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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Article
Is a diversified cloud strategy right for your business?
A diversified cloud strategy can help reduce and optimize workloads, but it's important to know when and how to use it first. In this tip, learn about complexities of a diversified cloud strategy and how companies can determine whether it is the right fit for their organization. Read Now
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Article
CIOs must determine fate of legacy systems
After spending decades building up technology infrastructures, companies now need CIOs and their IT teams to decide which legacy applications and hardware systems to keep and which to replace. As CIOs already know, making the decision isn't easy. Read Now
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Article
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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Article
Cloud economics subject to business drivers, customer perception
Cloud app management is an ongoing, complex process that starts with choosing the right apps to move to the cloud. From there, monitoring them effectively is no walk in the park. Get all your cloud app management questions answered in this feature. Read Now
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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Article
For CIOs, Office 365 and hybrid cloud remain top concerns
As cloud implementation becomes a top priority for many organizations, we talked to some CIOs to see what type of projects they have on the horizon. Many said they were migrating to Office 365 in order to reduce costs, while others are turning to the hybrid cloud to ensure the security and privacy that is sometimes lacking in public options. Read Now
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Article
Hybrid strategies allow CIOs to embrace cloud, future-proof the data center
The enterprise data center is yielding to the cloud, but that doesn't mean it's dead. Hybrid strategies allow CIOs to get the best of both worlds, letting some IT stay on-premises. Read Now
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The CIO challenge of integrating a hybrid infrastructure
Integrating a hybrid environment require new tools, more manpower and a deep understanding of the business. Are CIOs up to the challenge? IT professionals weigh in and give advice to help with your company's cloud migration. Read Now
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Article
Cloud-to-cloud migration difficulties alleviated by automation
Migrating workloads from one cloud provider to another can be a pricey and tedious process. The right automation tools can make all the difference. Read Now
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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Article
The checklist: Six legal issues to consider when developing a cloud contract
Benefits of enterprise cloud computing include lower costs and increased agility, but even sophisticated IT departments are sometimes blindsided by the intricacies of striking a deal with cloud providers. Daniel Masur, a lawyer specializing in IT, provides six issues companies must consider when developing cloud contracts. Read Now
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Article
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