In the race to grow the customer base with improved products and services, cloud migration can prove a transformative decision. Cloud computing offers seamless internet access to the IT infrastructure and applications you need, without the weighty investment and maintenance costs you don’t.
Everyday company procedures – and staff morale – can be sapped by aging servers, patchy firewalls and glitchy hardware or software solutions. With the right infrastructure and processes, operating in the cloud will result in greater security, scalability and flexibility – all valuable qualities in today’s ultra-competitive business environment.
Simply, cloud migration is the process of moving your digital assets from your own or shared premises into the cloud, or from one cloud to another (cloud-to-cloud migration). It offers an opportunity to evolve away from expensive legacy systems that may be slowing operations down to harness real-time updates that improve performance and efficiency.
Successful outcomes rely on a sound cloud migration strategy
In this how-to article, we will discuss:
- Why a cloud migration strategy matters
- 5 key steps in developing a cloud migration strategy
- Overcoming challenges in cloud migration
- The benefits of hosted desktop services and private cloud solutions
- Industry applications of cloud migration
- Future trends in cloud migration
- Building a resilient cloud strategy
Why a cloud migration strategy matters
Think of a cloud migration strategy like moving house. You need to evaluate the benefits of relocating, decide where best to go, choose who to work with, ensure your possessions are transported safely etc. If you simply select a house at random, load everything haphazardly onto a lorry and then drop it in the garden at the other end… you could be asking for trouble.
To support business continuity, a strategic approach will ensure a seamless transition of digital assets, applications and data – reducing the risks of system outages, costly downtime, loss of data or cyberattack.
Of course, the potential upsides of the cloud are much higher than just business as usual. The right migration strategy will position your business to collaborate with new partners, develop innovative propositions and deliver improved value streams to customers.
Businesses can reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) by simplifying their systems and transferring to as-a-service subscriptions. Creating a more agile digital workplace may also help respond to customer needs for 24/7 online services, as well as employee preferences towards remote and hybrid working.
5 key steps in developing a cloud migration strategy
Before setting out on the journey, it’s worth looking at the milestones along the way. This 5-part ADOPT methodology will help structure a rigorous migration strategy that works for your current business needs and provides stretch for future goals.
- Assess current IT environment
- Define goals
- Opt for the right cloud model
- Plan the migration process
- Test and optimise
Assess current IT environment:
Evaluate your existing infrastructure, applications, and data. Where are the gaps, limitations and congestion hotspots that impact performance? What’s on the application ‘wish list’ of the IT team? Speak to the people who use the system every day to understand the core dependencies and usage, potential risks and any sources of frustration.
While some apps are ripe for migration, others may still be fit for purpose or not worth the risk. Moving certain apps might be desirable, but offer scant customer value or return on investment. As such, a partial cloud migration may prove a more strategic measure.
Define goals:
Laying out a detailed business case of your cloud migration objectives is critical to ensure that IT systems work to their full advantage on the other side. What is your commercial priority? Is it driving down costs through resource management or energy consumption? Is it improving data capture and analysis to become more customer centric and harness the potential of AI?
Perhaps the plan is to become a more sustainable company or de-risk the supply chain. The short-term strategy might involve rapid growth or hanging on to existing contracts through a period of market uncertainty.
With clearer direction in mind, you will make better informed decisions on choosing the right applications to move and also the best cloud infrastructure to move them to.
Opt for the right cloud model:
There’s no one-size-fits-all cloud model – although there is almost certainly one that fits your business and specific needs. The choice is between a public, private, or hybrid cloud.
Public clouds (think Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform) are the most popular due to their relative low cost, reliability and ease of maintenance. Delivered over the internet, the servers and storage are run by third-party providers. Public clouds are typically applicable for email, everyday office tasks and storage.
Private clouds are exclusive to a single organisation, and either located on-premises or managed by a third party. Owners enjoy the lower risks of a private network and greater customisation of IT services. As such, private clouds are popular with government bodies, large businesses, accountancy firms and financial houses that favour control, flexibility and privacy.
Hybrid clouds combine private and public clouds in a way that allows data and apps to pass seamlessly between the two. Hybrid offers advantages around security and regulatory compliance, as sensitive data can stay on-premises, while organisations benefit from the speed and innovative power of public cloud. For businesses that must ride short-term spikes in customer demand – such as seasonal retailers – a hybrid model allows that flexibility without the need for infrastructure that might lie dormant for 11 months of the year.
As well as deciding where you want to go, it’s important to discuss how you want to get there. Is it best to lift-and-shift (effectively moving what you have in its entirety to the cloud) or drop-and-shop (replacing applications with a cloud-based SaaS solution)? Or should you refactor workloads to support cloud-native capabilities, by breaking apps down into microservices? Will you need to rebuild and modernise applications so that they perform optimally on the cloud once you get there?
Plan the migration process:
Before the migration actually begins, your migration team leaders will need to create a step-by-step roadmap – a detailed management plan – that will guide every stakeholder through to completion.
A key consideration is managing potential downtime and mitigating any weaknesses in data security during the migration itself. Like a herd of wildebeest or caribou on the move, it’s important to protect any vulnerable areas against (cyber) predators.
Help is at hand, with suites of automated migration tools and migration consultants poised to make the process run faster and smoother if needed.
Test and optimise:
Once the big move has happened, it’s worth planning for a steady dismount by organising post-migration testing. Is everything now working as it should? Has critical data been left behind or lost in transit?
Ongoing performance optimisation will keep improving the system and identify new opportunities to strengthen security, encourage innovation and reduce mundane tasks for employees.
A cloud migration can take a huge amount of time and effort, but it’s vital not to take your eye off the ball once the hard work has taken place.
Overcoming challenges in cloud migration
The destination of cloud migration is alluring, but the journey is far from straightforward. A number of obstacles must be navigated to arrive at the other end in good shape. Here are four typical challenges:
Data security and compliance:
Customer and market data is invaluable for business success – and it’s often highly sensitive too. Organisations must therefore plan carefully and protect diligently to avoid losing precious intelligence and staying compliant with strict industry regulations, both during and after the migration.
Downtime risks:
Any lapse in service or delivery delays risk severe loss of revenue and also customer loyalty. A strategy to maximise business continuity will pay dividends. A combination of prudent scheduling and clear sign posting, backed by intensive testing to avoid downtime post migration will help reduce disruption.
Change management:
Cloud migration can be complex, time intensive and frankly scary for those involved. IT teams – and the wider workforce – may feel out of their comfort zone (and worried for their future). Business leaders can get ahead of cultural resistance by communication, preparation and the appointment of migration champions.
Cost control:
As with many major IT transformation projects, there is the initial budget and the eventual cost – and the two can vary. For example, legacy systems, built over many years, may prove harder to integrate with cloud infrastructure than hoped. Expect unexpected expenses. Keep the finance department on side and well informed. It’s also important to closely monitor resource usage to understand the real costs. Hopefully, the longer-term benefits will outweigh any short-term pain.
Benefits of hosted desktop services and private cloud solutions
Hosted desktops offer a private cloud that allows the user to access their applications, data, and profiles on any PC that is connected to the network. They help to streamline remote work by providing secure and accessible virtual environments. Companies benefit from added security and control, as applications and data remain in the data centre, while still allowing staff simple access to the information they need.
For the IT team, hosted desktops are easier to oversee and manage securely, as all of the infrastructure and data are kept on premises. They can also scale up and down capacity with greater agility by adding or subtracting machines in line with demand.
Likewise, private cloud solutions are an attractive choice for businesses that require enhanced security through data control, as well as cost-effective scalability.
Industry applications of cloud migration
Cloud migration offers different advantages for all sizes of businesses – from almost every sector. Here are just a few examples of industry applications that bring expansive benefits.
SMEs:
Cloud migration enables small and medium businesses to scale their operations and improve IT efficiency, avoiding the need to invest in costly infrastructure. Subscriptions give greater flexibility to use only relevant services, including emerging technologies that might ordinarily be unaffordable. Start-ups can funnel precious funds into development or customer research, rather than IT.
Accountants:
In the pressurised world of accountancy, cloud solutions are important tools to simplify collaboration, improve data sharing, and help ensure compliance. With office servers slowing over time, firms can reduce overheads by streamlining processes and cutting back on mundane tasks – and then pass on cost management to customers. Through real-time data processing and reporting, customers can also access timely information and submit sensitive data securely.
Managed Service Providers (MSPs):
MSPs provide a valuable partner for businesses looking to migrate to the cloud, as they can help them design and implement effective cloud solutions that will securely protect data, optimise performance and meet compliance standards. If things go wrong, then the MSP should be on hand to offer support and recovery.
Software Vendors:
Major software vendors such as AWS, Microsoft and Google are battling for market share of cloud-based solutions by offering scalable, high-performance applications over the internet.
Future trends in cloud migration
AI and automation are playing an increasingly important role in streamlining the migration process . AI is helping to lower the barrier to entry for companies that are shy to move legacy applications to cloud-native infrastructure, bringing confidence through simplified decision-making and reducing the need for specialist resources.
Edge computing is growing its impact on hybrid cloud adoption by shortening the distance between computing resources and the point of data generation. Reduced latency and improved real-time processing are proving attractive to businesses that prioritise data security and regulatory compliance, alongside the benefits of IoT, gateways and local servers.
The market for post-migration tools to reduce cost and improve performance is also strengthening. Companies can lean on clean-up applications to verify that data is correct, secure and where it is meant to be.
Building a resilient cloud strategy
Reaching for the cloud is a critical business decision and the cloud has shown its worth repeatedly as a pathway to innovation, growth, reduced costs and valuable scalability.
With a structured cloud migration strategy, your organisation will be better positioned to achieve its business goals. Like any investment, it pays to stay informed about evolving cloud technologies after the migration has happened.
The cloud is the direction of travel for computing, and will help ready your business for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow – especially in the field of AI and automation. More than a migration of data and applications, your business is setting its compass for the future.
Written by Jack Twomey, Managing Director at Cloud2Me
