10 Essentials for a Cloud Migration Strategy That Works
Cloud migration is not as simple as flicking a switch. Fortinet estimates failure rates as high as 74%, meaning that almost 3 in 4 companies can’t move their digital resources to the cloud safely and efficiently.
Propper planning and expert guidance can help you avoid the same fate. Here are 10 tips on successful cloud migration:
- Identify your migration goals.
Cloud migration goals should be presented as a formal and documented business case. Goals can include the baseline for existing infrastructure and some KPIs to measure progress. Every stakeholder involved in the process must agree on what outcomes to expect.
- Determine what assets to move—and when.
It is not enough to rely on an overview of the current infrastructure. Take stock of everything running in the system—every piece of hardware, data, application, or service—to create an appropriate cloud roadmap. List interdependencies and assets to determine how and when every aspect moves. Prioritize less-critical components and wait until the right support system is in place before moving on to the more critical ones.
- Have a disaster recovery plan.
Despite having clearly defined strategies and proper execution, cloud migration may go wrong and cause expensive downtime. Make sure you have an up-to-date disaster recovery plan should setbacks happen. A failsafe backup will allow you to continue the migration.
- Use cloud cost calculators from vendors.
Cloud costs may seem manageable at a glance, but they can quickly shoot up because of the dynamic nature of cloud migration. Most IaaS cloud vendors have pricing calculators you can use to determine the overall costs and help you avoid surprises down the line.
- Train your employees.
Moving from legacy infrastructure to the cloud may overwhelm employees who are used to the old system. Make training a part of your cloud migration strategy to prepare everyone for the change.
- Document everything,
The documentation should include the assets, goals, cost analysis, training and testing plans, and migration strategies. Aim to create reliable reference material for stakeholders and compliance audits.
- Measure and test.
Cloud migration concludes after the new setup is thoroughly tested and the components in the older setup get decommissioned. Hence, a testing schedule is an integral part of a cloud roadmap. After testing, use the KPIs set during the goal-setting step to measure both short- and long-term success.
- Stay updated.
Stay on top of new features and make timely upgrades. Include an update cycle in your migration strategy to keep benefiting from the cloud.
- Consider automation.
The cloud environment evolves constantly and quickly, and it can be challenging to keep up. Consider automating some processes for continuous delivery and continuous integration.
- Get assistance.
A seasoned data and analytics firm can help you create a cloud roadmap for analytics. They can identify the best cloud migration strategy that works for your organization, whether you require re-platforming, rehosting, repurchasing, retaining, refactoring, or retiring.
About The author:
Shanthi currently heads Marketing at InfoCepts. She has over 2 decades of experience with primary focus on data and analytics. Her experience spans advisory, business analysis, program management, solution development, pre-sales and practice development.