Working in the cloud brings many benefits. No matter where you are, you can work anytime, anywhere. You always have access to the latest versions of hardware and software. Is your company growing fast? Then you can easily scale up via the cloud. In short: you are a lot more flexible as an organization. However, migrating to the cloud is a process that you do not “just” set up. At EDM, we have gone through this process as well, and with our knowledge, we help organizations facing this challenge. Here are our 7 tips to get your organization up and running.
Formulate a clear strategy
Before embarking on a cloud migration, it is important to have a clear strategy that outlines the goals, timeline, budget and expected outcomes of the migration. This helps ensure that everyone involved in the process is on the same page and working toward the same goals. It is also important to set up a team with stakeholders who monitor his or her part of the strategy. Focused project management will ease the migration and benefit the results.
Take an inventory of your infrastructure
Start with a thorough assessment of your existing IT infrastructure, applications, data and business processes. Understand the dependencies, performance requirements and any limitations that may affect migration. Prioritize which applications to migrate first based on factors such as complexity, impact and compatibility with the cloud environment. Differentiate between large structural migrations and smaller processes or applications that can also be migrated with a temporary solution, after which – or in parallel – a structural and secured solution can be worked on. This way, you prevent the entire cloud migration from being delayed by a few – relatively small – bottlenecks. To take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the cloud, it is advisable to look at new solutions. By using SQL Azure or Snowflake, you only pay for usage instead of machines that are on 24/7.
Set high standards for security
When working with sensitive data such as personal data, security should always be a top priority. The danger of a data breach is in a small corner. Identify the security controls and measures needed to protect your data, applications and infrastructure in the cloud. Don’t rely on the cloud vendor to take care of this for you; they only provide the tools. Your own IT department and application administrators should always be in control of security such as: network management, firewall, permissions, role structure and application shielding. Giving the wrong person too many permissions can have far-reaching consequences. So make sure your own security protocols are in place to protect sensitive data.
Plan your data migration well
Data migration is a complex and time-consuming process. It is important to plan ahead and make sure your data is well organized, cleaned and backed up before migrating it to the cloud. Keep in mind that the migration will be phased with systems/processes being transferred one at a time. This sometimes requires the old and new environments to be synchronized with each other. To ensure continuity, temporary solutions may even have to be built. Map these dependencies well in advance and create a detailed migration plan with tasks, timelines, resource allocation and dependencies. Divide the migration process into manageable phases and set milestones for each phase. When planning, also consider contingencies. In a complex process like data migration, things always come up that no one thought of beforehand.
Provide optimized applications
Cloud environments require applications to be optimized for maximum efficiency and scalability. Cloud native services are essential for optimizing applications during migration to the cloud. Because cloud native applications are designed specifically for the cloud, they offer efficiency, scalability and simplified management. In addition, you can take advantage of pre-built components and tools specifically designed for the cloud, resulting in faster development and deployment. These services also improve reliability and offer cost optimization through efficient use of resources. Take a good inventory in advance of whether existing apps are transferable to the cloud. Existing architecture is not always suitable for cloud native adoption. At EDM, for example, we chose to directly migrate our data processes from SQL Servers to Snowflake. This immediately created a huge optimization battle that resulted in cost savings over a lift-and-shift migration of the SQL servers.
Train your team for the new environment
Moving to a cloud environment requires team members to acquire new skills and knowledge. Training your team allows them to become familiar with the new technologies, tools and processes involved in a cloud environment. Properly training your team also minimizes the risks of security and compliance challenges. Don’t limit the training to just your team but also involve other users of the cloud environment, such as the IT department, in this process.
Monitor the process before, during and after
Not only does this allow you to spot, identify and act on problems in a timely manner, but it also allows you to keep a sharp eye on costs. Cloud migration can change your organization’s cost structure because you now pay for cloud services based on actual usage. By keeping a close eye on costs, you prevent unnecessary processes or servers from running, which can cause costs to skyrocket. This can turn the advantage of working in the cloud into a disadvantage. So by monitoring properly, you will not be faced with unexpected costs.
We are happy to help you
Migrating to the cloud is a complex process that requires careful planning and implementation. Keep in mind that this process is one of trial and error. It is important to formulate a clear strategy and monitor it carefully. EDM has also fully migrated to the cloud and, as a hardcore data processing organization, we know better than anyone what challenges this poses. We realize that there is no standard approach to a complex process like cloud migration. Read here how we can help your organization and don’t hesitate to contact us for a no-obligation consultation.