A 5 Step Cloud Migration Strategy For Businesses

Cloud migration has become a vital part of improving customer satisfaction and efficiency. It is when you take your business from an on-premise system to cloud technology and services. 

If you want to migrate your business’ applications and data to a cloud-based infrastructure, it is crucial to develop a cloud migration strategy before beginning the process. 

Your cloud migration strategy methods and steps are driven by your business’ vision, goals and interests. This is why no two businesses will ever have the same migration process.

Cloud computing is cost-effective, scalable and easy to maintain. However, cloud migration is not always easy and multiple issues could occur.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide to make your transition much easier. In this blog, we will be taking a look at the five essential steps to complete a successful cloud migration. 

Let’s get started!

Step 1 – Planning

Theoretically, moving to the cloud is simple as long as you plan every step of your journey. However, as you are moving your business from a legacy system to a cloud system, issues may pop up. Planning allows you to know what to expect and prepares you to face any challenges head-on. 

Without any planning, you risk cloud migration failure and potential downtime, data loss or security breaches. That’s why you have to create an effective cloud migration strategy. 

In your cloud migration strategy roadmap, you need to consider two key components – applications and data transfer. With applications, you have to consider how you’re going to move existing applications to your cloud platform. Similarly, data transfer focuses on migrating your data to the cloud.

Once you have completed your planning regarding these two components, you can move on to the next step of cloud migration.

Step 2 – Find The Right Provider

Since your planning is now complete, you need to find the right cloud platform provider for your needs. A provider will guide you through the cloud migration process and empower you with the tools you need to make your journey smoother.

At Redpalm, we are a managed IT services provider and trusted Microsoft partner that can help you make the migration process easier. 

By choosing the right provider for your business, you will be able to receive the guidance you need alongside quick and efficient technical support.

Step 3 – Choose the Right Applications

As you may be aware, not all applications function in the same way. As a result, some apps may prefer one cloud environment over another. 

To combat this issue, certain providers have multi-cloud software options available. With these options, you will be able to provide consistent management and security while also maintaining the flexibility needed for optimal network performance. 

However, always analyse the build and the complexity involved in implementing any app to a hosted desktop before you begin the migration process. This will help you avoid unnecessary trouble later on.

Step 4 – Secure Your Data

If you’re migrating from an on-premise system to a cloud system, your data may be under threat and more vulnerable to breaches. As such, your cloud migration strategy team has to be aware of all the compliance requirements your business has when handling data. 

Moreover, certain industries like healthcare, finance or e-commerce are more heavily regulated. As a result, your cloud solution also needs to provide the right cyber security measures to match industry regulations. For example, Cyber Essentials/ Cyber Essentials Plus and IASME Cyber Assurance, etc.

Generally, many cloud vendors encrypt data once it’s been uploaded. However, with your provider’s assistance, you need to also encrypt your data during transit for added security. 

Step 5 – Gradually Migrate to the Cloud

We are well aware that moving to a cloud-based infrastructure can be exciting. However, even amongst this excitement, you have to remember that cloud migration is an important task. 

To build the best cloud migration strategy, it is easier to move in smaller and more manageable steps to ensure business continuity. Similarly, by moving one application at a time instead of all of them, you can understand exactly what works and what doesn’t. Furthermore, this enables your business to maintain on-premise data while applications are moved to the cloud first. 

Additionally, you could also phase your data migration based on the type of data – offline vs. production data, or essential vs. non-essential data. By doing this, you would be able to reduce workflow disruption and make your business’ transition to the cloud that much smoother.  

Contact Redpalm To Successfully Migrate To The Cloud Today!

Now that you know the steps you need to follow, all that’s left is choosing the right provider. We can help you with that!

Redpalm is a managed IT service provider that has provided comprehensive IT services to many businesses across multiple industries. 

With our team of experienced professionals, we have the knowledge and expertise to assist you with seamless cloud migration and keep your data safe and secure. 

From proactive monitoring to vulnerability assessments and technology procurement, we have everything you need to effortlessly scale your business. 

To learn more about what we do, visit our services page or contact us today!