December 8-10, 2024 (Sun - Tue)

Successful Cloud Migration: Planning, Licensing Implications, and Strategies

The cloud had increasingly factored into business processes even before COVID-19.

When the pandemic struck, it was no surprise to see the transition from traditional organizational functions to cloud computing accelerated.

Businesses had to keep up with the changing times. With lockdowns happening left and right, managers had to find a way for daily operations to continue amid off-site work.

Cloud migration has become more of a movement than a trend. It is also bound to become more widespread, especially post-pandemic.

This technology offers a variety of advantages to businesses, including agility, innovation, and cost-efficiency, among others.

However, before organizations adopt the technology, they must keep in mind that cloud migration is a critical process requiring critical considerations. Here’s your guide for a seamless and successful transition.

What is Cloud Migration?

The cloud is a self-sufficient and on-demand environment with boundless potential.

It is a key aspect of end-to-end business digitalization. If you plan to scrap outmoded infrastructures such as unreliable servers, you may want to consider shifting to cloud computing to achieve optimum organizational efficiency.

This transition is called cloud migration.

Cloud migration can be either of two things. It may refer to an organization taking its digital assets, databases, applications, services, and IT resources to the cloud. This transition may be partial or complete.

The term “cloud migration” also covers an organization’s movement from one cloud to another.

Five areas need to be covered when it comes to an effective cloud migration strategy. They are as follows:

  • Accessibility – The transition must result in service enhancements that deliver unparalleled user experience (both customers and employees).
  • Scalability – The technology must be resilient enough to quickly adapt to changes, whether good or bad.
  • Security – This covers data backup and recovery and access controls. Data protection must be in place, whether at rest or in transit.
  • Cost-efficiency – Short and long-term expenses should factor into cloud migration and management.
  • Compliance – Regulations from public institutions and private cloud services providers must be duly honored.

Cloud Migration and Software Licenses

Shifting to the cloud has emphasized the need to determine how organizations measure and manage their software license assets before, during and after migration.

From this license perspective, various implications must not be ignored to avoid compliance problems. It would be detrimental for enterprises to be deemed non-compliant in the middle of their migration timeline or during a vendor audit.

Without knowing the notable considerations when moving your software license estate to a cloud infrastructure, your organization can be exposed to unintentional and costly compliance consequences.

The Cloud Migration Process: How Does It Work?

Do not haphazardly carry out cloud migration without proper planning and strategy. Stick with a reliable process involving the following steps and some software licensing considerations you need to know.

  1. Determine requirements

    Here’s where you come up with a cloud migration plan. Anchor that to an internal audit of existing data infrastructures. Look into system shortages as well as areas for improvement.Get specific with your audit goals. For instance, determine page load time, memory usage, and software response time, among other critical IT health indicators.

  2. Build your business case

    What do you expect from cloud migration? It is helpful to write down a list of objectives to guide the process according to plan. The usual goals include cost savings, improved agility, and enhanced customer service. Your cloud migration may also serve the purpose of market penetration and business expansion.

  3. Discover and assess which applications to move

    Assess which workloads or processes you want to move to the cloud. Once you pinpoint those areas, you will know which apps require cloud migration. Anticipate potential security threats while app data is in transit. Do preemptive safety measures so that those risks don’t become a reality.

  4. Perform pre-migration profiling

    Profiling, fine tuning, and determining the right sizing of your cloud requirements on a recurring basis allows you to control and optimize costs effectively. This can be particularly helpful for SaaS subscription models, which are usually one-size-fits-all and can lead to overspend. High quality, data-driven insights ensure proper forecasting before making long-term licensing commitments.

  5. Utilize software license management tools

    Organizations can substantially reduce costs by using their existing software licenses when migrating workloads. This often involves the reallocating licenses from their on-premise infrastructure to the clouds. Software audits and agreement true-ups have been increasing, and organizations must remain compliant with the terms of these agreements during migration.In other words, it can be costly for enterprises if they fail to demonstrate when they started using specific licenses. Software license management solutions aid you in allocating your licenses to both on-premises and cloud-hosted resources and allow you to automate software license tracking and usage.

  6. Harvest cloud assets

    Many enterprises fail to track, identify, and review their inactive licenses. Harvesting your cloud assets frequently can help eliminate services consuming significant financial and operational resources. It can also include the removal of licenses and their associated billing or redistribution to meet new demand.Successful cloud projects involve sufficient planning that considers the various implications on your licenses before, during and after cloud migration in order to optimize costs.Open iT LicenseAnalyzer features automated license harvesting to increase license efficiency. This ensures risk-free cloud migration, cost optimization, and ROI realization through effective license metering and software asset management.

  7. Choose the right cloud service provider wisely

    Many cloud services providers are hawking similar product packages. To narrow down your choices, begin with carefully assessing your business requirements. It all boils down to your chosen provider’s mode of business aligning with yours. Once you have a shortlist of candidates, scrutinize each thoroughly and look into their credentials.

  8. Begin the migration process

    The migration process typically involves modernizing existing applications, developing new cloud-native applications, and transforming architecture and infrastructure. In doing so, you’ll have a suitable technology operating model and culture to innovate more quickly and effectively.For the actual migration process to be deemed successful, it has to happen in the shortest period and with the least amount of money. Also, the less disruption it brings to your daily operations, the better.

  9. Ensure cloud upkeep

    After migration, the next order of business is cloud upkeep. That is just as crucial as the transition, so make sure all bases are covered at all times.It is crucial to ensure that data is optimized, secure, and easily retrievable after migration. Perform real-time monitoring to keep track of changes in critical infrastructure and anticipate workload contentions.Furthermore, assess the security of data at rest to ensure you are in compliance with laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Up in the Cloud

With careful study and planning, it becomes easier to make informed choices. Such applies to cloud migration, which is undeniably one of the most viable business strategies you can adopt now.

However, if you expect the best possible result from the transition, it pays to avoid cutting corners. Everything must be accounted for. That applies to potential challenges.

For instance, your software asset management solution must remain foolproof.

Remember that even after cloud migration, you will still employ software that requires licensing and supervision. Failure to carry out those functions might get your business in trouble in more ways than one.

Get up in the cloud without your business floating up in the air. Reach out to Open iT for your security. You may schedule a demo to learn IT asset management solutions at your disposal.

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