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You’ve already made the decision to migrate your workload, cutting costs and increasing efficiency with a scalable, flexible, and robust new infrastructure plan. Now it’s time to kick back and watch your company rocket into the future…or is it?
Workload migration is a big step forward for your business, but bad execution can sour the whole process. Pain points post-transition are often connected to missteps or overlooked considerations during the workload migration planning process. To make your migration really stick—and to bring about all the solutions your company dreams of—follow this guide to keep the process smooth and successful.
Go for the Goal(s)
It’s important to keep sight of your goals, pre- and post-migration. What are you hoping to change with your workload migration, and what’s the bottom line impact you’re looking to have? What are your “gaps,” and once the migration is over, are they still gaps? Keep your criteria handy so you can make informed, objective decisions on how well the individual aspects of your solution meet your company needs, and whether the execution keeps the promises made in the planning process. Remember, a migration isn’t a simple switch; it’s a complicated process that requires active (but informed) guidance.
How will your migration fit within your existing process framework? Hybrid integration solutions are often attractive for their flexibility and blending of on-site technology and cloud computing, but rather than simply refer to vague ideas of integration, know the specific ins and outs of what will change completely, stay the same or exist somewhere in-between.
Powerful change, through empowerment
The vendors you choose to work with on your migration are certainly important, but what about your existing employees? Any transition can be complicated, more so for changes that directly affect workflow. Identify transition-savvy employees in your company; they could be subject matter experts, or just eager supporters of the workload migration effort.
Empower those employees as your change “evangelists,” training them early and often and leveraging their support to help others that are slower to progress. Your evangelists can speed up the training process for your entire organization by disseminating best practices and helping to work through common snags right when they happen.
While you’re at it, an established cloud governance model codifies your structure under your post-migration system. Defined roles, including access privileges and security controls, will maintain order while you work through your migration.
Take it Slow
Plan to move your least critical or most “cloud-friendly” data and processes first. It helps to test the waters in your migration with something that is both easily tested and non-essential to workload operation. Measuring performance here can get you out in front of potential snags that could snowball into major problems later. Anticipate bottlenecks and changes in speed, and have a road map in place to guide you through. Minimizing the number of surprises your employees have is just good sense; the better your employees perceive the transition, the easier it is to get them on board with your migration.
With the right, customized plan and a steady hand, your workload migration can be a (mostly) painless process that keeps your business going while you move into the future. When well-executed, you can look forward to more efficient collaboration, robust, scalable storage and worldwide accessibility that makes everyone’s jobs easier. Follow best practices and empower your employees, then look forward to a better future, built together.
