Why (and how) businesses are moving to the Cloud

Businesses are moving to the cloud for a variety of reasons. Here are the top five:

1. Lowered capital expenditures. With cloud computing, the cloud provider supplies all the hardware (servers, storage devices, firewalls, switches, routers) that you would traditionally have to purchase and manage yourself. Moving to the cloud helps you eliminate these regular capital costs.

2. Lowered operating expenses. Because the cloud requires less infrastructure to maintain, you require fewer staff and fewer resources to maintain it. Moving to the cloud helps you reduce your operating costs in the long run.

3. Reduced opportunity costs. Large capital expenditures come with an opportunity cost. When you invest in a new on-premises server implementation, that’s money you cannot spend on other initiatives. Moving to the cloud replaces large capital expenditures with recurring monthly fees.

4. Increased agility. Moving to the cloud makes scaling up and down a lot easier. You pay only for what you need now, without worrying about long-term changes. You no longer have to plan capacity for the next five years, because you can rapidly and easily scale up if your needs change.

5. Improved availability and reliability. Moving data to the cloud reduces downtime and data loss. Most cloud providers have service level agreements that guarantee 99%+ uptime. Maintaining availability and reliability is much easier when your infrastructure is managed by a cloud provider that provides redundancy and high-speed connections.

Here are some steps to achieving a successful migration:

6. Choose your cloud service model

No two clouds are the same. The cloud environment you choose depends on your business model and unique circumstances. A successful migration depends on choosing the cloud service model that works best for you, like Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Private Cloud/Colocation.

7. Select your cloud provider

Selecting the right cloud provider often comes down to which applications you’re migrating to the cloud. For example, if you’re transitioning Microsoft applications, Microsoft’s Azure may be the most compatible and provide the most cost-effective licensing options.

You also have to consider the type of cloud you’re after. Do you, for example, need a private cloud, a hybrid cloud, or a public cloud?

8. Document your cloud migration plan

Many businesses look to their migration partner to help craft the detailed migration plan. Integrators will typically customize a proven roadmap that includes the order in which applications will be migrated, metrics to determine if the migration is successful, a detailed activity timeline, a breakdown of which processes will change as a result of the migration, and technical and end-user training as required.

9. Execute your migration plan

When planning is complete and all resources are in place, it’s time to begin moving your applications to the cloud. The key steps  to deliver a successful migration include backing up all servers and data, set up the cloud environment, migrate data and applications, validate and test, and communicate.

10. Post cut-over

Employing cloud monitoring tools (either directly, or through the cloud provider) will help identify and remediate any technical or performance issues. A robust problem reporting and tracking system is an essential complement to the monitoring process.

Also, creating a post-cutover dashboard can help track essential metrics like application performance, costs, and user satisfaction. This dashboard will serve as a valuable communications tool when conducting stakeholder updates.

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