Maintaining Historical Data in Analytics

[bobc76334831]

We are currently working on a new Data Analytics design that we have not yet finalized and deployed.

We would like to know if Data Collection can be associated with an existing Report Suite that we have been running Adobe Analytics/Site Catalyst/Omniture for years. If we stop using Site Catalyst for obtaining data, and start using Data Collection, will the historical data still be available in the Report Suite? Such as we cut-over on 3/1/22, we could see data from both if we have a report that looks at data from 1/1/22 to 4/1/22?
 
It is my understanding that reports and analytics can only be pointed at one "bucket" at a time. Is this true?
 
Below is some additional detail about our new configuration:

We are using digital data that more closely maps to business requirements using the latest plugins, workflow, etc. Currently, we have been building a separate "Tag Property" with plug-ins, rules, and data elements we want to use, that are separate from the legacy configuration referenced above.

[jeff_bloomer · Accepted solution]

So, in essence you are just shutting off one valve, turning on a new one, and sending it into the same repository.  As long as you have everything tagged correctly with the new implementation, you shouldn't have any problems (and this is a HUGE caveat that should not be taken lightly).

We have multiple resources (i.e. sites, and mobile apps) all going into ONE Report Suite, and to create order from chaos, you have to create segmentation, Virtual Report suites, etc. to make sense of the data. Does that make sense?

You are correct in your statement that you can see data from both periods by running reports from January through April.  However, you will also need to clearly document your reporting and inform your data consumers about the differences so that they are aware of your "line in the sand" so there is no confusion.

I've even seen some Administrators create Workspaces that are specifically dedicated to outlining just these things so that there are no doubts about the details of what has been done and make it a landing page for all users for a set period of time.