Cloud migration is here to stay and, sooner than you realise, you’ll start researching things like “AWS”, “Azure”, “Google Cloud”, or “Cloud migration tools”.

To spare you the trouble of spending countless hours looking for cloud migration-related topics, I have created this small, but comprehensive guide that will, hopefully, help you make an educated decision about ‘clouding’ your business.

What is cloud migration?
The first step in migrating the infrastructure to the cloud is to ascertain what kind of equipment can be jettisoned. So, it would be in your best interest to keep an updated networking gear inventory, from switches to bridges. One word of advice, though – never, ever scrape off your on-premises backup servers. Finally cloud migration is a twofold process – hardware and software.

Legacy software and initial evaluation
At this point, I think we should discuss legacy software in the context of the cloud migration process. All you need to know is that legacy software can still be used to carry out some of your more mundane tasks, but, due to their nature, they pose significant security concerns. Please keep that in mind when drafting your cloud migration plan.

Building an actionable migration flow can be as easy making a shopping list:

– Define purpose
– Evaluate costs and needs
– Choose a cloud environment
– Choose a deployment plan
– Select an architecture
– Deploy and enjoy

So, everything’s fine and dandy, but how do you migrate your assets to the cloud? Let’s discuss all the steps involved.

Evaluate the perspective
Consider all the factors involved: costs, benefits, requirements, security, and an auxiliary plan in case something happens during or after the hand-over process is completed.

Proof-of-concept
During this phase, a pilot program is constructed. Basically, this is a getting-your-hands-dirty situation, because this is your first encounter with the cloud. Many vendors offer extended trials for their products.

Migrating the data
The next step involves moving the data from your on-premises storage devices to the cloud service of choice (i.e. fileservers, commercial RDBMS, and MySQL).

Migrating your applications
There are different types of cloud migration but the most common are forklift and hybrid migrations. Now, in forklift migration, all apps and their dependencies are moved to the cloud in a single and swift move. In hybrid migration, all the apps and their dependencies are moved to the cloud one at a time. This strategy is usually employed when there’s an increased risk of data loss during transition.

Conclusion
Cloud migration makes sense. It’s financially sound, easier to manage, and, in the long run, it’s far cheaper than running physical equipment. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should go on a rampage, throwing out all gear.

Questions?
020 3637 6095
support@geekheads.co.uk