As your in-house systems age, it becomes increasingly compelling to consider migration to a cloud provider. Cloud migration is the act of transferring data and applications from your on-prem data center, your off-site hosting, or from one cloud provider to another provider in the public cloud.  Sound simple right?  Well…

Most companies that migrate their IT platforms to the cloud do so for the following advantages:

• Lower Operating Cost (including capital expenditure)
• Security
• Performance
• Elasticity of the data flow (especially important if you have seasonal user traffic patterns)
• Redundancy
• Immediate access to the latest software and hardware updates
• Reliability

Some questions that are often asked:

Our data is the lifeblood of our business. Will it be Secure? 
When the concept of cloud hosting and computing began, security was a major concern. Today, however, that is less of an issue.  While a cloud provider can’t protect your external activities, the larger providers, such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, are about as bulletproof as you can get with the data and applications that you host there.

Do you need to modify your code and data to migrate? 
You don’t have to: You may do a “lift and shift migration”, simply moving your platform to the cloud to save on infrastructure costs. But it may not work as easily as you’d like. In general, a move to the cloud is a good time to update your IT infrastructure, clean up your applications, and re-architect your systems. You’d be amazed at how much more efficient your operations can become!

Do you need outside help or can my IT team do this alone?
Generally, yes, you should get some expert assistance.  To start with, it helps to work with someone who works with cloud computing every day.  They understand the complexities of cloud service pricing and configuration.  It’s quite intricate.  There is a need for expertise and experience with data structure requirements, configuration options, and cloud security structure.  While cloud providers themselves offer some support, it is on the cloud side only. It is important to have someone who can work both with your on-prem systems and your cloud system, to ensure that the move goes smoothly.

Do you have specific questions, or are you ready to take the leap?  Well, don’t take the leap without talking with us first… the more you can plan and revamp your IT infrastructure in advance, the easier the migration will be.  Give us a call — AnswerPoint and our Dataman superhero will be glad to answer your questions, dive in to help assess the value of a move, and if it makes sense, help you make a smooth transition.

Speak to us today! | (216) 762-0111 | info@AnswerPoint.com