Highlights

  • The SnowConvert can rebuild the code and make the exact same functionality.
  • SnowConvert is a suite of tools that employs automation and quick analysis to reconstruct things such as tables, views, stored procedures, and BTEQ files.

The cloud data warehouse giant Snowflake Inc. announced on January 19, 2023, that it has agreed on a deal with Gap Mobilize Corp., which does business as Mobilize Net, to take hold of (acquire) its data migration tool SnowConvert.

Although several third-party data duplication tools are implemented to aid migrations to Snowflake, few pay much attention to one of the very difficult aspects of the complete process, i.e., code conversion.

The challenge is that legacy databases often have numerous lines of Data Definition language SQL commands and thousands of objects. It’s essential to recreate all of the code and create the same function to ensure that a database can successfully be migrated to Snowflake’s cloud data warehouse. It is difficult to execute the task, and only one mistake can spoil the complete operation.

It is the reason why Snowflake is acquiring SnowConvert. It’s a suite of tools that deploys sophisticated automation techniques and depends on matching and analysis to reconstruct items like views, tables, stored procedures, macros, and BTEQ files with similar functions to Snowflake.

According to Mobilize, SnowConvert can move databases from platforms like Spark, Oracle, and Teradata. It reduces the requirement for any kind of manual coding. Snowflake claims that SnowConvert has proven to be very popular with customers who are looking to migrate to its platform, wherein it has converted more than 1.5 billion lines of code so far.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc., said, “Snowflake is buying a successful startup from within its own ecosystem, making SnowConvert’s data migration capacity a part of its own tooling. It makes perfect sense to acquire a proven and tested platform, and it should help Snowflake to perform many more enterprise migrations to its platform in future.”

Snowflake said the acquisition of SnowConvert would allow the expansion of its professional services footprint in Costa Rica, Bellevue, and Colombia. Customers will gain easy access to its tools when planning their database migrations.

Snowflake’s vice president of professional services, Ted Brackin, explained that the company is positive about making the migration process as fast and as simple as possible for customers from their legacy databases to its data cloud. “With the acquisition of SnowConvert, we can help more customers, partners and, more broadly, our Snowflake partner network move more data and applications into the data cloud, enabling customers to obtain faster value from their investment in Snowflake sooner,” he said.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the closing depends on Snowflake receiving regulatory approval.

It is the second acquisition of Snowflake this year. It announced its deal to buy Myst AI Inc almost two weeks ago. Also, last March, it acquired a company called Streamlit Inc., the creator of an open-source application framework, for around USD 800 million.

In separate news today, Mobilize announced selling its Application Migration Business Unit to a venture, namely, Growth Acceleration Partners.