Migrating from SQL Server to PostgreSQL is not just a platform change; it is an operating model shift for DBAs. While PostgreSQL offers flexibility, performance, and cost advantages, it requires rethinking how you design schema, tune queries, manage availability, and monitor production workloads. Assumptions that work in SQL Server break in Postgres in subtle and sometimes painful ways.
This session focuses on real-world migration strategies for SQL Server DBAs moving into PostgreSQL. Kellyn will cover what translates cleanly, what does not, and where teams get into trouble. This includes data type mismatches, identity columns, indexing strategies, query planner behavior, transaction semantics, locking differences, and procedural code rewrites. You will learn how to migrate safely using phased approaches, validation techniques, and performance baselining that reduce risk and downtime.
Tooling matters, especially when you will be expected to handle both platforms during the transition. We will review proven tools for schema conversion, data movement, testing, and cutover, as well as cross-platform monitoring approaches that allow DBAs to maintain visibility throughout the migration lifecycle. Topics include migration automation, workload replay, performance comparison, index analysis, and operational observability for mixed SQL Server and PostgreSQL environments.
Whether you are planning your first migration or are already deep into one, this session gives you a practical playbook for reducing risk, maintaining control, and arriving in PostgreSQL with a stable, supportable system and your reputation intact.
22-25 April 2026 