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How to Prepare for a Cloud Server Migration

The promise of cloud computing is to reduce the cost of IT infrastructure assets and processes through decreased operational expenses stemming from the Cloud’s ability to allow organizations to purchase only the resources that are needed, when they are needed. Large enterprise software applications are faced with stringent requirements related to performance, delay, and service uptimes. Despite the significant interest of large enterprises in moving their applications into the cloud, the procedure raises a major challenge and questions related to application performance in the Cloud, response times, and the privacy laws around data in the Cloud.

This is not our first discussion related to server migration challenges. In my previous article (http://bit.ly/LkvhIP), I concluded that migrating to the Cloud may seem hard, but options are available to CIOs/CTOs that makes this process easier and more efficient. Migrating existing physical and virtual workloads into clouds can be complex and time-consuming without the right planning and preparation. Here are some steps you should consider before deciding which cloud migration procedure is the best for your enterprise:

• Analyse your internal processes and evaluate your business needs.
• Determine the partnership terms with the cloud provider.
• Perform a test of how the new technology integrates into your business by migrating an application which is not vital to your business.

Manual tools are no longer viable in terms of costs and speed, and most automated tools require technical skills, involving installing intrusive software on data center servers. The cost and complexity of manually rebuilding physical, virtual, or cloud-based servers into the Cloud can be overwhelming — averaging $5,000 per server and requiring months of development effort. And re-architecting servers into pre-configured cloud templates is not any easier.

But Cloud technologies are evolving and the C-MaaS solutions (Cloud-Migration-as-a-Service) are available.

C-MaaS tools help companies migrate their physical servers to any type of cloud stack. This is completed in a fraction of the time of a physical-to-virtual conversion. RiverMeadow (http://www.rivermeadow.com/) offers such a C-MaaS solution that migrates servers into and between clouds “as-is” with the least amount of cost and complexity, eliminating the onboarding challenges for service providers and enterprise users. The RiverMeadow cloud migration SaaS is an API-based platform designed from the ground up to automate the migration of physical, virtual, and Cloud-based servers into and between public, private, and hybrid Cloud environments. By simply providing their Cloud URL and credentials, users can instantly access all the processes necessary to automate server migrations from start-to-finish.

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