When migrating your business systems to take advantage of cloud computing, careful planning is needed. At Netgen, we have software experts who work on systems migrations regularly. Here are 5 steps that we follow to ensure the operation runs as smoothly as possible:
- Start with a SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats – is a great way to take stock of your current setup and determine how migrating to the cloud can help. It can also help you identify potential challenges and prepare for them.
- Prioritise which software or systems to migrate
You should now have a good idea of what you stand to gain by migrating to the cloud. The next step is to determine which software or systems to migrate, and in what order. Oftentimes, systems rely on other systems, and this needs to be taken into account to avoid errors and downtime. For example, if you are migrating your database to the cloud, any reports that pull information from it need to be updated so that they can access the data in its new location.
- Crunch the numbers
Now that you know exactly what you will be migrating, you need to find out how time the process will take. You will also need to determine how much space you need in terms of cloud storage. Both of these will factor into your plans for the actual migration.
- Plan the migration
Once you’ve done the research, now is the time to plan the actual migration. Your goal should be to minimise downtime. It’s essential to make sure your data is backed up before the migration, and that there are users available to test the data and software afterwards.
- Actively monitor
During the migration, be ready to tackle any issues that may crop up. These can have a knock-on effect and could delay the rest of the migration so they should be dealt with as soon they arise.
Get the benefits of cloud computing
If you are looking to migrate your business systems to the cloud, talk to the experts at Netgen today. We have years of experience in systems migration and can assist with each step of your migration and beyond.