An organization will have many reasons for migrating its applications and data to the cloud. Each such migration project will be unique based on its dependencies with other workstreams, resource allocation, and security requirements. Pegasus Technologies, a managed IT services company, offers a list of best practices that should be followed during a cloud migration project to ensure a robust and resilient transition with minimum downtime.
1. Evaluate data and app complexities
A map of application dependencies should be created which clearly shows the interdependencies between various applications and the servers these applications communicate with. How often the communication occurs, whether the communication is unidirectional or bidirectional, also needs to be considered. Dependencies of different organization departments on the application also need to be considered. This is the ‘discovery phase’ when the various inter-dependencies of the applications/work streams that need to be migrated are considered to facilitate a migration strategy. A good IT services company can provide expert solutions at all stages of cloud migration.
2. Define roles and leadership
A smooth migration requires all stakeholders to be on the same page and are aware of their roles and responsibilities. It should clearly outline who is responsible for what application/ workstream in cloud migration. All staff should be advised about a change in the work culture with fewer on-premise applications to manage and newer cloud - technologies to master. Role-based access to various resources on the cloud should be planned and set up.
3. Start with small and simple apps
A good strategy is to identify a couple of applications that can be quickly and easily moved to the cloud. Categorizing the applications into ‘easy to move,’ ‘hard to move, and ‘retain till last’ will help in this regard. Starting small lays a foundation for cloud migration, and the organization can prepare for large-scale cloud adoption in the future. This ensures a quick and easy win for building experience in the cloud-based work culture. A team of experts needs to be selected to carry out the first project and identify the cloud services needed to support the first application being migrated. Once the first project is completed, the cloud services can be extended to support more complex applications.
4. Build a central team
The organization should have a central team focusing mainly on cloud services, migration, and integration. This approach frees the development team from the cloud platform's responsibility and helps them focus on their applications and the changes required to make a business impact.
5. Test all scenarios
The cloud migration process should be accompanied by testing at each stage. Unit testing of each migrated application and integration testing to find any issues in dependencies with other workstreams have to be carried out.
6. Have a maintenance plan in place
A robust maintenance plan must be in place to ensure that the environment will continue to run smoothly over time and be ready for future updates and upgrades. Cloud environments are susceptible to security attacks. Security of the application and data should be monitored regularly.
Pegasus Technologies Managed IT Services
Pegasus Technologies is a managed Service Provider (MSP) and provides comprehensive support for cloud computing solutions starting from calculating setup costs to ensuring business continuity.
- Email them at info@pegtec.com or
- Call (610) 444-8256.
