A business would never want to lose precious data about customers. Especially when contained in a legacy system. And commence operations using a cloud system on a clean slate. We must capture this valuable chunk of data. And then shift or plan to move onto the cloud system. Before starting the empty new system, we need to migrate our data with planning and precision.
Regrettably, data migration is a pretty big challenge.
But in the event of moving, migration must be considered as a separate project. While deploying software, data migration should not be viewed as a push button. From one system to another.
Data migration is a tough challenge and needs meticulous planning. It needs a scientific approach, backed by a budget. It takes time and has to be backed by a handpicked team.
Cloud adoption has surged drastically over the last three years especially during the pandemic. Companies, however, continue to evaluate options about moving their applications onboard the cloud. Despite probably having weighed options of savings and technological advantage.
Change is permanent. A strong case in point is technology. It becomes outdated time as new technologies are introduced. This is similar to brands that have product life cycles. Or organizations that grow and need to adapt to changing times and needs.
Legacy systems are common business bottlenecks. But many organizations will rely only on a legacy framework. They need to invest in a constant upgrade to stay abreast of the desired capability.
Some organizations may never migrate to a cloud-based system and will invest heavily in building its legacy infrastructure. These can be critical and data-sensitive organizations. Time-bound services and financially sensitive organizations can fall into this category too.
Stock exchanges, railways, airports, etc. are such organizations that will still cling to the legacy mode of working by constantly ramping their legacy systems.
However, for most organizations, cloud-based systems might make sense. But shifting legacy systems onto the cloud system is not simple. There can be a high initial cost. Resistance and under-preparedness by the organizational teams before moving legacy systems to the cloud system can lead to ineffective migration.
One needs to evaluate multiple parameters before moving legacy systems to the cloud system.
Estimation of Costs: Projected costs for legacy and cloud systems can be evaluated and compared. What are the sunk or projected costs for legacy and cloud systems? One needs to forecast costs for both options. A bit of capital expenditure is required to get functional and operational. But once operations using the cloud commence, day-to-day expenditure is affordable and reasonable.
Secondly, cloud usage is a pay for what you use model. We do not need to upgrade the mainframes and serves on-premises or elsewhere over some time. Resource costs for IT support for legacy infrastructure also get substantially eliminated. And associated expenditures like power, rent, and cooling go down to a very large extent.
Skillsets: An important point to consider is the IT team having the required skillsets to use the new system effectively. Cloud migration will come with a set of risks and the process of shifting may not always be smooth. Faulty migration techniques can mean unwanted business downtime. It would mean exposing our data to outside threats. Also, businesses worldwide continue to struggle with a lack of skilled resources.
Migration Strategy: How will systems run? Will records get merged or shared? Will the entire system will be moved to the cloud?
Flexibility: Most organizations require a degree of flexibility and response times that are associated when moving onto the cloud-based system. A major quantum of migrations to the cloud is generally operational in shared environments. We can acquire a lot of look for flexibility to get business and monetary advantages. As cloud computing matures, one can expect greater flexibility.
Cloud Security: Migrating on to the cloud system means careful consideration of the security and protection of data and applications. One must consider data breaches and hacking that happen from time to time. However, the cloud system can be more secure than data centers. Also, hacking and collapses can be managed through business continuity processes.
Moreover, regulations and measures are also getting strict and stringent and any such fears can be put to rest. Rules and policies laid down by the cloud security service provider can ensure adequate levels of protection and security of data and applications.
Prioritizing Applications for Increased Benefits: There are applications that an organization can use that can enable your business to segregate it from its competitors. Some applications are basic and routine. Identifying the same can help us decide which will ones we send to the cloud.
Choosing Appropriate Workload based on Demand Level: Migrating sets of applications with frequently changing demand to the cloud can help improve the efficiency of work as well as capitalize on the economic benefits of moving legacy systems to the cloud.
Compliance and Regulations: Depending on the industry that the organization operates in, there could be regulations that the organization may have to comply with before moving to a cloud system. There could also be a possibility that moving the system may not get clearance.
Regulated industries such as government, federal agencies, and public healthcare may have to comply with policies that need to safeguard data. And also manage privacy issues.
Deciding on a Cloud Service Model: Once doubts and all queries have been addressed by a cloud computing provider, one needs to decide on the best way forward. When it comes to cloud migration, there are three basic hosted options that one can choose from:
Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is the basic and most prevalent means of cloud migration. Applications like Google Apps, Salesforce, and GoToMeeting are examples of the SaaS category. Choosing SaaS is a convenient way to extract the benefits of costs saving after moving to the cloud. Organizations can install select applications across the enterprise for processes that are crucial.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
While SaaS is a basic or more acceptable form of cloud computing for most businesses, PaaS is a bit more complex and robust. PaaS, while letting you keep some control, it provides you to utilize some components of cloud computing, which an organization can work and further develop it. This model helps the organization to target specific requirements based on priority and importance while taking advantage of cloud benefits like scalability, pay-as-you-use, etc.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
This is the top tier level category. This is a pure manifestation of complete public cloud migration. Leading biggies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google operate in this space. An IaaS migration means a total migration of applications and data to operating systems that reside in the cloud. This model provides the option of near-unlimited scalability. The organization accrues the ability to use any software, application, or platform you need.
