The utility industry is undergoing a comprehensive transformation as it modernizes to a more efficient and smarter grid.  An important step in this process is the migration from legacy communications networks to packet technologies for services that control and protect the grid.  Network migration is challenging because the new technologies must be deployed without disrupting current operations.  This paper reviews the challenges and the practical solution of using analytics tools to enhance understanding of the network and system conditions and deploy versatile networking components that ensure a safe network migration process.