5 Steps To A Smooth Hybrid Cloud Migration With Minimal Downtime
Modern Data Center | Cloud | Compliance | Efficiency
So, you’ve decided that moving to the cloud is the right IT solution for your business. It’s a major undertaking for any organization, regardless of size.
But one of the biggest concerns business owners consistently have about adopting hybrid cloud is potential downtime: Will my business operations be disrupted? Will my employees still be able to work as usual? Will I lose any data?
So, how do you transition to a hybrid cloud with minimal disruptions to your business?
In this article, we’ll detail five key steps to adopt a hybrid cloud architecture as smoothly as possible, minimizing downtime and workflow disruptions. We’ll also explain how you can tailor the transition to your business needs.
After reading this article, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to effectively move to a hybrid cloud IT environment, allowing your business to retain control over the data and systems you want on premises while capitalizing on the versatility of hybrid cloud.
What Is A Hybrid Cloud Integration Strategy?
A hybrid cloud integration strategy is when an organization uses a combination of on-premises and cloud IT environments.
You’ll need a clear understanding of how your business operates, your industry, and any regulatory requirements for your business.
Before we dive into the best practices for migrating to a hybrid cloud architecture, let’s first explore what the differences are between public and private cloud.
Related Article: Is Hybrid Cloud The Right IT Solution for Your Business?
Public cloud:
The public cloud is used by many different organizations who want to access the seemingly endless service options and features it offers, such as storage, workflow automation, networking, security tools, customer service, file sharing, communication, data analytics, and many others.
Third-party cloud service providers such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, host these services on their platforms, usually following a pay-as-you-go pricing model.
You can pick and choose the solutions that you need from different categories such as: software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and cloud servers.
Related Article: Pros And Cons of Software as a Service (SaaS) For Businesses
Businesses are increasingly turning to cloud native and cloud-based apps that can help streamline their business operations, while boosting productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
Private cloud:
A private cloud is an isolated cloud computing environment within the public cloud that is exclusively accessed and used by your organization.
Businesses that store and handle highly sensitive information, such as controlled unclassified information (CUI), or those that have proprietary business information they need to safeguard, are more likely to use a private cloud solution.
This type of setup may be a requirement of specific federal or state cybersecurity regulations.
What Are Hybrid Cloud Adoption Best Practices? A Roadmap To Hybrid Cloud
Step 1: Assess your IT infrastructure
Before jumping in, you’ll need a clear understanding of your current IT environment.
A thorough assessment of your IT landscape as well as careful advanced planning with internal and external stakeholders will help ensure that your hybrid cloud migration can get off the ground with little or no hiccups.
- Identify and categorize your IT infrastructure, including all physical and digital devices, data, and applications.
- Determine what data and computing functions should stay on-premises versus being moved to the cloud. For example, do you want to store all of your data on a cloud platform, or do you need or want to keep some data stored in your local data center?
- Evaluate your security and compliance regulatory requirements. Do you want to use cloud native or cloud-based cybersecurity applications or are you OK with more traditional cybersecurity tools?
Step 2: Choose the right hybrid cloud model
Not all hybrid cloud solutions are the same, so determining from the start which one is right for your business is crucial to a successful integration within your existing IT infrastructure.
Related Article: Which Is Better Azure Or AWS? How To Choose The Right Cloud Platform
Tailoring your cloud model to your business goals will help you avoid costly mistakes down the road.
Key considerations to keep in mind are:
- Which public and private cloud services align with your business needs?
- Which cloud service provider(s) will integrate best with your existing IT infrastructure?
Step 3: Develop a migration plan
A well-structured plan is key to a smooth transition to minimize downtime and maintain the security and integrity of your data. A solid migration plan ensures your business keeps running while the transition happens behind the scenes.
At a minimum, your plan should include:
- Setting a timeline with phased migration steps
- Identifying application dependencies to prevent disruptions
Application dependencies are the parts of your infrastructure it needs to work properly, such as software apps, systems, and databases.
These can either be on-prem within your data center on in the cloud. Managing your app dependencies is a core part of hybrid cloud because it allows businesses to switch between on-prem and cloud resources on demand.
Related Article: On-Prem To Cloud Migration Strategies: 6 Steps For A Smooth Process
- Creating a rollback plan in case any issues arise
Your rollback plan involves developing a detailed strategy that outlines what you need to do to basically undo any changes or updates you made during your hybrid cloud set up that caused configuration or other issues.
Step 4: Implement a phased-in rollout
Instead of trying to migrate all of the parts of your IT environment you plan to move to the cloud at once, plan for a strategic, methodical migration.
- Identify the applications and workloads within your infrastructure to be moved to the cloud. Start with less critical applications and workloads.
- Set up a secure and scalable cloud foundation, including preparing your data storage, workloads, networking, and computing resources. This step should also include properly disposing of or decommissioning the on-prem source.
- Transfer the data and workloads using automated tools when possible to simplify the deployment.
- Establish periodic checks during the migration process to test for performance, security, and compatibility. Make adjustments before fully transitioning core systems and workloads.
Step 5: Optimize and Manage Your Hybrid Cloud
Once the migration is complete, ongoing optimization is essential. Continually monitor and check for issues after the migration to ensure that your data is protected and that your business continues to function smoothly and securely.
This involves:
- Monitoring performance and security
- Scaling resources based on demand
- Ensuring seamless integration between cloud and on-premises systems
Is Hybrid Cloud Right for You?
In today's dynamic climate, adopting a hybrid cloud environment can help fuel your technology modernization and give you a competitive advantage.
A smooth hybrid cloud migration starts with developing the right plan.
If you’re considering adopting a hybrid cloud IT infrastructure and have more questions, or you need help with other ongoing technology challenges, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help. We can implement a cloud strategy tailored to your business needs.
