When transitioning to the cloud, businesses may choose to migrate their workloads because they want to move towards more flexible, user-friendly environments. The public cloud is far more scalable than most on-premises data centers. The public cloud offers a massive array of resources, services and automation that support large, complex workloads that are highly available in response to user demand. Rather than investing in expensive hardware and software, businesses can transition from capital-intensive investments to recurring operational expenses by migrating workloads to the cloud.
However, the process of moving on-premise applications or workloads to a cloud is a complicated process. Migrating workloads from an on-premises data center to a private cloud or public cloud requires careful planning, well-defined steps, preparation and clear processes.
This article provides an outline of the major steps involved in any successful cloud migration
A 8 Step process for a succesful cloud migration.
As a business, do not adopt cloud technologies because it is what others are recommending. You should have a specific business reason to switch to the cloud. It would act as a guideline for your business. It should align with the challenges you face and the benefits you will get if you migrate. It is essential that the top management is involved during the entire process as it will send out the right signals to other stakeholders involved in the project.
Read More – Comprehensive Guide on Cloud Migration
Before Migrating to the cloud, An audit of the current set-up is critical. It should encompass all the solutions, systems, and processes across all departments. The audit should allow the business a complete picture of its current capabilities and challenges associated with the existing systems.
Post-audit, the business should focus on creating an effective plan. The plan should define their budgets, determine the goals to be achieved, allocate sufficient resources, re-align business structure if need be, define key performance indicators a.k.a. KPIs for successful cloud migration, and define milestones.
The management team should also chalk out a communication plan in coordination with other stakeholders to ensure all the departments and employees are on the same page. It prevents confusion, communicates the importance of the entire exercise, and helps the company to manage the change efficiently.
Another important aspect should be to have an interim mechanism in place which will allow the business to function normally till the time the cloud migration project is in process. Also, a backup plan should be in place to manage any contingencies or delays in the project.
A critical decision is to choose the right cloud service provider for your business, and more often than not, it determines the success or failure of the project. You need to select a service provider that fits your business use case and can be beneficial for it.
One such example is Microsoft Azure. Apart from being a Microsoft solution, it offers numerous benefits resulting in it being a preferred solution for businesses across multiple industries.
Azure cloud migration tools make it easy to perform cloud migration and simplify the overall migration process. One such service is Azure Migrate which is a simple migration, modernization, and optimization service for Azure.
Azure Migrate’s cloud migration tools include the following tools:
Tool | How it Helps |
Azure Migrate: Discovery and Assessment | It helps to discover and assess on-premises servers, including SQL and web apps, for migration. |
Azure Migrate: Server Migration | It is a service assisting in migrating virtual machines, physical servers or other virtualized servers, and public clouds to Azure. |
Data Migration Assistant | It is a stand-alone tool to assess SQL servers. It helps find roadblocks, and unsupported features, identify new beneficial features after migration and determine the right path for migration. |
Azure Database Migration Service | It helps to migrate on-premise databases to Azure VMs running SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, or SQL Managed Instances. |
Movere | It helps in server assessment. |
Web app migration assistant | It helps in assessing on-premises web apps and migrating them to Azure. |
Azure Data Box | It is for offline data migration. |
As a business, you can opt for the right cloud environment for hosting solutions for your business. There are 4 types of cloud environments you could choose from:
In this type, multiple businesses share cloud service provider resources. Security mechanisms prevent companies from accessing each other’s data.
In this, cloud service providers set up an exclusive cloud instance for a business to meet its specific requirements.
It is a mix of the public and the private cloud. Some digital assets are set up in a public cloud, while some are in a private cloud.
In this type of migration, a business deploys its digital assets on 2 or more public clouds to avoid dependence on a single cloud service provider.
Read More – Different cloud environments for your business
Another critical step is determining the right cloud migration strategy for your business. There are 6 cloud migration strategies to choose from for cloud migration.
In this strategy, a business decides to migrate or lift all its digital assets from an on-premise solution and host it on the cloud. It employs an IaaS, i.e., Infrastructure as a Service, for its hosting needs.
In this strategy, the cloud setup is used as a platform for running applications to get better performance. It is known as a PaaS, i.e., Platform as a Service.
In this, a business develops all digital assets from scratch as cloud-native applications.
During the audit and planning phase, you may identify that certain digital assets may no longer be required. Hence you decide to discard or retire them.
In this strategy, you decide to retain or continue using the digital assets in their current form and choose not to move them to the cloud.
In this strategy, you stop using the current services and replace them by purchasing new cloud-based services.
Read More – Different cloud migration strategies
In this phase, a business starts the migration of its digital assets to its preferred cloud environment. Ideally, you should perform a phase-wise migration. Also, there should be an interim solution in place to ensure the smooth functioning of daily business operations till migration is not complete.
At each step, the team in charge of the migration process should perform quality checks in the testing environment. It would ensure that the solution is stable and perform as expected. It should be capable of handling the desired workload post-rollout and implementation.
If it is not so, there should be processes in place to communicate the anomalies in the solution. There should be a contingency plan outlining the steps to be taken in case of an untoward incident.
There should be proper documentation of all the steps followed during each phase of the cloud migration process.
Once the cloud migration is complete, a company should train all its employees on the new solution. There should be robust mechanisms in place to gather employee feedback and to provide them support if any issues arise post-migration.
All the employees should know what steps to take and the corresponding point of contact if required. The company should design modules and materials to train new employees who will join the company later.
Not all cloud migration projects are successful. A study by Fortinet in 2019, found that 74% of companies went back to an on-premise setup after migrating to the cloud. The implications of a failed migration can be huge for a business.
Here are some possible risks or challenges, if you don’t hire a cloud migration consultant
Cloud migration involves monetary investment. If it fails, all the money spent on cloud migration goes down the drain. Also, a business may spend more money to keep business functions up and running despite the failure.
Cloud migration requires the business to invest a lot of time and resources apart from money. All these would also be a waste in case of a migration failure. A company might also end up with an ineffective and inefficient cloud-based solution. It may cause delays in daily operations and create hassles and conflicts between different departments.
If a company has not followed a step-by-step approach while migrating to the cloud, it can also lead to loss of data or may lead to corruption of data. In today’s day and age, decisions are data-driven, and any form of inaccuracy in data may lead to a flawed decision impacting the overall business.
A failed cloud migration project can also lead to system vulnerabilities. It may put the data within the organization at a security risk..
Cloud migration allows you to modernize and digitize your systems and processes. Businesses can benefit from new-age technology advancements like AI and ML to gain a competitive edge in the market.
A failed cloud migration can lead to a business losing the capability to take advantage of these technological advancements and innovations. They also run the risk of losing out to their competitors. It may also impact their bottom line in the long run, increasing the risk of business failure.
Cloud Migration is a critical exercise and can be overwhelming for a business. It requires a fair amount of technical expertise and business experience. They should consider hiring an external migration consultant with the necessary skill sets and proficiency for successful cloud migration.
If you are looking for an Cloud Migration Consultant who can help you seamlessly migrate to the cloud, connect with us at Cocoon IT.
We are a Trusted Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider based out of Mumbai, India. offering Cloud Computing, Cloud Migration Services, Intuitive Business Technology Consulting, Automation implementation and provide ongoing support as per your business requirement.
CCIT Cloud (CocoonIT Services) is an expert Microsoft Cloud Solutions and Implementation Partner. Organisations around the globe, partner with CCIT to harness the full potential of Microsoft Dynamics, Azure Cloud and Power Platform.
