The cloud migration process can be disruptive if not properly planned, executed and tested. So to make sure things go smoothly, here are the ten step cloud migration checklist you should tick before moving to the cloud.
Determine the reason you want to migrate to the Cloud
The first thing to do is to ask yourself why your business need to move to the Cloud. Determine how your company will benefit from moving to the cloud?
Assess your current infrastructure and which applications to migrate
There are many cases where so of your apps may be best left on the servers than moving to the cloud. To decide which apps to move check them for a) infrastructure used by the apps (storage needed, analytics, data generated, expected SLA and networking) b) hidden costs and c) expenditure on physical servers and server management
Select the right cloud service provider or Appoint a Data Migration Lead
If you have the technical know-how in your company, then appoint a data-migration lead who will be responsible for planning and implementation of all factors of migration. Otherwise, you have to select the right cloud partner. You can do so by looking at their past projects, their team and certifications.
Select the type of cloud environment
After you’ve decided to move to the cloud and have experts behind you to help with the migration, you have to choose the most suitable cloud environment which will help you achieve your objectives. You can choose in between public, private or hybrid cloud.
Define the architecture
Afterwards, you have to decide on the architecture that you’ll need for migration. Based on your findings during assessing your current environment and which apps to move, you’ll have to define the components you’ll need. Think about storage needs, computing power, content delivery etc.
Choose the Cloud Provider
Think about promised SLA, fast customer service, customer reviews while choosing the cloud partner. You have many good options such as Microsoft Azure, AWS. Google Cloud etc.
Plan Migration
Plan to take care of things such as is a) minimum disruption time b) order of the migration of application c) tracking of key metrics and deadlines to define a successful migration d) modifications to end-user processes due to migration and any training needed
Execute Plan
The execution of the migration will require you to first- back-up your data, setting up the cloud environment, deployment, migrating the data and lastly testing.
Monitor the implementation
After the migration is completed, monitor to help identify and fix any possible issues with the cloud environment.