Cloud Migration Strategy for the Enterprise

06.26.2017

Moving to the Cloud: An Enterprise Cloud Migration Strategy

These days it’s more difficult than not to find an enterprise without cloud storage, a cloud migration strategy, or plans to move to the cloud. But in the 1960s, cloud computing, accessing and storing data over the internet was just a concept. As technology evolved, cloud computing was born and slowly adopted by organizations. Despite concerns about security and monitoring external resources, more and more organizations began planning to move to the cloud.

Today, cloud solutions are more secure and user-friendly than ever, and recognition is growing. In fact, 50% of companies recognize the need for cloud solutions.

Unfortunately, cloud migrations can be difficult, especially for businesses without a file-sharing strategy. Enterprises with large numbers of files can lose valuable time, and by extension, money. Add that on the possibility of slow file transfers or lost metadata, and it could get messy.

Here’s what you need to know about your off-premises options, and how to prepare to move to the cloud:

Benefits of Moving to the Cloud

Although some enterprises may find moving to the cloud tricky, there are many cloud storage benefits. Unlike on-premises systems, the cloud does not require an investment for hardware or maintenance. Rather, the provider typically handles most of the maintenance and software updates.

Additionally, one can build and scale cloud storage as quickly as needed. This allows enterprises to adapt more rapidly than on on-premises platforms and getting rid of additional maintenance costs. Cloud storage also has the benefit easy employee collaboration through services like enterprise file sync and share (EFSS).

Cloud Migration Strategy for Enterprises with DryvIQ

Hybrid Cloud Migration Strategy: Finding the Middle Ground

Although cloud storage is beneficial, some businesses are unwilling or unable to completely abandon their on-premises storage solution. Much of this has to do with the amount of time and effort it would take to dismantle existing systems. And especially if there are integrations with line-of-business systems. Some enterprises may also have difficulty adhering to security compliance mandates without critically important on-premises storage.

To bridge this gap, enterprises are increasingly considering a hybrid cloud-on-prem environment. This combination of strategies marries the two solutions as part of their migration strategy. Companies can use their existing on-premises platform to keep integrated business systems intact. And therefore easily meeting security and compliance requirements.

At the same time, organizations can use a hybrid cloud strategy to let employees easily access and share files. But this solution is only suitable for companies that require integration with enterprise content management (ECM), about 58%. ECM in the cloud gives enterprises a holistic approach to content management. The becomes especially imperative as providers add new integrations to adapt to user needs.

Hybrid Cloud Migration Strategy for Enterprises with DryvIQ

Moving Your Infrastructure to the Cloud or Creating a Hybrid Cloud

Four Common Problems during Cloud File Migration

The best way to avoid potential cloud migration problems is to prepare a strategy for them. Organizations needing hybrid cloud or integrating ECMs should learn these four common problems while planning their cloud migration strategy:

  1. Migrations can strip files of permissions and metadata during the move, complicating file usage for end users
  2. Cloud migrations that can take weeks, especially for enterprise-level data loads
  3. Damaging integrations to existing systems
  4. Lack of job monitoring for IT, making progress unclear and oversight difficult

Although there are different file migration solutions available, middleware is your best bet when implementing a hybrid cloud or integrations. Middleware technology bridges dissimilar platforms and can create your hybrid environment for a smoother transition to the cloud. You can then sync and share data across platforms for easy backup and collaboration. Providers like DryvIQ make it easy for IT departments to implement the software, tightly integrate your platforms, and plan your cloud file migration strategy.

For more information on how to plan your enterprise cloud migration strategy, download our white paper.

Krystal Elliott
Krystal Elliott