In our most recent Tech Takeaways podcast, we explored the key things businesses need to know about cloud migration. More and more businesses are planning to or have already started their moves to the cloud. However, a successful move to the cloud is not “a given” but there are some things businesses can do to stack the odds for a successful migration in their favour.
Why are businesses thinking about cloud migration?
There are many reasons why businesses might want to migrate to the cloud.
- No longer want on-premises infrastructure: Businesses no longer want the “hassle” and risk that comes with running their own datacenters.
- Flexibility: Businesses today need to react more quickly than ever to changing demands. This is one of the clouds greatest strengths.
- CAPEX to OPEX: As the world has gotten used to buying things on subscription, from music to Software, many see the idea of buying their infrastructure as very attractive. Cloud allows them to do that.
What to keep in mind when migrating to the cloud.
The cloud sounds great and has many benefits so let’s all jump in quickly. And that has been a problem for many when first making moves to the cloud. Their first move often was to lift and shift their existing data and approach into the cloud. But this often means that they end up unable to take advantage of the full capabilities of the cloud and more critically spending much more than they should.
What are some simple steps you can take to make your cloud migration journey successful.
- Understand Why: A business should know why they want to move to the cloud and what their drivers are, is its flexibility, scale, cost optimisation, reducing their on-prem footprint. Knowing this is essential.
- What is success? Knowing why you are making the move to cloud is crucial, but understanding what a successful cloud migration looks like before you begin is equally so.
- Know your environment before you move? Before you move it is important to know what your environment is, but this is not just what virtual machines I have. While that is important, understanding services and how those services map together is essential. When doing this you can start to build an understanding of what your cloud infrastructure and costs will look like.
- Resilience is still your job: Just moving to the cloud doesn’t mean you don’t have to consider resilience and availability. Building solutions that maintain availability in line with your business demands still has to be considered. Make sure you are aware of your cloud platforms resilience and how you need to architect your cloud infrastructure to meet your demands.
- Plan to get out: Often forgotten is the consideration of what happens if you want to extract your information and systems from a cloud provider. Consider your exit plan, as odd as it sounds, should be a core part of your cloud migration plan.
Key takeaways
In a nutshell, businesses should take three things away from this:
- Know the workload before starting cloud migration and think about how they can be adapted to maximise its features and capabilities.
- Fully understand the reasons why your business wants to migrate to the cloud.
- Build a cloud exit strategy into you plan.
If you’re considering cloud migration and need advice and support, we can help. Our cloud migration services can smoothly guide you through the process and ensure the transition is as easy and efficient as possible for your business.
Listen to the full Tech Takeaway podcast on cloud migration here or watch below!
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