There are so many benefits of migrating to the cloud, many want to reduce cost while others want to improve their efficiencies. We get a lot of questions surrounding cloud migration so we decided to do a short Q & A – we know there are tons of questions that could be answered but this was our shortlist.
Why are so many businesses moving communications to the cloud?
Cloud infrastructure provides tools and reporting capabilities that need to be implemented as a central service to manage and report on software inventory and costing. Cost savings is a key benefit of cloud computing. Being able to dynamically inventory provisioned resources and services and match them with costing formulas, ensures continual insight into cloud expenses and continued ability to lower total cost of ownership.
What are the pain points that cloud adoption can address for cost-conscious, efficiency-minded IT and Ops teams?
Moving to the cloud requires a cost accounting model that can support charging for on-demand, dynamic infrastructure, as opposed to one that is based on purchasing dedicated hardware and depreciating it. Cloud infrastructure provides tools and reporting capabilities that need to be implemented as a central service to manage and report on software inventory and costing.
What is the tipping point for a business (your business) to make the move to the cloud?
Looks like you have done a thorough analysis of cloud environments in conjunction with physical data center options, matching application requirements and migration strategies to the appropriate environment capabilities. In addition, each application has a migration roadmap with pros, cons, and risks analyzed. That is a fantastic start to ensure a successful migration to the cloud. Prior to migration, your organization should perform a competitive analysis of various cloud options vs. physical data centers. Identify the risks and costs of migration and determine the migration strategy for each application: re-host, re-platform, repurchase, refactor / re-architect, retire, retain
What ramifications does this move have for IT/Ops/the organization?
To take full advantage of the cloud, both leadership and operational staff need to be trained in cloud best practices, communication transparency, and metric based accountability. The organization should have a plan to hire to cover any gaps. Your organization’s deep understanding of cloud operations and the new skills needed to successfully maximize the value of new cloud environments will ensure success. Having already started training existing staff and recruiting new leaders is a good sign.
How does it impact end users and employees?
To take full advantage of the cloud, both leadership and operational staff need to be trained in cloud best practices, communication transparency, and metric based accountability. The organization should have a plan to hire to cover any gaps.Incentives for employees facing dramatic role changes should be implemented to ensure the organization embraces the training required for the new cloud capabilities. A strategy should be developed to identify alternate positions for resistant employees to prevent time and money costs. Moving to the cloud requires a cost accounting model that can support charging for on-demand, dynamic infrastructure, as opposed to one that is based on purchasing dedicated hardware and depreciating it. If you have questions that weren’t answered, get in touch.
