One thing is merely apparent – cloud computing is leading to change. Change is critical in the acquisition, use, and management of technology. Cloud computing offers companies the opportunity to trade capital costs for variable costs. The company can benefit from massive economies of scale, and the businesses’ capacity decisions can be made flexibly. The scope of the flexibility gained means that costs for an internal data center can be averted and new dimensions open up, making it possible to go global within minutes. In the process, the counterpart is also restructured. Companies even change the budgeting of technology services through a migration.
Why do businesses move to the cloud?
The approaches and reasons for migrating to the cloud are as numerous as they are varied. However, one reason often plays a decisive role for companies: Working with the cloud allows for virtually unlimited computing resources.
To revisit the analogy from our last blog post, we see the cloud as a stream. The cloud provides a limitless pool of computing power and storage. So you can think of it as connecting your devices to the power grid. Generating your electricity using a generator would be much more expensive than outsourcing it to an electricity provider. If you produce your electricity, there are costs for hardware or ongoing maintenance. Furthermore, you have to take care of the reliability. In the analogy, this would be a second power generator, which is immediately ready for use.
Therefore, it makes much more sense to make your power consumption independent of your generator and outsource it. Then, at the push of a button, the power can be tapped, and you are free to use what you need and pay for what you consume. So if you expect more guests and organize a party for which you need more electricity, your electricity supplier will provide it without any problem and immediately.
So the conclusion is that your electricity provider takes care of providing you with electricity and taking care of using it efficiently.
Don't understand the analogy between cloud and electricity? Reread the text and replace electricity with cloud.
Got it? We bet.
Furthermore, the foundation for cloud adoption requires consideration of the changes across the enterprise and stakeholders and all organizational units. Thus, IT internal as well as external support will be necessary.
How to prepare for a cloud migration
Migration requires that every area in the organization understands how to update and implement capabilities and processes. Thus, a workload shift requires a well-thought-out strategy. Management, technology, and personnel must face some sort of realignment.
As mentioned earlier, every company has different reasons and goals to transfer your workload to the cloud. Therefore, it is essential first to identify the application. The next step is to figure out how much data needs to be migrated and how quickly it needs to be available.
Consider that, for example, business-critical applications should not leave the company. Last but not least, you need to define a budget framework.
An On-Premise to cloud migration in a nutshell:
Set goals: What gains does their company hope to achieve? Setting goals helps the business measure a successful migration.
Security strategy: The cloud requires a different security approach than on-premise because resources are no longer behind a firewall, and there is no longer a network boundary. Therefore, the company will use a cloud firewall or a web application firewall.
Data back-up: If a cloud migration is imminent, it is essential to replicate the existing databases. Replication should also be performed during the entire migration process.
Business Intelligence: Often, existing code needs to be rewritten or updated.
Switch to Cloud
Further questions you should ask yourself before migrating:
Should your application stay or go?
What's the cost of running an application in the cloud?
Which cloud model fits best?
Which provider fits best?
What are the challenges for migrating to the cloud?
Of course, there are also hurdles and pitfalls in cloud migration. The important thing here is to identify the reasons for potential failure. If your cloud applications are costing more than planned, it could be due to low latency, security concerns, or compliance. The reason for a good migration strategy is essential because not all applications fit into the cloud. If the company decides to take specific data or applications out of the cloud, an adequate return migration strategy is also required.
In conclusion, it can be said that a strategy through an organized approach is essential for a migration and that the data to be migrated to the cloud is selected carefully and, above all, the availability must be taken into account. In short: the set up framework needs to be considered carefully to avoid the potential failure.