7 Tips for a Successful Cloud Migration

Are you in the final stages of backing up your data to the cloud? 

It's probably taken a lot of time and preparation to reach this point. You may have even lost some sleep stressing about everything that could go wrong.

But cloud migration should be an exciting time for the company. Once implemented, it will provide the business with several benefits. However, it needs a successful start before anyone can't start celebrating.

Sure, there are plenty of problems that can occur during cloud migrations. But there are also many ways to avoid any issues from coming up. 

If you want to put everyone's mind at ease before you start backing up your digital assets, execute these tips to help ensure that your company will have a successful migration.

1. Assess Your Current Infrastructure

You must review the existing infrastructure before deciding if you need a private or public cloud. Take the time to understand the popular applications, available resources, and the costs to maintain the current setup.

While cloud computing is a technical marvel, there are better solutions for every scenario and business. You should review everything on a case-by-case basis to ensure that moving it to the cloud is the right decision from a performance perspective.

You should also ensure that cloud migration is more cost-effective than the current model. Skipping this step could result in an unhappy boss and a lot of money getting thrown away.

2. Come up With a Migration Strategy

Once your assessment is complete, you can determine how to achieve the goal. Start by deciding what you want to accomplish. Set baseline metrics to help develop cloud migration requirements such as response times, availability, CPU usage, page load times, and conversion rates.

You can form a strategy once you know what the business wants to achieve. Use the metrics you've captured to determine success or if alterations must be made.

3. Pick the Right Applications

If you've accurately assessed your existing infrastructure, you should know what applications will get migrated and which won't. For some programs to make their way to the cloud, they will need configuration changes. Others might require dramatic system changes.

You'll need to decide if including them in the project is worthwhile. If an application requires significant code changes, then this could delay your migration strategy. You should conduct a thorough analysis to determine what makes sense to move and what can wait. 

4. Look into Cloud Providers

A cloud provider can guide you through the entire process. They will assess your strategy and recommend decisions you still need to make. They can also point out any potential pitfalls that could hurt the project.

When assessing providers, you'll want to know a few things before you partner up with them. You should understand: 

• What tools do they have at their disposal?

• Who else they've worked with?

• If they can support multiple types of cloud.

• What level of support should you expect throughout the process? 

If they can prove their experience with cloud migration, it's worth pursuing the conversation and drafting a service-level agreement.

5. Ensure Operational Continuity

Anytime data is mentioned in the workplace, it can cause stress, especially during a cloud migration. Sensitive information can be exposed during the project, so you must be ready. You should prepare some contingencies in the event this occurs.

You must also ensure that automated backup processes and procedures don't interfere with day-to-day operations. In fact, it's worth testing these programs provide the same results after the migration project is complete.

6. Choose an End to End Approach

If you have concerns about your strategy, adopting an end-to-end approach can assure you and the rest of the company you’re making the right decision. The appropriate provider can assist with the preparation and ensure you're set up for future success.

The most crucial component of this is the service level agreements. This information will determine the level of support you'll receive, particularly when an outage or other technical issue occurs. You want peace of mind that you'll be back up and running as quickly as possible.

7. Executing the Cloud Migration

If you've taken all the necessary steps and created a robust strategy, then the migration stage should be the easiest part of the project. While it might take time to complete if your data and applications' architecture is complex, this is something that you should already be prepared for.

Several approaches to executing the final step include flicking the switch during business hours or slowly migrating information and performing checks to confirm its success. 

If you've done adequate testing, both methods are as effective as one another.

Have the Right Experts Watching Your Back

Following these steps should make your cloud migration a resounding success. While you cannot plan for every potential scenario, if you've got the right people on board, they can mitigate the most common problems.

Part of having the right partners is ensuring you've got the best software to manage your project. We can provide the right tools for your organization to ensure everyone stays on the same page on all events and tasks.

Speak to our experts to learn how we can help you with your cloud migration journey.

Is this the type of article you need for your business? Whether it’s blog posts, newsletters, or something else involving the written word, pwf services can help. Get in touch today to discuss how we can work together.