What questions should you ask before moving to the cloud?
1. How long will cloud migration take? Each business's cloud migration timeline is unique but should be plotted and measured against industry benchmarks to gauge progress and success.
2. How will cloud migration affect stakeholders? Cloud migration can impact your IT team, employees and even customers. Even though cloud solutions typically are "easier," there's still a learning curve for IT staff and users. Set expectations for possible downtime and plan for worst-case scenarios.
3. What is your disaster recovery strategy? Every cloud migration should start with a comprehensive disaster recovery plan anticipating a cybersecurity event or provider downtime.
4. What security and compliance issues will this migration address? Cloud solutions, especially those paired with outside management and monitoring, can improve data protection and access control to reduce risk.
5. What data will reside in the cloud? The short answer is not all data will live in the cloud. Data should be categorized as public, restricted, and confidential. Then it should be stored and accessed accordingly.
6. What are the initial and long-term cost benefits of cloud migration? Cloud migration is cost-efficient, but it's not without a price. Cost-benefit analysis can provide insights into what will be used, how much usage costs, and how much more investment is needed to realize the benefits.
7. Do you have to do all of this in-house? No, you don't have to migrate to the cloud alone. Cloud and managed service providers have the expertise and skills to navigate and manage the migration process for and with you.
Migrating to the cloud offers your business many potential benefits, provided that you approach the move with proper preparation and expectations. Partnering with a managed services provider can help you to ask the right questions, eliminate some pain points and establish a foundation for success.
