Optimising business operations through cloud migration is something that many businesses have begun to consider; however, it can be an extremely daunting task.
As digital transformation continues to be crucial for all businesses, cloud migration is now a necessity as it allows companies to upscale their computing capabilities, and in turn helps to satisfy their growing customer demand. However, if careful considerations are not made prior to migration, you can lead your business into several pitfalls, which can halt any long-term progress that you desire.
In this article, you will be able to follow our cloud migration dos and don’ts to ensure that you are capable of fully optimising your cloud migration and lead your business into a positive digital transformation.
Do
1. Assess Your Current Applications
Although it might seem like the natural thing to do, it is not necessary to migrate every single application you use over to the cloud. Once upon a time, all the applications installed on your system may have been useful and necessary to conduct your day-to-day duties. However, as your business has grown and evolved, some of these applications may have become redundant. If you transfer these applications onto the cloud, you will be using up valuable storage space on your systems for more relevant applications.
So, before you simply ‘lift and shift’ every single programme onto your external cloud server, evaluate your new business goals, and align them with the programmes that will help you to achieve them. Doing this will help you to save storage on your cloud server allowing for future installations of more helpful applications and may initially save you some money as it will minimise the amount of storage you could need initially.
2. Get Advice from Your Employees
Prior to your cloud migration, it may be valuable to consult with your employees on what applications would be most beneficial to move. Your employees will arguably be your biggest asset during this transition as they are the people that use all these applications on a day-to-day basis and therefore, they will be the most knowledgeable people to inform you as to what you do and don’t need.
3. Prepare Your Staff
As well as getting advice from your staff, prepare your staff for the migration into the cloud via training. Understandably, you may experience some resistance from staff when first announcing the migration. This will most likely stem from not feeling confident or knowledgeable when using cloud-based systems. To avoid this, try implement training sessions with your staff so they can get to grips with how the new cloud system will work, and so they can establish their own personal ways of using the new system.
Implementing this training early will allow the transition to the cloud to be smoother for your staff and will help to avoid any interruptions to their daily duties in the process.
4. Consider Finding a Partner
During the process of migration, it is inevitable that you will encounter situations that you are unsure about, particularly where parts can become technical. In this instance, seeking help from a partner can be beneficial, as they can support you through anything you are unsure about.
Whether it be cloud strategy, team member training or optimising best practice, using a cloud partner’s expertise means that you can speed up the process of migration and do it in a much smaller timeframe. Using their knowledge, you will also be able to limit any obstacles and setbacks which will allow you to continue with normal working as quickly as possible.
5. Accept Change
With any digital transformation there must be an acceptance that business operations may have to change to accommodate a new way of working, and this is no different with cloud migration.
The cloud provides you with an abundance of freedom as to how you operate your business daily. It is now possible for employees to work from anywhere, as they only need an internet connection to access all the information they need. Once you have finished your migration, assess the ways in which you can run your daily operations, and align them with the advantages a cloud-based system has to offer, to better optimise your workforce and get the best standard of work out of your staff.
Don’t
1. Don’t Start Without a Budget
The process of cloud migration can be very complex and therefore you need to expect a cost that aligns with this complexity. Take a holistic approach when creating your budget and plan out every cost you think you may need as a contingency plan, to establish a realistic budget. This helps to eliminate the circumstance that you do not have enough money in your budget and ultimately must overspend during the migration process.
Most cloud providers now have simple price structures for you to choose. This makes understanding the different levels of service easier and allows you to choose a service that fits both your needs and budget. Prior to choosing your level of service, use a cloud cost calculator to estimate your budget beforehand, so you know exactly what you’re looking for.
2. Don’t Forget About Your Existing IT Staff
After you have completed the migration process, there will be an external team predominantly handling your data. However, this does not mean your on-premise IT team is completely redundant. In fact, your IT team can complement your cloud provider very well.
Your existing IT team can provide your cloud provider with all the relevant information and knowledge regarding your company, allowing you to get the most out of your investment. Additionally, the migration to the cloud will free up your IT teams time substantially, meaning that they can focus on the remaining technology on the premises to help drive growth and revenue.
3. Don’t Assume the Cloud Will Never Fail
The cloud is an extremely advantageous place to store all your business data but like any kind of technology system, there will be periods of downtime and unexpected shutdowns.
In this instance, you should have contingency plans in place so you can continue to operate as usual. Having all your important and relevant data backed up during this time means that you can continue working whilst the cloud is offline, and there is not stall in productivity.
As well as maintenance the cloud can also be susceptible to security breaches and hackers. Also having your data saved elsewhere will mean that you don’t risk losing all your essential data, which could create issues and damage client relationships going forward.
Want Some More Information?
Here at DVAD we are experts in everything related to the cloud and cloud migration.
We hope that these simple dos and don’ts of cloud migration will help to make the transition to the cloud smoother for you, but if you would like some more advice, or are thinking about making the move to the cloud, give us a call today on 0800 84 999 84, or contact us here: http://testing.dvad.co.uk/contact-us/.
