Cloud computing is a must-have solution for cutting costs and increasing productivity. But it may be difficult to achieve these benefits if you don’t have a clear-cut migration strategy. There’s a lot that goes into ensuring a smooth migration, so we’ve compiled a few helpful tips.
#1. Start with a Technology Assessment
Migrating to the cloud doesn’t necessarily mean changing your business processes, but it does mean changing the way you perform them. That’s why you need to start with a thorough overview of your existing processes and technology infrastructure so that you can prioritise certain tasks more effectively and minimise any disruptions to your workflow.
A technology assessment will help you build a complete inventory of your existing systems, including hardware, applications, and any data-bearing systems. Once you have a complete audit of your technology infrastructure, you’ll be in a better position to determine which processes will make a suitable fit for the cloud and which ones may be better off remaining in-house.
#2. Get the Support of Your Team
One reason many digital transformation strategies fail is that they lack proper onboarding and training. Moving to the cloud requires using new applications and processes that employees may not be familiar with, which is why they should be involved in the migration process early. Achieving buy-in from your team and training them early will ensure there are no user experience problems when you roll over to your cloud solution. It also helps create a culture that is supportive of new changes.
#3. Draw Up a Plan
Technology vendors routinely claim how easy it is to set up in the cloud. There’s certainly some truth in that, especially if you’re starting from scratch. However, when you’re migrating existing data and systems over to a hosted computing environment, there are plenty of things that can go wrong without proper planning. For example, a lot of bandwidth-intensive apps aren’t well-suited to cloud-hosting, while accounting and customer relationship management software are a perfect fit for the cloud.
What’s important is that you prioritise app migration and implementation while also taking into consideration all of the regulatory and security factors that govern the transfer and storage of your data.
#4. Ask for Help
Setting up the cloud doesn’t have to be difficult when you’re armed with a solid plan, but that also depends on your expertise. Chances are that you don’t have the in-house expertise to ensure a smooth migration. There’s a whole lot of complexities involved in the process, such as configuring administration dashboards, setting up databases, and much more.
The truth is, migrating to the cloud is only easy if you know exactly what you’re doing, which is unlikely unless your company specialises in cloud computing. That’s why you’ll need the oversight of a provider who can ease your migration woes and select the solutions that make the best fit for your specific business.
Are you tired of having technology work against you? Here at Austin Technology, we help businesses in Perth with managed cloud services that you can depend on. Call us today to book a consultation.
