Seven steps to successfully migrate your enterprise data to the cloud

Amidst a challenging economic climate many businesses are unsurprisingly reviewing their spending, with research from the Institute of Directors finding most businesses are unlikely to increase investment over the next 12 months.

One area currently bucking this trend is the cloud. Research shows almost half of tech and business leaders are increasing investment in cloud-based products and services, and a third of them plan to migrate their legacy enterprise software and on-premises workloads to the cloud.

Data Migration can't be an afterthought

Operating in the cloud provides benefits like increased agility, scalability and faster adoption of new apps. However, before businesses can reap the rewards, they need to migrate all their relevant data -- which is easier said than done.

It would be dangerous to treat data migration as an afterthought: it can be a complex operation, particularly when a company’s IT infrastructure includes bespoke in-house legacy systems. And making a mistake could cause delays that could delay migration projects or even pose security risks. Here are seven steps that can help businesses successfully migrate their data to the cloud while preserving data integrity, security measures, and operational efficiency.

1. Create a data migration plan

Organizations need to begin with a central plan for their data migration process to mitigate the risks associated with data loss and security breaches. At the center of this plan, they need to choose one of two common migration methods. The first option is to connect on-premises and cloud databases with a bi-directional syncing mechanism, only deleting the database once users have access to the cloud and have tested this new environment. Alternatively, they could run a one-way synchronization from an on-premises database to a cloud-based one, only allowing users to access the on-premises version during the migration process. If they want to perform this process in house, it is recommended to leverage the services of a cloud-migration service provider to gain the intended skill set.

2. Understand existing data

Before setting off on their journey, businesses need a solid understanding of the data they must work with. Without accurately charting the scope and context of their data there’s a risk the migration process will be ineffective. Businesses can’t afford to skip this step, as failing to do so could entail code errors, force data remodeling projects and lead to needless transfers of obsolete or duplicate data.

3. Choose a preferred level of cloud integration

There are two common data integration methods. The first is shallow integration, also known as the ‘lift and shift’ method, which involves copying all data and applications from an on-premises architecture and pasting it into the cloud platform as-is. The second is deep integration, which requires decoupling resources from their original operating system and making necessary adjustments before integrating them into the cloud. Deep integration may be more expensive up-front, but in the long-run it leads to cloud-optimized resources and reduces maintenance costs.

4. Ensure staff are covering all the bases

Cloud application management and cloud data centers operate differently from local and routine virtualized resources. If organizations lack internal expertise, they should offset their knowledge gaps through bringing in contractors or partnering with IT service providers who can support and manage the end-to-end migration process. Others prefer to retrain and upskill existing staff to manage this process in-house -- this training should be completed before cloud migration gets underway.

5. Assess the migration tools available

Choosing the right tools for cloud data migration is critical to a successful transition. For example, structured, unstructured and semi-structured data each have different best-fit migration tools. It is essential to assess the tools most suitable for the kind of data held by an organization, so teams select the option most suited to the business’ needs.

6. Prioritize security and compliance

Security and compliance should be top priorities during the data migration process. It’s essential to understand the security risks and threats involved in cloud migration, while taking the necessary steps to protect data and applications. For this reason, businesses should evaluate their cloud service provider’s security measures and ensure relevant compliance requirements are met. Organizations should also ensure that sensitive data is protected via encryption while in transit and at rest throughout their migration process.

7. Set longer-term plans

Organizations must be realistic and accept that data migration is only the start of the story, rather than the end. They must be ready to continuously monitor their cloud environment to identify and resolve issues quickly, mitigating risk by creating automated backups and planning for disaster recovery. This will help reduce operational costs while also guaranteeing business continuity.

Reaping the rewards

Businesses are continuing to move to the cloud at speed, regardless of current economic conditions. For many firms, this is because it’s impractical for them to procrastinate in the face of the sheer number of benefits offered by the cloud, such as cost-effectiveness, agility and an increased ability to innovate. Regardless of whether organizations carry out their migrations in-house or draw on external expertise, it’s crucial that they develop a thorough strategy for their data migration during and after their transition.

Image credit: Oleksiy Mark / Shutterstock

Karmega Chandran is Cloud Data Practice at Hexaware.