It’s not an easy path, but the rewards that come with cloud migration are wide and varied. A successful move is dependent on the willingness of a corporation to adopt a solid cloud migration strategy complete with risk assessment.
Introduction
Businesses that make the move to the cloud often do so with scalability, better application performance, and cost-efficiency in mind. The cloud migration process is a complex one, though, and careful planning is a must.
Too many organizations make the mistake of looking ahead at the benefits of cloud migration without taking the time to assess the things that could potentially go wrong. These include gaps in security, a need to rework applications, and unexpected costs, to name but a few. A well-conceived cloud migration strategy can make these bumps in the road much easier to manage.
It doesn’t matter whether your organization is migrating from one cloud to another or from an in-house environment, it’s always a good idea to keep your expectations in check. It should also be noted that cloud migration is not beneficial to every organization, so make sure it is right for you before moving ahead.
The Cloud Migration Planning Phase
Preparing to put together a cloud migration strategy
Heading into a cloud migration without a solid plan in place is a recipe for disaster. When putting together a strategy, it’s always important to plan for the unexpected. Having a plan in place is a lot like having a blueprint or checklist that can be referenced as you head to the cloud. Expenses, including the unexpected variety, need to be accounted for, as do the effects on the systems and users in the organization.
Performing a cloud migration
Consider the technical aspects of a cloud migration
Cloud migration can be an exhausting process that requires countless steps and manual adjustments along the way. A good plan of action helps, but there are still many factors – performance, design, application, tools, governance, etc. – that need to be considered. There are many third-party tools that can help, but it’s important to choose the one most suited to the needs of the organization. It’s also important to consider worse case scenarios, such as ending up with applications costs being pricier than they were before the migration.
Steering clear of cloud migration risks
Cloud migration success depends on avoiding potential risks
It should never be forgotten that cloud migration, whether in-house or from cloud to cloud, can be a risky process. Those risks include such things as budget issues, poor performance, security risks, compliance issues, and many more. When the migration process has been properly reviewed, planned, and executed, organizations can expect benefits that include better agility, improved scalability, and reduced costs, all of which are well worth the risk.
Understanding cloud migrations glossary
Terms you need to know when migrating to the cloud
The move to the cloud will be a good deal smoother if the organization is up to date with the latest terms and technology. Since cloud computing is in a constant state of evolution, things can change rather quickly. Do you know the difference between cloud-to-cloud and cloud migrations? Will the performance of applications be affected by noisy neighbors? Knowing the answers to these questions, and many more besides, may be the difference between a successful migration and one that fails.
