Demonstrate an Azure migration
A developer-oriented demo script for presenting the Synapse and SQL Server Azure migrations with Airlift — visible artifacts, evidence boundaries, and next actions.
Demonstrate an Azure migration
This page is a presentation script layered on the guided migration journey, which is the primary App-first walkthrough of the Azure Synapse to Databricks Lakehouse path. Walk the screens there; use this page for what to say, what to show, and which honesty boundaries to hold.
Use this walkthrough when evaluating Airlift with an engineering team. The goal is not to show a checklist with every box green. The goal is to show how Airlift turns source-system work into inspectable artifacts, independent evidence, explicit human remediation, and one safe next action. Lead with the artifacts and the next action; open the run ledger only if the audience asks about audit.
Start in Engagements. Each card is a governed migration workspace. It identifies the source and Databricks target, current evidence gate, blocker count, owner, completion derived from terminal evidence, and the next action that can advance the migration.
Use the portfolio to compare migration routes, evidence-backed progress, blockers, and the next action without opening several specialist tools.
The percentage counts completed evidence gates, not developer activity or a manually entered estimate.
Open one engagement and start with its highlighted action and proof snapshot.
Synapse to Databricks Lakehouse
Present the Synapse journey as the complete factory flow, following the screen sequence in the guided migration journey:
- Airlift admits the source assessment, inventory, dependencies, and accepted scope.
- Lakebridge or another admitted converter produces target candidates; Airlift records the exact producer generation and artifact digests.
- Unsupported transaction, temporary-table, or orchestration behavior becomes visible residue — normal specialist work, presented as such rather than as an unsafe success.
- A repaired target artifact is registered and independently validated.
- Data movement records watermarks, restart checkpoints, counts, and reconciliation.
- Airlift mints only the certificates supported by the evidence.
- Runway deployment and production cutover remain independent gates.
Open Artifacts from the engagement proof snapshot. A useful technical review should show the executed source reference, generated or repaired Databricks target, Experiments validation evidence, SHA-256 digests, and producer versions. Open Run ledger only when an engineer asks what actually ran or how audit works.
The overview separates work already proven from the next incomplete gate and preserves direct access to artifacts and runs.
Airlift coordinates conversion, remediation, movement, validation, certification, and release evidence without replacing the tools that own those operations.
Follow the primary next action; use the proof links when an engineer asks what actually ran.
SQL Server to Databricks Lakebase
Use the SQL Server journey to explain target fit and human remediation:
fa lakebase planclassifies schemas, tables, views, identities, constraints, procedures, and external operational workloads.- PostgreSQL-compatible objects receive Lakebase target mappings and immutable DDL artifacts.
- A representative workspace certification can exercise a connected SQL Server engine and a
managed Lakebase target with the same plan and dataset digests.
pnpm demo:admitreportsworkspaceEvidenceCorroborated: falseand preserves the warning until an admitted provider records a passing validation run that names the registered artifact ID and exact certification digest; artifact registration never self-attests that proof. - SQL Agent, SSIS, reporting, or application behavior that does not belong in Lakebase stays in a named redesign lane with skills, owner, output artifact, validation, and review requirements.
That last item is a feature, not a failed demo. It shows that Airlift does not hide specialist work inside an automation percentage. Open the remediation case to show the diagnosis and the sequence that clears it: assign an owner, register the repaired artifact, attach validation, submit for review, and record an independent decision.
Airlift distinguishes migrated database objects from operational workloads that require a Databricks-native redesign.
The repository contract shows where connected workspace evidence will appear. This candidate currently admits hermetic proof only; the prior raw workspace report was withdrawn from the release.
Inspect the hermetic evidence boundary, then open the remediation case for the human-only workload.
Commands to show engineers
The App and CLI read the same organization-scoped projection:
fa engagement list --json
fa engagement status <engagement-id> --json
fa artifact list --engagement-id <engagement-id> --json
fa validation list --engagement-id <engagement-id> --json
fa deployment list --engagement-id <engagement-id> --jsonFor SQL Server target planning:
fa lakebase inspect --file sql-server-manifest.json
fa lakebase plan --file sql-server-manifest.json --json \
> .airlift/sql-server-lakebase-plan.json
fa lakebase qualification-check \
--file .airlift/sql-server-lakebase-workspace-qualification.jsonFor Synapse source planning:
fa source inspect synapse
fa source plan synapse --variant synapse_dedicated_sql --json \
> .airlift/synapse-source-plan.json
fa engagement status <engagement-id> --jsonWhat to say about readiness
Use the proof label shown by the App and keep its boundary intact:
| Visible state | What it proves | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| Artifacts recorded | Immutable inputs or outputs and their lineage exist | Behavioral parity |
| Development assurance | Source and target artifacts are linked to a passing governed validation run | Independently observed release or client acceptance |
| Connected workspace evidence | Available only after a sanitized same-digest producer run is admitted; this candidate does not currently claim it | The client estate or production cutover |
| Client proven | Accepted client scope passed the required profile | Production cutover unless its separate gates also pass |
Do not promise a generic time reduction. Use Airlift's measured-value records after a client baseline exists, and report automation, human effort, elapsed time, defects, and validation outcomes with their observation windows and reviewers.