A CIO's guide to enterprise cloud migration
Editor's note
It's understandable why so many companies want to migrate to the cloud. With the prospect of avoiding hardware costs, eliminating software maintenance, increasing the scalability and performance of applications, and enjoying the cloud's economies of scale, making the change seems like a no-brainer.
A poorly planned and implemented migration, however, can put a serious dent in the cloud business case. With that in mind, CIOs need to address a number of questions to ensure a smooth migration:
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Which enterprise cloud migration strategy is right for your organization, if any?
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Which applications are suitable for the cloud and which aren't?
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Do you have the appropriate tools to aid in migration efforts and cut back on expensive manual tasks?
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What types of computing workloads will work best in which specific types of clouds?
In this CIO Essential Guide, we'll address these questions by exploring the intricacies of cloud migration and suggesting best practices for getting the job done.
This Essential Guide on enterprise cloud migration is designed to give IT leaders strategic management and decision-making advice on timely topics.
1 Picking the proper cloud approach
The first step in enterprise cloud migration is deciding what strategy is right for your organization. Whether you choose the lift-and-shift model, rearchitecting model and/or a hybrid cloud design, knowing your options and business needs is critical to cloud success. This section highlights top cloud migration approaches and helps you determine what should and shouldn't run on the cloud.
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CIOs must determine fate of legacy systems
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Business drivers, CIO understanding influence cloud economics
Don't expect any hard-and-fast formulas when migrating to the cloud. In this feature, IT professionals discuss cloud economics and highlight challenges and considerations, including the impact of business drivers, customer perception and CIO understanding. Read Now
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Cloud economics subject to business drivers, customer perception
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2Getting familiar with the cloud environment
In order to reap the rewards of the cloud, CIOs need to have a deep understanding of the complexities of cloud migration and integration. This section runs down need-to-know elements of enterprise cloud migration, including best practices and common pitfalls to avoid.
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For CIOs, Office 365 and hybrid cloud remain top concerns
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Avoid these common cloud application migration hitches
Cloud application migration is a daunting process, but it doesn't have to be, according to experts. With preparation and forethought, and this advice from IT pros, you can make your cloud migration as cheap and painless as possible. Read Now
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Hybrid strategies allow CIOs to embrace cloud, future-proof the data center
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The CIO challenge of integrating a hybrid infrastructure
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Enterprise cloud migration: Tools and tips for application 'cloudification'
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Cloud-to-cloud migration difficulties alleviated by automation
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3Crafting the perfect cloud contract
Equally important to the success of your cloud migration is constructing a sound cloud contract from the onset. There are a lot of things to consider before signing on the dotted line, so use the articles in this section to help you avoid contractual hiccups and ensure your cloud agreement is up to snuff.
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The checklist: Six legal issues to consider when developing a cloud contract
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Get maximum return on your cloud service investment
The business benefits of cloud services are closely tied to an organization's unique, data-specific demands and constraints. This feature offers expert advice on how to analyze business value drivers, use cloud monitoring tools and even garner advice from peers to maximize cloud service investment. Read Now
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Before agreeing to a cloud contract, do your governance homework
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