Moving to the Cloud: How to Implement an On Prem to Cloud Migration
By Josh Hebb
Thinking of migrating to the cloud?
Have you been contemplating making the shift from hosting and managing your infrastructure from on prem to cloud? You’re not alone and the statistics prove it.
According to the Cisco Global Cloud Index:
- More than 94% of all workloads are currently handled on the cloud
- Over 90% of all companies have the infrastructure already in the cloud
- The cloud infrastructure market is expected to hit nearly $500 billion by 2023, up from $229 billion since 2019
It’s clear that the future of infrastructure rests within the cloud, but as with anything new, there are crucial elements you need to think about when considering on prem to cloud migration.
In today’s blog, we’ll break down the process and cover which elements to consider before embarking on your on prem to cloud migration journey. Follow along as we cover:
- The benefits of migrating from on prem to cloud
- How to perform a successful on prem to cloud migration
- Significant tips and takeaways when migrating from on prem to cloud
Benefits of an on prem to cloud migration
There’s an extensive range of benefits to cloud migration. Some of these extras depend on your specific business, but here’s a look at what we’re seeing with our clients who have moved their businesses from on prem to cloud
Agility
The number one reason to move to the cloud is, without a doubt, the agility it affords your organization.
This gives you the power to quickly spin up global resources as you need them, within a couple of minutes. You can experiment, innovate, and move quickly. Nearly everything is possible when working with a managed web infrastructure.
Cloud cost savings
Instead of investing in data centers and hardware, you can maintain flexibility with resources that can be scaled up or down depending on your business needs. A significant takeaway here is, an on prem to cloud migration will give you the opportunity to focus your spending on the things that add value to your business – no more distractions from managing infrastructure. Migrating from on prem to the cloud will save you money.
Security
Migrating to the cloud enables you to take advantage of economies of scale. Amazon invests an extraordinary amount of resources into cybersecurity, so take advantage of their investments and stay ahead of attacks. Amazon not only provides communication around ongoing issues but also offers peace of mind and the knowledge that your infrastructure is secure; assuming you follow their well-documented best practices, of course.
Monitoring and up-time
The first thing you’ll notice after migrating from on prem to cloud is how much easier processes become. This is because it’s simple to set up monitoring around your infrastructure. Stay ahead of issues with notifications and set up your infrastructure to scale based on traffic.
On prem to cloud considerations
What if your infrastructure is mostly hosted on-premise, how do you start migrating from on prem to the cloud?
Here are some high-priority items to consider before migrating.
Controlling costs
With the massive number of services being offered by cloud providers, it is easy to lose track of which services are enabled and utilized from a cost perspective. It’s important to set up proper tracking and user permissions to stay on top of your infrastructure in the cloud.
Learning curve
Like anything new, there’s a learning curve. Your background and experience level will influence the difficulty in ramp-up, but the good news is that there are some excellent resources available.
Take your time
Proper migrations take proper preparation and planning. Stage your migration and start shifting non-essential infrastructure until you get your bearings with your hosting provider.
Infrastructure as code
Some cloud providers, like Amazon, can create and manage your infrastructure in code via template files. I always recommend taking this approach as it makes reproducing and managing the stack much simpler. Updates are version-controlled and monitored.
On prem to cloud migration checklist
In my experience, to reiterate my point above, the success of your migration will depend on the amount of planning and preparation you and your team put in.
- Start small and move non-essential infrastructure in a hybrid approach combining your existing on-premise infrastructure with your cloud infrastructure.
- Invest in training and professional development within your team.
- Practice disaster scenarios to mitigate risks and ensure proper backups and monitoring are setups.
On prem to cloud migrations are investments that empower your development and engineering teams to move fast and innovate. It enables you to focus on delivering real business value and lets cloud providers handle the commonalities across organizations from an infrastructure perspective.
If you’re still uneasy about how or when to move forward, we can help. Learn more about our on prem to cloud migration services.
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