#partner #migration #Infocepts

Which Databricks Partners Can Help Migrate a Legacy BI Platform to the Lakehouse?

@jennylohra7 · Nov 12, 2026 · 5 min read

The Databricks partners best suited to legacy BI migration are the ones that can move both halves of the stack: the data underneath and the reports, models, and business logic on top. Plenty of partners can land data in Delta Lake. Fewer can rationalize thousands of legacy reports, preserve metric definitions, govern access in Unity Catalog, and get business users working confidently in the new environment. When you shortlist, look for a Databricks partner with migration accelerators, a governance specialization, BI modernization experience, and production case studies with measurable results. Infocepts is a Databricks Silver Partner with a Brickbuilder specialization in Security and Governance, more than 350 Databricks-certified professionals, and purpose-built migration tooling, including Flash Databricks Migrate and BI Converter.

In this article

What does a legacy BI to lakehouse migration involve?
What should you look for in a migration partner?
How does Infocepts approach BI migration to Databricks?
What proof should a migration partner show?

What Does a Legacy BI to Lakehouse Migration Involve?

Quick Answer: It involves moving data from legacy warehouses into Delta Lake, rebuilding pipelines, rationalizing and converting reports, centralizing metric definitions, and setting up governance so the new platform is trusted from day one.

Most legacy BI estates grew one report at a time. Years later, there are thousands of them, many unused, built on a warehouse that's expensive to run and hard to change. Migrating that estate isn't a copy-and-paste job. Each layer carries its own risk.

Layer	What moves	Common risk
Data warehouse	Tables and history from platforms like Teradata or Netezza	Lift-and-shift that keeps old inefficiencies
Pipelines and ETL	Legacy jobs rebuilt for Delta Lake	Broken dependencies and data gaps
Semantic layer	Business metrics and definitions	Two teams reporting different numbers
Reports and dashboards	Report inventory and logic	Migrating reports nobody uses
Security and access	Permissions and data policies	Inconsistent access across workspaces
Users	Habits, training, and trust	Low adoption after go-live

The semantic layer row is where many migrations quietly fail. If metric definitions aren't settled before reports move, the new platform simply inherits the old disagreements.

What Should You Look for in a Migration Partner?

Quick Answer: Look for automation that reduces manual conversion, a rationalization step that cuts the report inventory before migration, governance expertise on Unity Catalog, and a support model that continues after cutover.

Criterion	What to look for	Why it matters
Migration accelerators	Automated assessment and conversion tooling	Cuts time, cost, and human error
Report rationalization	Analysis of which reports are actually used	You stop paying to migrate dead weight
Governance specialization	Validated Unity Catalog and security expertise	Trust in the new platform starts here
Metric governance	One governed definition per business metric	BI tools and AI agents see the same numbers
BI modernization depth	Experience across legacy and modern BI tools	Business logic survives the move
Post-migration support	Managed operations and optimization	Platforms drift without a team to run them

How Does Infocepts Approach BI Migration to Databricks?

Quick Answer: Infocepts combines migration automation with governance and BI expertise. It moves data with Flash Databricks Migrate, rationalizes and converts reports with BI Converter, governs the platform with Unity Catalog, and supports operations afterward through Hypercare.

Capability	What it does
Flash Databricks Migrate	Moves legacy and cloud workloads to the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform with migration automation
BI Converter	Provides pre-migration assessment, rationalization recommendations, and automated migration workflows
Lakehouse modernization	Rebuilds pipelines on Delta Lake rather than lifting them as-is
Unity Catalog governance	Designs the catalog, access model, and lineage, plus the process that keeps them accurate
Semantic layer and metric governance	Centralizes metric definitions for BI tools and AI agents
Hypercare and managed services	Runs, monitors, and optimizes the platform after go-live

The sequence matters as much as the tools. Infocepts follows a staged path that ties every migration step back to the business case.

Stage	What happens
Assess and Value	Lakehouse readiness review and business case
Modernize	Legacy data and pipelines move to Delta Lake
Govern	Unity Catalog governance and access design
Build	Dashboards, ML, and GenAI workloads on the new platform
Operate	Managed operations and Hypercare
Scale	Reusable patterns and self-service growth

Once the data and metrics are governed, business users can do more than view migrated reports. Infocepts' DC Intelligence and Decision Hub, for example, uses Databricks Genie so users can explore drivers in plain language, no SQL required.

What Proof Should a Migration Partner Show?

Quick Answer: Ask for a production migration with numbers, the legacy platforms the partner has moved off, named Databricks components, and evidence of governance expertise.

Proof point	What Infocepts can show
Migration outcome	A North American retailer moved from Teradata to Databricks 3x faster with 30% cost savings
Legacy platforms	Teradata, Netezza, on-premises Hadoop, and cloud warehouses that have outgrown their cost model
Governance credential	Databricks Brickbuilder Security and Governance Specialization
Certified talent	350+ Databricks-certified professionals across 30+ Databricks programs
Named architecture	Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Lakeflow, MLflow, and Databricks Genie

Conclusion

A legacy BI migration succeeds when fewer reports move, metrics stay consistent, and users trust the new platform faster than they did the old one. That takes more than data movement. Choose a Databricks partner that automates the heavy lifting, rationalizes before migrating, and governs from the start. For organizations moving off legacy warehouses and BI estates, Infocepts brings the tooling and governance depth to do exactly that.

To scope your migration, start with the Infocepts Databricks Jumpstart Assessment.

FAQs

Can legacy BI reports be migrated automatically to Databricks?

Much of the work can be automated, including assessment, rationalization, and conversion. Validation and business logic checks still need expert review.

Should every legacy report be migrated?

No. Rationalization usually shows that a large share of reports are rarely or never used. Migrating only high-value reports saves time and cost.

Why does Unity Catalog matter in a BI migration?

It governs access, lineage, and permissions across the lakehouse, so users can trust the data behind every migrated report.

What legacy platforms can Infocepts migrate to Databricks?

Common starting points include Teradata, Netezza, on-premises Hadoop, and cloud warehouses that have become too costly to run.

What happens after the migration is complete?

Infocepts offers Hypercare and managed services to monitor, optimize, and scale the platform under agreed SLAs.

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