According to IT support experts in Austin, migrating your business elements to the cloud requires detailed planning, thoughtful execution, and thorough follow-up. Understanding what is involved in each stage of the migration is essential for a smooth, successful transition.
Think about moving from one home to another. You have to do a lot of planning, then make the move, then get settled into your new home. A cloud migration works in much the same way.
Planning the Move
A successful cloud migration requires detailed planning. Without a sound strategy, you will make mistakes, forget key elements, and slow down the entire process. According to IT support experts in Austin, you can use these five steps in your planning process:
- Inventory what you need to move – You need to know what you have and how big the move is going to be.
- Reorganize as needed – Streamline your business operations. Get rid of what you don’t need and reorganize the rest.
- Analyze your workflows – Document each workflow so that you can replicate it in the new environment.
- Prepare the cloud environment – Create directories, add users, define permissions, and setup administrator accounts.
- Communicate with your staff – You should openly communicate what is going on from the beginning so no one is caught off guard.
Once the planning is done, make a trial run. This involves moving part of your data over to the new environment before the actual migration. It will help identify any unexpected problems and let you make adjustments before the actual move happens.
Moving Day
With thorough planning, the actual migration from your old environment to your new cloud location should go without incident.
The moving team will use migration tools to do the heavy lifting. These tools systematically move each element from the existing business environment and put it into its new cloud location.
At the end of moving day, your business content, data, and workflows are organized into a new operating model. The goal is to make your business faster and more efficient.
Settling into Your New Home
While the transition may have gone smoothly, you and your staff still need to settle into your new cloud environment. The first task is to test how things are working. Does everyone have the proper permissions? Can business operations run as usual? Are forms available? Can SMEs compile information efficiently?
Migrating to the cloud should not be done in haste. Proper planning, according to IT support experts in Austin, will ensure the actual move is smooth. If you need assistance moving your business to the cloud, contact us now at Contigo Technology.