Migration to the cloud is an inevitable step for any business with a virtualization plan. In many of our blogs, we have discussed the benefits of shifting to the cloud, but what about the migration process? There are potential pitfalls that you want to avoid, including unanticipated costs, scope creep, and incompatibility issues. Having a strategy in place with a thorough discovery process will help ensure your migration goes smoothly. I have compiled a list of steps you will want to follow for a successful cloud migration.
Have a Strategic Plan: The cloud provider you are working with can and should aid you in putting together a well-organized plan. Migrating into the cloud is not something you want to haphazardly shift into. With the aid of cloud experts, your organization should undertake a thorough discovery of your environment to identify any issues that might impact migration and operation as you virtualize. You will want to look at each of your existing servers to make sure they are compatible with your new environment. Furthermore, you will want to consider the costs associated with the proposed environment and with the migration itself during your planning process. For instance, you will be charged egress fees for each data request into public cloud environments – to gain a greater understanding of those fees, you will have to. While you are still in the planning process, you will need to decide the best way to migrate your information.
Set Up New Infrastructure: This is a great opportunity to reflect on how your infrastructure is designed. Do you want to make any changes? Are there issues with your existing set up? Before you make your migration, you will need to plan the structure of your new environment.
Test the Migration Process: Testing is essential to the migration process. This is one of the best ways to avoid any pitfalls. You are moving your most critical information so make sure you are keeping it safe by practicing first. A testing plan should be developed in order to ensure the test is thorough and identifies as many possible issues as it can before you launch in a virtualized environment.
Migrate: Once you have completed the above steps, it is time to make your move. Migration will often be accompanied with additional testing to ensure that each step along the way is a success before the final cut-over.
Deployment: Once the migration process is complete, you are ready to go live. Ongoing monitoring of the environment will be essential to understand where efficiencies can be gained, where costs can be lowered, and how to continue to optimize your environment as a whole. Regular review of your cloud environment and data growth will help you to continue to plan effectively for the months and years ahead.
If you take the proper steps with a well thought out plan in place, your migration to the cloud can be a seamless process. The right data partner will help you with the discovery process and guide you through a successful transition. For more questions on migrating to the cloud contact Data Canopy today.
