Before going into using ETL for migrating database from Oracle to Microsoft SQL Server, it is necessary to understand what ETL is and its functionalities.

Organizations need to regularly load data warehouses to carry out precise data processing and analysis. For this, it is necessary to extract data from one or more operational system and copy it into the data warehouse. This process is commonly known as ETL or Extraction, Transformation, and Loading.

Now, what happens during ETL from Oracle to SQL Server databases. During extraction, the required data is identified and extracted from different Oracle database systems or other applications. Depending on the capabilities of the source system, some transformation is possible during this extraction process. The size of the extracted data can vary from hundreds of Kilobytes to gigabytes.

After the data is extracted in the ETL from Oracle to SQL Server process, it has to be transported to the target system, in this case, the SQL Server. Depending on the selected method, some transformation takes place at this stage. For example, a SQL statement that can directly access a remote target through a gateway can link together two columns in a series as part of the Select statement.

The focus here is scalability and most users and developers of Oracle Database have the professional expertise for programing complex transformation logic using PL/SQL. There are alternatives for such data manipulation operations with emphasis on implementations that use Oracle’s recently-launched SQL functionality, especially for ETL from Oracle to SQL Server and the parallel query infrastructure.

Oracle is not an ETL tool and hence, does not provide an optimized solution for ETL. However, Oracle offers a varied and effective set of capabilities that can be used by both customized ETL solutions and ETL tools, facilitating ETL from Oracle to SQL Server processes. Oracle, though, also provides techniques for moving data between Oracle databases and to others like Microsoft SQL Server for transforming large volumes of data and speedily loading new data into a data warehouse.

Why would businesses want to migrate databases with ETL from Oracle to SQL Server?The reason is businesses want to save on technology costs by deploying economical technologies and software that are powerful and capable enough to meet all operational needs. Maintaining and supporting databases are areas where they have to spend a lot in license and support fees, not to mention the manpower needed to maintain the databases.

In this regard, SQL Server has an edge over Oracle as it is more economical – the main reason why enterprises opt for ETL from Oracle to SQL Server.But before doing so, it is necessary to understand the Oracle database features being used and find a feature in SQL Server that can match them. Further, check that data types used in Oracle match that of the SQL Server.