moving to cloud a checklist of top tips to help you migrate to the cloud © dr pete technology...
TRANSCRIPT
www,drpete.co.uk
Moving to cloud? A checklist
Key steps to help your move be a success
Paul McCormack & Roelof IballDrPete Technology Experts, London, UK
www,drpete.co.uk
1 Choose the right cloud model.
2 Choose the right hosting cloud (private, public or hybrid). Factor in security at the start - don’t try to add it later.
3 Understand the benefits.
4 Understand the setup and ESPECIALLY exit costs.
5 Understand your assumptions - ensure they are realistic.
6 Ensure hosting is technically practical.
7 Understand the security risks.
8 Non-technical considerations e.g. Data protection and retention.
9 Manage your cloud vendor.
Key steps for moving to cloud
www,drpete.co.uk
There are three main types of cloud model. There are overlaps between them and some platforms straddle two of the standard definitions, but in brief:
1. Cloud models
Ease of use
Fewer providers - less choice
www,drpete.co.uk
2. Hosting cloud - Public, Private or hybrid?
Public cloud
www,drpete.co.uk
● Centralised applications.
● Fewer servers, apps and support services - reduced costs.
● Easier to outsource application provision.
● Elasticity: The infrastructure can expand and contract automatically.
● On-demand: Service is consumed as and when required.
● Usage-based metering.
● Simple management.
● Reduced energy usage by utilising highly efficient vendors.
Cloud is so much more than saving money - it is about facilitating remote access for staff and third parties, BYOD, rationalising applications and IT services, increasing resilience and improving DR capabilities.
3. Understand the benefits
www,drpete.co.uk
When selecting a vendor, be sure to understand additional costs that may be added to the advertised hosting costs, such as:
● Internet / internal bandwidth per virtual machine each month.
● Transaction (IOPS) per month.
● Backup frequency & data retention.
● Data recovery incidents per month.
● Security setup costs.
● Server migration costs (engineering and transfer).
● Server support (patching etc).
● Setup & exit fees may be applicable and will vary between vendors.
4. Understand setup and exit costs
www,drpete.co.uk
To make progress, you may have to make assumptions - ensure these are recorded and circulated to make sure everyone understands them.
Examples of assumptions you might need to make:
● Current costs.
● Transfer of licenses cross borders is feasible and cost effective.
● Performance of hosted servers will be comparable.
● Volumes of data transfer.
5. Understand your assumptions
www,drpete.co.uk
6. Ensure external hosting is technically practical
There will be technical hurdles to overcome such as:
● Integration with existing systems e.g. database servers or manufacturing systems.
● Ensuring adequate bandwidth, backup/ failover and latency to provide an acceptable service.
● Authentication with Active Directory.
● Prepare your organisation to accept occasional maintenance downtime.
● Use WAN acceleration to improve performance.
www,drpete.co.uk
7. Understand the security risks
● Encrypt data sent to/from the cloud.
● Identify & mitigate vulnerabilities.
● Use a proof of concept pilot first
● Consider two factor authentication
● Create and enforce a security policy.
● Educate and refresh staff regularly on behaviours impacting security.
www,drpete.co.uk
8. Non-technical considerations
There may be non-technical compliance limitations on hosting:
● Data Protection - Legal requirements to store data “in-country”.
● Internal data policies e.g. Following the US NSA revelations, many organisations are wary of US hosting & vendors; where is data stored and who has access.
● Acceptable use of BYOD equipment (e.g. family members having access) and remote wipe policy implications.
www,drpete.co.uk
9. Select your cloud vendor
Your vendor should:
● Be financially stable; you should be able to terminate the contract and extract data and services in the event of insolvency.
● Provide reasonable notice of any downtime required for maintenance.
● Provide data snapshots and backup services with appropriate data retention.
● Provide compensation for any non-agreed downtime.
● Inform you of any security incidents.
● Guarantee your ownership of any hosted intellectual property (IP), to include data, emails, and email addresses/domain names.
● Negotiate your contract properly
www,drpete.co.uk
Cloud hosting will:
● Offer significant scope for cost savings in the short and longer term.
● Support application rationalisation.
● Allow server rationalisation, leading to further savings.
● Move to “IT as a service” with opex replacing capex
In Conclusion
www,drpete.co.uk
Paul McCormack
Senior Consultant
Paul is a seasoned IT professional, having served as a Head of IT for a variety of corporates. Prior to joining DrPete, Paul was an an IT Consultant advising clients of BDO LLP. He also undertook a discrete project assignment for Google.
Paul has worked in many diverse sectors, from natural resources, to property management and cryogenics, providing IT reviews, due diligence and IT project management services.
Roelof Iball Senior Consultant
Roelof is a seasoned IT professional, corporate (BP, Ernst & Young, Rentokil Initial, BDO) IT problem solver, experienced across a range of industries encompassing both mid-size and enterprise organisations.
Reporting on IT investment and performance issues for private equity and corporate finance due diligence.
About the authors
www,drpete.co.uk
Some of our clients
www,drpete.co.uk
Our services
DrPete Technology Experts Consulting service in the following technology areas:
www,drpete.co.uk
We use the latest cloud apps and technology paradigms.
DrPete Technology Experts: Thought leadership
We are members of the European Cloud Industry body - Eurocloud, where we have presented.
Our firm is regularly featured as thought leaders. we have been featured in broadsheets such as the Financial Times, the Guardian, and leading portals like the Huffington Post.
We have regular columns in CloudPro and Techradar
