Cloud Migration in Azure: What to Know Before and Benefits to See After

Microsoft’s Azure cloud offers many benefits for organizations, most notably more efficiency, agility, and lower costs. But getting to the cloud can present a huge challenge and often seems overwhelming. There are many issues that can crop up before, during and after the migration process. We’ll talk about some common issues around moving to Microsoft Azure and how to overcome them.

Common issues include:

• Application compatibility: Not all applications are meant for the cloud, especially public cloud. It’s a good idea to test the applications in the environment you’ll be running them in before migration. If you’re planning a lift-and-shift strategy to rehost your applications, you’ll certainly want to make sure the migration is even feasible. This includes closely examining your application’s architecture to see its possible integrations and dependencies on other on-premise workloads and services, including third-party vendor support.
• DR planning: Data loss is always possible, especially during a migration. What does your DR plan call for in this scenario? Have you tested migration components of your applications and failing back to an on-premise environment in case something doesn’t go as planned? A strong DR plan is an absolute necessity for a successful migration to Microsoft Azure (or any cloud, for that matter).
• Mitigating user/business downtime: When migrating to the cloud, keeping business operability is key. You’ll need to monitor your legacy application migration carefully to ensure there is minimal to no downtime. This includes cutover window times and making sure you’ve  successfully executed more than one disaster recovery test.
• Security: What protocols do you have in place at the application level to adequately protect you during a migration? Do you have end-to-end encryption or a VPN? Data is especially at risk when it is in transit unless you have proper security measures in place.
• Time: Timelines for cloud migration vary depending on how many applications you’re moving and how large they are, but a typical timeline is three to six months. Make sure you’ve adequately planned enough time to not only allow for the migration but mistakes along the way.
• Compliance assessment: If your legacy application needs to be HIPAA compliant or follow any other compliance standard, it will certainly need to be compliant in Azure as well. You’ll want to conduct a thorough analysis of your current system requirements and identify which cloud-based controls you need to meet those requirements.
• User experience (UX): How will your application look in the cloud? Is it vastly different? There could be major changes you’ll need to alert your users to before your Azure cloud migration, so you’ll need a strategy to address them.

There are many other issues to consider, including more detailed analysis of business operations, application performance assessments, verification management, and change management policies. While these don’t all need to be finalized before the migration is complete, they are important components to a successful migration.

Successful migration to Azure has its challenges and shouldn’t be taken lightly. But with careful analysis, a strong DR plan and enough time set aside to dedicate to the migration, you can successfully switch from a legacy-based IT to a faster, more agile cloud-based model.

For more tools and tips, check out Tech Target’s guide to cloud migration, or Microsoft’s own planning tool to assist you with your migration.

If you’re in the process of moving to Azure or currently use some Azure services and are looking to add more, we can help! We offer fully managed Microsoft Azure services to help you keep better track of your environment as well as your budget. Speak with one of our cloud experts today or visit our managed public cloud page to learn more.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud offers many benefits for organizations, most notably more efficiency, agility, and lower costs. But getting to the cloud can present a huge challenge and often seems overwhelming. There are many issues that can crop up before, during and after the migration process.

Common items to check before migrating to the cloud include:

• Application compatibility: Not all applications are meant for the cloud, especially public cloud. It’s a good idea to test the applications in the environment you’ll be running them in before migration. If you’re planning a lift-and-shift strategy to rehost your applications, you’ll certainly want to make sure the migration is even feasible. This includes closely examining your application’s architecture to see its possible integrations and dependencies on other on-premise workloads and services, including third-party vendor support.

• DR planning: Data loss is always possible, especially during a migration. What does your DR plan call for in this scenario? Have you tested migration components of your applications and falling back to an on-premise environment in case something doesn’t go as planned? A strong DR plan is an absolute necessity for a successful migration to Microsoft Azure (or any cloud, for that matter).

• Mitigating user/business downtime: When migrating to the cloud, keeping business operability is key. You’ll need to monitor your legacy application migration carefully to ensure there is minimal to no downtime. This includes cutover window times and making sure you’ve successfully executed more than one disaster recovery test.

• Security: What protocols do you have in place at the application level to adequately protect you during a migration? Do you have end-to-end encryption or a VPN? Data is especially at risk when it is in transit unless you have proper security measures in place.

• Time: Timelines for cloud migration vary depending on how many applications you’re moving and how large they are, but a typical timeline is three to six months. Make sure you’ve adequately planned enough time to not only allow for the migration but mistakes along the way.

• Compliance assessment: If your legacy application needs to be HIPAA compliant or follow any other compliance standard, it will certainly need to be compliant in Azure as well. You’ll want to conduct a thorough analysis of your current system requirements and identify which cloud-based controls you need to meet those requirements.

• User experience (UX): How will your application look in the cloud? Is it vastly different? There could be major changes you’ll need to alert your users to before your Azure cloud migration, so you’ll need a strategy to address them.

There are many other issues to consider, including more detailed analysis of business operations, application performance assessments, verification management, and change management policies. While these don’t all need to be finalized before the migration is complete, they are important components to a successful migration.

Successful migration to Azure has its challenges and shouldn’t be taken lightly. But with careful analysis, a strong DR plan and enough time set aside to dedicate to the migration, you can successfully switch from a legacy-based IT to a faster, more agile cloud-based model.

Why Migrate to Microsoft Azure?

One of the lesser known benefits of migrating to a public or private cloud is that doing so can recession-proof your business should hard times come on the economy.

How Can Azure Shield Your Business Against the Recession?

A recession can open your eyes to numerous cost-cutting opportunities that aren’t available during bloom seasons. It’s the best time to minimize your cloud computing costs and free up resources for other functions.

Microsoft Azure can recession-proof your business, making it easier for your business to beat the hard times in the following ways:

Cost-Effectiveness

It’s essential to stick to your budget when looking for cloud solutions. Fortunately, Microsoft Azure provides the necessary features without you breaking the bank. This flexible platform offers the opportunity to scale on demand, allowing you to pay for the resources and services you need. Therefore, you can test and pick what’s necessary as your needs change, cutting your costs significantly in the long run.

Space Economy

Azure can replace your physical servers and data technology, saving lots of office space. Moreover, it provides multiple easy ways and onramps for “lifting-and-shifting” problematic or aging portions of your infrastructure or technology. This significantly reduces your shipping costs and eWaste.

Increased Business Resiliency

The public cloud platform has all the options and tools to keep the “lights on” for any business. While you must pay more to access additional redundancies, you’ll get enormous computing redundancy, network, power, and multiple ways to keep your infrastructure up and running, even in the event of a disaster.

Beefed Up Security

Cybersecurity attacks are even more common in times of recession, but Azure is built to enhance your security posture. From unstructured data, files and more, the platform has exemplary storage services for your situation and needs. Moreover, you can leverage the solution’s data privacy, and the protection principle will leave you assured that your data is safe. Azure implements security protocols, algorithms, and encryption for this.

Support for Hybrid Cloud Computing

The cloud platform facilitates “anywhere operations,” allowing your staff to work from anywhere. It addresses the single points of failure to boost your core processes’ durability. Furthermore, you’ll access the services and tools to implement and maintain a seamless hybrid cloud infrastructure. This translates to faster collaboration and increased productivity.

Compliance And Disaster Recovery

Finally, you have much to gain regarding disaster recovery and compliance. The platform has multiple compliance certifications, making it attractive for organizations in high-risk and data-sensitive industries. Both the solution itself and its end users are secured. Moreover, you’ll get additional services like multi-factor authentication and advanced disaster recovery abilities. Thus, you can always recover your data quickly after any glitch.

Pretty exciting stuff! There are many possibilities for machine learning, and the Azure platform is just one platform upon which to take advantage. Read our FAQ to learn more about predictive analytics and machine learning, and here’s where you can learn more about Azure Machine Learning Studio.

Struggling to manage your Azure infrastructure, including the instances that run your predictive models? We can help! Learn more about our managed Azure services.

If you’re in the process of moving to Azure or currently use some Azure services and are looking to add more, we can help! We offer fully managed Microsoft Azure services to help you keep better track of your environment as well as your budget. Speak with one of our cloud experts today or visit our public cloud page to learn more.