Whilst there is no doubt about the benefits that cloud computing has to offer the public sector, there is still some disagreement about the best migration strategies to employ when making the move from a legacy system into a cloud environment. These disagreements, together with the natural resistance to change that we all exhibit at times, may have led some organisations to delay their migration plans or to shelve them altogether. However, delay is not the answer: coming up with a fool proof strategy is.
5 questions to help you develop an efficient cloud migration strategy
If your organisation is still trying to formulate an effective cloud migration strategy, we recommend carefully considering the following 5 questions before you start to make detailed plans. By doing so, you may be able to remove the most challenging obstacles and accelerate the actual migration process considerably.
- What is our end goal? – A cloud migration is like any other undertaking in that, without a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve, your chances of success are minimal. It is for this reason that the first question you should ask yourself is, “What is our end goal?” Only by clearly defining what you wish to accomplish through your migration can you put yourself in a position to succeed.
- How do the costs compare to the benefits? – A detailed cost/benefits analysis will reveal whether a public sector cloud solution really makes sense for your organisation. While the benefits of cloud computing are not in doubt, you still need to make sure they are worth the cost before you make the decision to migrate from your legacy system.
- What do we want to move to the Cloud? – Some organisations make the mistake of thinking of a cloud migration as an all or nothing proposition, which it isn’t. One of the easiest ways to avoid potential pitfalls when migrating to the Cloud is to take the time to identify those apps and data records that really should stay where they are. Not every app or data store is a good candidate for migration: it may make more sense for some to stay on your onsite servers.
- Do we need to reorganise our IT team? – Most commercial and public sector organisations find that they need to embark on a major reorganisation of their IT department prior to a cloud migration. This is primarily because the conventional helpdesk setup, in which a new ticket must be raised for every maintenance and upgrade request, is not the optimal setup for a cloud computing environment. Automated help request models, driven by microservices and application programming interfaces, are often a better fit.
- Which cloud platform is the right choice for our organisation? – Some of the factors that influence your choice will be specific to your organisation, such as location, budget and long-term requirements. For this reason, it is not possible to offer specific advice with regards to your choice of platform, except to say that technical support and cost are two of the biggest factors to consider.
Once you have considered all of the above questions at length, you will be in a much better position to plan your public sector cloud migration and ensure that the migratory process itself is completed in the most efficient manner possible.