5 things you need to know about migrating to the cloud

In an article for the Diya.Business portal, the founder and CEO of the Innoware company,  Dmytro Popinako,  spoke about the advantages of cloud technologies compared to on- premises, provided important advice and recommendations regarding the migration process.

Cloud technologies appeared on the horizon of the IT industry not so long ago, a little more than 10 years ago, but during this time they gained considerable popularity. Which is well deserved, because they provide many benefits in the short and long term.

Why "cloud"?

Cloud computing is the execution of information processing on remote computer resources located "somewhere on the Internet" and provided to the consumer as a service. Actually, the very term "cloud" appeared because in the first schemes that illustrated the principle of operation of such services, the Internet was shown in the form of a "cloud".

But why is business migrating massively to the cloud today? The explanation here is simple: because it is more profitable and safer. After all, local (so-called on-premises) information systems are vulnerable to external factors of influence.

A simple example: a few years ago there was a fire in one of the office centers of Kyiv. Fortunately, people were not injured, but the server equipment of one of the large companies that rented office space there was damaged. There were backup copies of the data, but the purchase of a new server and deployment of the backup system took a lot of time, which paralyzed the company's work for several days. In addition, some of the most recent data was still lost.

Another example: the attack of an unknown virus, as a result of which the database of the accounting program disappeared. As a result, the company could not submit financial reports, calculate salaries, etc. on time.

Of course, a fire or a virus attack can also occur in the cloud provider's data center. But that will no longer be your concern, but the cloud provider's. Which should take care of fire safety, and cyber protection, and physical protection, and even the construction of a disaster-resistant solution and "data redundancy" that will ensure the recovery of information without loss.

In general, migration to the "cloud" provides the following advantages:

1. Increased security: physical protection of data, the ability to manage and protect remotely, as well as the creation of backup copies and their recovery in critical situations.
2. Cost optimization: reduction of capital and operating costs thanks to the pay-as-you-go billing system. After all, now you can save on the maintenance of expensive equipment. Its updates, maintenance and security are guaranteed by the cloud service provider, freeing up company resources for other tasks.
3. Increasing the efficiency of processes: ready-made solutions for work that simplify a number of tasks, in particular, data storage, access to programs from anywhere, joint work on a single file.
4. Scale as needed: The ability to quickly increase or decrease the amount of resources used according to the current business needs without unnecessary costs for unused infrastructure.
5. Mobility and accessibility: the ability to access corporate resources from any location and device while complying with the company's internal data protection standards.

How can a business ensure a successful transition to the "cloud"?

But how to ensure a successful transition, minimizing losses and negative impact on business processes? This is an important question. After all, the uncertainty regarding the migration budget, the fear of the new, and even the eternal habit of IT specialists "don't touch it if it already works" can become an obstacle to making a decision. It's understandable that companies want to minimize the budget they can allocate to the transition. But it's important to understand that while migration may require a significant initial investment, it will result in significant cost savings in the long run.

So, what do you need to know when performing the migration process? We advise you to take into account the following recommendations.

• First, plan the process in detail, because this will allow you to accurately calculate the budget and prepare the necessary funds in advance, as well as avoid unnecessary costs due to process failures.
• Second, to take care of possible complications with compatibility with existing systems, programs and data in advance. Engage qualified specialists who will protect you from the risks of stopping the operation of the enterprise for this period. Focus on your own business, and delegate the planning and implementation of the migration to a professional team.
• Third, predict the psychological consequences that a change in corporate culture, work habits, etc. can lead to. Although there may not be such consequences if the transition takes place as smooth and seamless as possible. For example, if you switch from on-premises Microsoft applications to cloud-based SaaS applications from the same vendor, your employees will get used to the new work format literally in hours, not weeks. This will speed up the payback of the transition project and allow you to benefit more quickly from the introduced new capabilities.
• Fourth, in order not to overpay the cloud provider for resources consumed during periods of business activity decline, and at the same time not to expose the business to the danger of resource shortages during peak periods, analyze and pre-plan the consumption of computing resources. For example, you know that demand for computing resources increases at the end of each quarter, and decreases in the summer and after the New Year. Plan your consumption accordingly.
• And, ultimately, transform the way employees work in accordance with the new opportunities provided by cloud technologies. After migrating to the cloud, your colleagues are no longer tied to an office PC and can do their work from any place that is more convenient for them (and sometimes at any time). Thus, you can reduce your office rental costs. There is also an opportunity to use the latest technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, etc. And in the future there will be even more of them.

Many Ukrainian companies have already successfully completed the cloud migration procedure, so we invite you to the path of digital transformation.

The original article is on Action. Business.