Migration to the cloud: a step-by-step guide

Step 1: Assessment of the current infrastructure

Before you can start migrating your infrastructure to the cloud, it is important to thoroughly assess and understand your current infrastructure and application landscape. This includes identifying legacy systems, dependencies between applications and understanding your own data structures. The scalability of the original solution should also be considered. Good preparation helps to identify potential challenges at an early stage and take proactive countermeasures to ensure the smoothest possible migration. If you still have documentation on the structure of your original infrastructure, be sure to include it when analyzing the current status. Also ensure to break down knowledge silos that have arisen in the past and bring the entire team together before you start the cloud migration. As this process can develop a high level of complexity even with a small company size, it is advisable to use digital tools such as cloud readiness assessments and inventory tools to carry out a collective inventory. If you identify a restriction that could have a serious impact on the migration, clarify this first.

Step 2: Defining the goals and requirements

Once the current situation has been recorded and evaluated in detail, clear requirements for the migration must now be defined. Define a comprehensive target state and take a close look at the main objectives of the migration to the cloud. This could be, for example, improving flexibility, increasing performance or strengthening data security. Make absolutely sure that the objectives are tailored to the specific needs and challenges of your company so that the transition to the new technology is as smooth as possible after the migration. Consider not only technical, but also organizational aspects.

Step 3: Choosing the right cloud platform and services

The cloud hosting market is enjoying steady growth. It is therefore a good breeding ground for the emergence of new companies that want a slice of the pie. In addition to the large providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Microsoft Azure, which offer very flexible and technically complex solutions, we are also seeing companies rise up that specialize in simplifying the technology for specific use cases. It is essential that you also look at these companies in order to find the best cooperation partner for your project. Take various factors into account, such as performance, scalability, security, usability, integrability, compliance requirements and costs. Also take a look at the different types of cloud. Depending on the use case and the sensitivity of your data processing, a public cloud, private cloud or hybrid cloud may ultimately be the best solution. It is important to take the necessary time in the decision-making process to thoroughly evaluate the various options and select the one that best suits your goals and requirements. Making an uninformed decision too quickly can mean that, in the worst-case scenario, you have to start the project all over again.

Step 4: Creating a migration strategy and roadmap

The large scope of a full-scale cloud migration requires a lot of planning. Therefore, make sure you have detailed documentation and create a detailed migration strategy, as well as a roadmap that can be consulted at any time in case of questions from your teams. It is important to set realistic goals and allow sufficient time for testing and validation to ensure a smooth transition. Make sure you allow enough time for research and documentation, because ultimately you want your cloud strategy to create a platform that will enable you to withstand the growing pressure for technical development in the upcoming years. In this case, a high initial outlay means a growing investment, but significantly lower maintenance costs in the long term.

Step 5: Carrying out the migration and monitoring

Once the migration strategy has been defined, you can start with the actual migration. In this step, you transfer applications, data and workloads to the new cloud environment. It is important to keep a cool head and take measures to ensure the availability of the applications and the integrity of the data at all times. Manual control processes play just as important of a role as automated monitoring. During this period, regular backups are also an important part of safeguarding your own existence. So make sure that your data backups are complete and functional! If you consider it necessary to intervene, do so at an early stage to prevent the availability of an application from being restricted. From an organizational point of view, it is important to understand that such a migration process can take a while and that the infrastructure cannot be fully functional at all times. In such a case, do not panic, but rather rely on the expertise of your technical staff.

Step 6: Optimization and continuous improvement

The introduction of a cloud strategy is not a one-off process, but a continuous cycle of optimization and improvement. Therefore, do not expect perfection from day 1, but rather promote the ongoing development of your concept. Regularly monitor the performance of your cloud infrastructure, analyze the costs and, if necessary, make appropriate adjustments to increase efficiency and continue to achieve your business goals with the cloud. This can also include, for example, optimizing resource usage, implementing automation tools or updating applications and systems.

Conclusion

Good planning is half the battle! A step-by-step migration strategy is crucial to the success of your company's cloud migration. With careful planning, clear goals and thorough execution, you can reap the full benefits of the cloud while minimizing risks. As long as you follow the steps above and rely on common best practices, you're in for a smooth transition to the cloud that will increase your resilience in the digital economy.