure.resourcemanager/azure-resourcemanager-datamigration/1.1.0 Go https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/resourcemanager/datamigration/armdatamigration/v2 Python azure-mgmt-datamigration · PyPI JavaScript https://www.npmjs.com/package/@azure/arm-datamigration/v/3.0.0 🔧 What’s New? Three new commands have been introduced in the latest releases of the SDK, PowerShell module, and CLI extension, as outlined below: New CLI Commands: az datamigration sql-db retry - Retry the failed SQL DB migrations. az datamigration sql-managed-instance delete - Delete Azure SQL MI’s Database Migration resource. az datamigration sql-vm delete - Delete Azure SQL VM’s Database Migration resource. New PowerShell Commands: Invoke-AzDataMigrationRetryToSqlDb - Retry the failed SQL DB migrations. Remove-AzDataMigrationToSqlManagedInstance - Delete Azure SQL MI’s Database Migration resource. Remove-AzDataMigrationToSqlVM - Delete Azure SQL VM’s Database Migration resource. 🚀Conclusion: With this GA / stable release, users can now: Use them to configure and execute migrations with full control. Automate migrations: DevOps teams can embed migration steps into CI/CD pipelines. Integrate into custom applications and orchestration tools. These support all the DMS migration scenarios—from simple lift-and-shift operations to complex logical migrations—while ensuring stability, and repeatability. For more details, refer: Documentation: Migrate databases at scale using Azure PowerShell / CLI PowerShell: Az.DataMigration Module Azure CLI: az datamigration Python SDK: azure-mgmt-datamigration · PyPIElastic Pools SKU recommendations in DMS Automation - Azure Powershell and CLI
We are excited to announce the addition of Azure SQL Database Elastic Pools (Elastic Pools) SKU recommendation in Azure Data Migration Service (DMS) automation tools. What has changed As part of our ongoing efforts to simplify and optimize the migration of on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure, we have now added the ability to recommend Azure SQL Elastic Pools for Azure SQL Database targets. This new feature is available through both Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI, making it easier than ever to leverage the cost benefits and scalability of Elastic Pools. Why This Matters Elastic Pools offer a cost-effective solution for managing and scaling multiple databases with varying and unpredictable usage demands. By sharing a set number of resources across multiple databases, Elastic Pools help you optimize resource utilization and reduce costs compared to provisioning standalone databases. This is particularly beneficial for scenarios where database usage patterns are unpredictable, allowing you to handle spikes in demand without overprovisioning resources. Key Benefits of Elastic Pools Cost Savings: Elastic Pools provide significant cost savings by allowing multiple databases to share resources. This eliminates the need to overprovision resources for individual databases, leading to more efficient resource utilization and lower costs. 2. Scalability: Elastic Pools share resources ensuring that your databases get the performance they need when they need it. This provides all the benefits of scaling on demand. 3. Simplified Management: Managing resources for a pool rather than individual databases simplifies your management tasks and provides a predictable budget for the pool. No Changes Needed to Command Line One of the best parts of this new feature is that there are no changes needed to the command line for the `Get-AzDataMigrationSkuRecommendation` and `get-sku-recommendation` commands. You can continue using these commands as you always have, and the tool will now include recommendations for Elastic Pools where appropriate. How to Use the Command To get started with the new Elastic Pool recommendations, simply run the `Get-AzDataMigrationSkuRecommendation` command in Azure PowerShell or the `get-sku-recommendation` command in Azure CLI. Here’s a quick guide on how to run the command and review the output: Azure PowerShell: # Run SKU Recommendation Get-AzDataMigrationSkuRecommendation -OutputFolder "C:\Output" -DisplayResult -Overwrite Azure CLI: # Run SKU Recommendation az datamigration get-sku-recommendation --output-folder "C:\Output" --display-result --overwrite Reviewing the Output JSON File The output of the SKU recommendation will be saved in a JSON file in the specified output folder. This file will include detailed recommendations for Azure SQL Database SKUs, including 1 or more Elastic Pools as needed to accommodate the databases in the SQL Server instance. Here’s what to look for in the JSON file: - ResourceType: Indicates whether the recommendation is for a SingleDatabase or ElasticPool. - PoolCount: The total number of Elastic Pools of the given configuration recommended. - ElasticPoolMemberDatabases: Lists the databases that are recommended to be included in the pool. Conclusion We believe that the addition of Elastic Pool recommendations to our DMS automation tools will provide significant cost savings while improving scalability, and simplifying management, making it easier than ever to migrate to Azure SQL Database. Next Steps We encourage you to try out this new feature and let us know your feedback. For more information: Review our Azure SQL Database Elastic Pools documentation. Review DMS automation module Az.DataMigration in Azure Powershell. Review DMS automation commands in module az datamigration in Azure CLI. Review the samples documented in the Data Migration Sample Repository. Thank you for your continued support and happy migrating!SQL Migration assessments now include Next-gen General Purpose Azure SQL MI
Announcing the inclusion of the Next-gen General Purpose service tier in migration assessments for SQL Server migration to Azure SQL Managed Instance. All database migration tooling includes this capability now. This service tier is more customizable, allowing the configuration to be tailored more closely to the resource requirements.
