The intrinsic benefits of having a successful cloud migration strategy is access to superior technology, reduced operational costs, and the lack of infrastructure overheads means organizations are moving, and will continue to move, from legacy to cloud environments. Though the service providers involved do their best to provide user-friendly products likely to improve business management and operations, the migration itself can be tricky.
Ensuring a thorough knowledge of how your chosen cloud system works will ensure you and your team are able to take advantage of all of the benefits on offer. Training for both the migration and use of cloud services should be incorporated into your strategy. The time and money invested here will quickly provide meaningful returns.
Though costing more, managed cloud services provide more bang for your buck, ridding you of the burden of IT infrastructure and management. Unless you have reason to invest in and manage your own IT team and framework, a managed service will always be worth the premium.
(Infographic Source: Syntax)
Compliance can be a nightmare, but don’t let it be your problem. Ensure you have a signed service level agreement (SLA) in place before moving to the cloud mentioning all your organization’s requirements and service expectations. Some of the cloud compliance acts to consider include:
Carefully consider implications of cloud migration on staff. Database administrators, networking staff, and application experts may not be needed should you migrate, and specific regulations affecting your business in this regard will have to be careful studied.
Ensure the cloud service you’re subscribing to notifies you of outages via SMS or email. Recording these details helps test your provider’s reliability. A transparent downtime reporting mechanism is another must-have that ensures your business doesn’t suffer from cloud disruptions.
The security of the cloud is one of its essential benefits, relocating it out of physical disruption zones while providing enhanced cyber security. With major cloud players providing public cloud services as per ISO/IEC 27018:2014, you should treat this as the benchmark and insist on the same level of security from your provider.
Reliable cloud providers will include disaster recovery strategies in their SLAs, and in the event of a failure you must be able to safely undo damaging processes and/or recover all data. Ensure your choice of service provider gives you complete control over your data while providing all of the necessary safety features.
Typically, choosing a well-established and proven cloud service provider will ensure both smooth migration and convenient services that will improve your business operations. Check for transparent billing and be sure to understand the pricing structure before signing up. Be careful not to compromise on quality for a cheaper service.
Risk analysis prior to cloud migration allows you to assess what customizations you might require and helps ensure your provider can and will do what you need it to do. Be sure that legacy applications will run smoothly in the new cloud environment, and make any necessary changes before the move. And don’t forget that the relocation of your data to the cloud can be an incredibly time-consuming job.
This isn’t an auction; everything doesn’t have to go. Once you’re certain that a move to the cloud is to your benefit, decide whether moving data, applications, IT infrastructure, and/or IT operations will provide the greatest advantage. Though starting a new business in the cloud can be extremely cost effective, more established businesses can take the time to move piece by piece as suits the organization best.
By Jennifer Klostermann
