The cloud is one of the most cost-effective and impactful solutions your business can adopt. From unlimited data storage to remote collaboration, it makes the impossible possible – regardless of your budget. But it isn’t all good news. Before you can reap the benefits, you must first migrate. And if you have built up years of on-premises infrastructure that now needs to shift to cloud-based services, this can be anything but simple.
To ensure success, a solid cloud migration strategy is critical. But what does that mean, exactly? What makes a successful migration?
The Benefits of Cloud Technology: Why Businesses Choose to Migrate
When discussing migration, it’s important to understand why you have made this decision in the first place. There are many benefits of cloud technology, including:
- Easier Growth: Easily scale resources up or down to match your business’ needs.
- Cost Savings: Shift from high-cost hardware and software purchases to a cheaper pay-as-you-go model.
- Greater Accessibility: Enable remote access to crucial documents, and collaboration across large distances.
- Stronger Security: Benefit from built-in security features and compliance controls provided by major cloud providers.
- Better Innovation: Access the latest tools, services, and innovations without manual upgrades.
Cloud-based services unlock better agility, innovation, and a level of future-proofing never before seen – all while lowering costs. But to get there, you need to migrate. And that can be easier said than done.
Why Migration Fails
Despite the compelling advantages of cloud adoption, many are hesitant – and for good reason. Migration is a complex process that often goes awry. Typically, this happens due to poor planning or unrealistic expectations. Some common mistakes include:
- Unclear Objectives: Migrating just because “everyone else is”, with no clear goal in mind, leads to confusion and poor ROI.
- Underestimating Complexity: Data dependencies, legacy systems, and security configurations can complicate even the simplest migration.
- Downtime and Disruption: Without proper coordination, you risk service interruptions that negatively impact customers and employees alike.
- Security Oversights: Failing to secure data during and after the move can leave sensitive information exposed, resulting in cyber-attacks.
- Fear of Commitment: Many businesses don’t want to fully commit to the cloud due to various concerns, leading to a disorganised and scattered planning process.
To prevent these issues from killing your migration before it can even get off the ground, you will need a strong plan.
A Cloud Migration Strategy That Won’t Let You Down
Your move to the cloud will require more than just moving a few files around. Here are 10 essential steps that form the foundation of a winning cloud migration strategy:
1. Define Your Goals
Why have you chosen to migrate? Did one of the benefits listed above attract you to the idea, or do you have a different goal in mind? Adopting new technologies “Just because” is one of the biggest mistakes any business can make. You must understand what you hope to gain from the cloud, or you will not be able to form a cohesive strategy.
2. Conduct a Readiness Assessment
Evaluate your existing IT infrastructure, applications, and stored data. Identify any factors that may complicate migration, such as legacy systems and dependencies.
3. Choose the Right Cloud Environment
Does public, private, or hybrid cloud best suit your needs? Each has pros and cons. Research your options and choose the one that most closely aligns with your needs, goals, and budget.
4. Pick Your Priorities
Trying to move all your workloads at once will only result in unnecessary complications. Define your lowest-risk applications, and move those first. This allows you to build experience before tackling critical systems.
5. Create Your Cloud Migration Strategy
Plan, step-by-step, how you will move to the cloud. There are many methods you may use, including:
- Lift-and-Shift: Simply moving workloads from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud.
- Replatforming: A lift-and-shift that requires a few additional adjustments.
- Refactoring: Rebuilding applications from scratch for the cloud environment.
Choose one based on your goals and IT infrastructure. Then create a roadmap outlining how you will accomplish it. Consider potential hurdles along the way, so you can address them early instead of being caught off-guard.
6. Secure Your Data
Transit is the moment when your data is at the highest risk. Implement advanced encryption and access controls. Backup all data before moving it – loss is more common during this process than you might expect.
7. Use Blue-Green Deployment
Blue-green deployment involves maintaining your original IT environment while you set up the new one. This prevents downtime in two ways. First, you may continue to use the original “Blue” environment during migration. Then, if you switch to the new “Green” environment and find a critical error, you still have the blue one to revert to while you fix the issue.
8. Test, Test, Test
Test every single aspect of your cloud environment, preferably repeatedly, to catch problems early and fine-tune performance. Do not assume that everything is functional. An issue that is not noticed now may go on to cause severe damage later.
9. Train Your Team
Not everyone is experienced with the cloud environment you will be using. Provide training and support for all users, to help them acclimatise to the new platform. This minimises costly mistakes and smooths out any kinks in the transition process.
10. Monitor, Optimise, and Document
The migration may be complete, but your work is not finished yet. Monitor performance, usage, and security. Adjust as needed to optimise the cloud environment. Document every action that was taken, all data and workflows that have been moved, and any issues encountered along the way. Clear record-keeping will help you find the cause of any errors that spring up later.
When to Consider Cloud Migration Services
An in-house migration is not realistic for every business. Maybe you don’t have the staff to spare, or your IT team has never performed a migration before. Cloud migration services provide the experience, tools, and manpower to handle this process for you while ensuring minimal disruptions.
Partnering with an expert can:
- Reduce downtime
- Minimise security risks
- Accelerate timelines
- Prevent costly complications
- Provide post-migration support
Whether you choose to outsource or handle the migration internally is up to you. You know your business and available resources best. Make a decision based on your needs, budget, and internal expertise.
Plan Well Now, Enjoy a Smooth Transition Later
Cloud solutions can improve every facet of your business, resulting in unprecedented productivity and profitability – but only if the transition is planned properly. Attempting the move without a clearly defined cloud migration strategy will result in disorganisation and mistakes, potentially costing your business a lot more than you realise. Some basic foresight, structure, and planning can help you harness the benefits without falling victim to downtime or data loss.
Do you need more support? National IT specialises in helping businesses migrate to the cloud without the drawbacks. If you want more information about achieving a smooth transition, or are considering outsourcing, reach out to our experts.