When properly executed, cloud migration can be a simple and straightforward process that transforms your business. As an award-winning, Microsoft Gold Partner, ActionPoint’s team is vastly experienced in helping business to migrate to the cloud.
ActionPoint’s recommended framework can be broken down as follows:
- Understand Your ‘Why’
- Define
- Plan
- Ready
- Migrate
In this article, (hopefully within 5 minutes) we will briefly expand on these five steps and show just how simple this future-defining process can be.
Step 1 – Find Your Why
Once you understand your why, it becomes much easier to gain the support of your team and your stakeholders. But why should your company choose cloud migration?
- Increase Operational Agility – The flexibility granted by the cloud better equips companies to respond to market opportunities and deal with fluctuating bandwidth demands.
- Greater Mobility – The workforce of the future is mobile and adaptive. Cloud migration facilitates this.
- Greater Security and Compliance – With Azure cloud migration, you can reap the significant security benefits of working on a Microsoft supported platform.
Step 2 – Define Your Cloud Migration Strategy
At ActionPoint, we recommend building motivation-driven strategies for undertaking cloud migration. We’ve devised a three-step process for building your cloud migration strategy.
- Find Your Motivation – Typical motivations for cloud migration include responding to critical events such as a merger or acquisition, or simply better positioning your organisation for future innovation. Different motivations will require different approaches.
- Specify Desired Outcomes – What do you want to achieve with your cloud adoption strategy? This goal should be clear and well considered.
- Develop a Business Case – To gain buy-in from stakeholders, all outcomes, opportunities and financial projections should be laid out in detail.
Step 3 – Establish a Cloud Migration Plan
This step involves digesting all information gathered from the previous two steps and turning it into an actionable plan. ActionPoint suggests a three-pronged approach. This consists of examining the current IT infrastructure. Then examining your workforce, considering how prepared your team is and what new roles are needed. Finally, deciding how to align your organisation for initial implementation.
Step 4 – Get Ready
Before executing your cloud migration plan, communication is key. You must ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page and understand what’s involved. This avoids any confusion or unrest. It is also important to consider what lies ahead. When cloud migration is successfully executed, what comes next?
Step 5 – Migrate
Having gone through steps 1 – 4, you should be well on your way to carrying out a successful cloud migration. Working with an experienced and expert IT partner throughout your preparations should make this step clear-cut.
An experienced partner, such as ActionPoint, will know what is involved and what specific areas could present challenges. An experienced partner will be able to handle all eventualities and overcome them. Initial cloud migration can be simple and straightforward, especially when you have the right IT partner on your side.
To speak to one of our team about starting your cloud migration journey, contact us here.
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