Posted on: 22 March 2022

Author: Karen Rogers

Are you thinking of cloud migration? Over the last few years there has been a general shift to this in our personal life whether that be for photos, music, our data and even backing up phones. When you utilise something in the cloud you are essentially, in layman’s terms, accessing an application or information on someone else’s server infrastructure with the ability to access securely, easily from anywhere on the device of your choice.

If you are considering cloud migration and using the cloud for your business, what does it mean?

In a nutshell – Cloud migration refers to using Cloud infrastructure and moving all your IT systems – like your applications, systems, data and services to be stored in the cloud, rather than on your own on-premises IT infrastructure.

It can be a fantastic decision and gives you the following benefits:

Ability to scale your infrastructure as your business grows
Additional security and protection
Elimination of any single point of failure to make your infrastructure resilient
Reduction of your IT Expenditure

Moving to the cloud such as Microsoft Azure can be complex. Your biggest challenges will be in the process of cloud migration of all your data from your on-site physical servers to your new cloud infrastructure, without loosing your data or breaking something. It’s a decision that should be carefully planned and considered and not a move you should consider without expert help from your IT support and services partner.

With excellent foresight and the right plan in place, migrating to the cloud could be your best business decision this year.

This article is looking at where you should start with your planning and IT strategy and includes an informative checklist to keep your cloud migration completely on track. Our checklist will help you migrate your data in the correct priority order and help you feel fully in control throughout your migration.

We will start with the most important question..

Is this right for my business and is this the right time?

Cloud migration isn’t all things to all people- I’ve said it now..

A trustworthy IT support partner will be able to guide you through the decision-making process, based on several criteria unique to your business and after full assessment of your current environment and priorities.

Here’s a quick look at some of the key challenges and advantages:

Here are the advantages

Increased scalability

Cloud-based infrastructure gives you the option to automatically grow your computing power as and when you need to. That means if your business grows swiftly, you won’t need to replace your entire infrastructure to meet your changing requirements.

It also means that maintenance and updates can be carried out remotely, making it much quicker to remedy challenges, which of course means less downtime.

Enhanced security

This is of large significance for cloud service providers. Keeping your data safe is as fundamental to their reputation as it is to yours. They offer superior security than what you get from in-house infrastructure, and they have layered processes in place to offer maximum Cyber Security.

Reduced costs

You’ll no longer have to keep your in-house infrastructure operating and maintained and with the surge in electricity prices recently and with the average server costing £1200.00 per annum to heat and cool – this is a massive benefit and there’s also no investment to consider, as cloud offerings are subscription based – no hardware to buy or capital expenditure to consider.

Environmentally mindful

While you’ll still have a carbon footprint, it’ll be minimised. This is because you are only using the energy and resources that you need at the time you need it, unlike running your own infrastructure 24/7.

Improved resilience and business continuity

This is imperative for any business. While you should already have a robust disaster recovery plan in place, when you move to the cloud, the back-up and recovery solutions you benefit from are more cost effective and take less time to maintain and recover.

On the flip side there are challenges to consider also…

Communication

One or two of your older applications may struggle to connect with newer cloud services. This means you may have to adapt some of your processes to fit in with your new cloud provider or consider a hybrid approach.

Downtime

Migration may take your infrastructure and services down for a period. As well as the obvious implications, this has the possibility to affect your applications performance if they’re not correctly backed-up.

Data loss

Your data is most at risk during the migration process. Extreme care and ample measures must be taken to avoid lost data, or a breach.

Let’s get started…

Initial planning

Now you’ve made the decision to migrate to the cloud and you have already determined it is the right thing for your business- you’ll need to start some preliminary work. Before you can do this, it’s important you understand your goals and aims for moving to the cloud, and the benefits you’re expecting to get from it. Ask yourself- what does success look like?

It will also help if you have a fundamental understanding of your current infrastructure. This will allow you to plan for your cloud server requirements and prevents you from under or overspending.

Determine who is going to head up the entire migration process. This person should have a good understanding of it, so that they can take the lead on everything from planning, right through to completion.

Here at Corbel in Ipswich, your local IT Experts, we offer this service from beginning to end through a consultative process and then, if required, the ongoing IT Support to maintain and manage your infrastructure whether it be on-premises, cloud based or hybrid.

Don’t put off bringing in expert help at this stage.

If you already have a trusted IT support partner, they should be able to manage the entire project for you. If you don’t, it should be a serious consideration at this stage to bring in the IT experts. There is a lot that can go wrong during the migration process. It’s a good idea to have an expert team on hand to keep your data safe and your systems intact.

Making big decisions

Next, you’ll need to decide what level of cloud integration you will need.

This might sound complex, but keep in mind, if you’ve created a comprehensive plan, you’ll already understand your infrastructure requirements. Right now, is the time to make the right choices to suit your business.

Essentially, there are two options to consider:

Shallow integration

This preference means you’ll move your on-site applications to the cloud, making minimal changes to the servers. You essentially lift your systems and applications ‘as is’ and move them to the cloud as one. You may have heard this being referred to as ‘lift and shift’.

Deep cloud integration

With this choice you modify your applications during the process of migration, to take full advantage of the key cloud facilities on offer. This may be relatively straight forward, or it may entail a more refined modification.

Is single or multi cloud solution the best for me?

Selecting a single cloud provider makes for an easier migration. There’s only one set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to understand and it’s clear what’s on offer across the board.

Nevertheless, the drawback is that you’re locked in with just one provider. That means for any future migration you’re basically starting the entire process again. It could also make it harder for you to negotiate terms, like pricing or service level agreements (SLAs).

A multi-cloud solution involves using two or more cloud providers. This essentially means you can take advantage of multiple distinct benefits at the same time.

But while a multi-cloud resolution does give you more flexibility and leverage when it comes to negotiating your terms, it does also mean that the efficiency of your infrastructure is related to the performance of both of your providers.

The other choice is to be cloud agnostic. This is where your infrastructure is built to be run using any cloud provider whether it be Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services or even several providers at the same time. It gives you the maximum flexibility in negotiations.

Don’t let these decisions hold you back, here at Corbel your local Ipswich IT Support company we can guide you through the process seamlessly and can recommend the best course of action, based on your business’s own goals and complexity.

Executing the migration

While you probably won’t be handling the migration yourself, you do need to plan how it will occur. Will you move your total infrastructure to your new cloud provider all at once, or will you do it as a staged process?

There are ups and downs to each approach, but realistically, moving it piece by piece allows you the chance to test that things are working as they should be, without risking downtime in the process. But it also means there will be a point where you’ll be working between two systems.

Moving everything in one go gives you a solid goal for migration, but it leaves you open to risks if something should break or go wrong along the way.

There is no right or wrong answer to this one. It will simply be a case of you deciding which is the biggest risk to your company, or how quickly you want to make the move to your new cloud system.

Whichever method you decide on, it should be part of your plan to have a target completion date for migration to be finalised.

Finishing review

Nothing can be declared a success without proof it works as expected.

Create a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will assist you to see accurately how well your new cloud-based system is performing. If you already use KPIs to measure your systems and applications, they may need updating.

Your KPIs should not only determine success but can also be an indicator or pre-warning there’s a challenge on the horizon.

Think about factors such as your teams experience of technology, performance, infrastructure, and business engagement. And don’t neglect to set baseline metrics for each measurement. This is where you measure pre-migration performance so you can determine if post-migration performance is meeting your expectations.

Consider, as with the implementation of any new system, there will be a period of adjustment. It may take time for some of your team to get used to your new systems, and there may also be an element of troubleshooting before things are running as smoothly as you’d like. That means initially your KPIs may not look good, but after a settling in period you should expect to see substantial improvement.

Your migration checklist:

Set out your hopes and aims
Assess your current environment
Know your cloud server needs
Choose someone to lead the project
Seek expert assistance and advice
Decide on your level of integration (shallow or deep)
Pick between single and multi-cloud solutions
Decide whether cloud agnostic is a better option for your business
Decide whether to stage your migration
Weigh up the ups and downs for your business
Set a target completion date
Produce a set of KPIs that will allow you to measure your success
Update any old KPIs to reflect your new infrastructure
Set baseline metrics for each measurement
Account for an adjustment period

Corbel based in Ipswich offer IT Support services to small and medium businesses including many Cloud services such as Microsoft Azure Solutions, Cloud based back-up and business continuity options and cloud telephony. Our team can work with you to understand your business and environment and advise the best course of action.

Your Vital Cloud Migration Checklist