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A CIO's guide to enterprise cloud migration
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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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What's the right cloud migration strategy for your organization?
Cloud migrations are no walk in the park; there's a lot to consider. It all starts with businesses deciding between the lift-and-shift and rearchitecture models. Read Now
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Cloud migration approaches for achieving hybrid cloud success
A solid cloud computing strategy doesn't end with app migration. Enterprises looking to move toward hybrid cloud have several enterprise cloud migration approaches to consider. Achieving portability between public and private clouds becomes crucial. Read Now
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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
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.
1Getting 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
An enterprise cloud migration checklist
Cloud migration can offer a slew of benefits, including greater scalability and agility, but there's also a lot of considerations. From tools and costs to security, SearchCloudComputing runs down a list of what to consider when migrating to the cloud. Read Now
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Article
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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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
Enterprise cloud migration: Tools and tips for application 'cloudification'
Cloud migration is an arduous process that's never easy or cheap, but, luckily, many vendors offer enterprise cloud migration tools to help you 'cloudify' your apps and reap the benefits of the cloud. Read Now
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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
2Crafting 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
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Video
Before agreeing to a cloud contract, do your governance homework
The cloud has become a common solution for organizations seeking to improve information governance efficiency, but there are several data management aspects to consider before entering a cloud service agreement. In this webcast, governance expert Jeffrey Ritter explains why companies must carefully consider their specific data management and e-discovery needs before entering into a cloud service agreement. Watch Now
What should be in a CIO’s IT strategic plan?
This complimentary document comprehensively details the elements of a strategic IT plan that are common across the board – from identifying technology gaps and risks to allocating IT resources and capabilities. The SearchCIO.com team has compiled its most effective, most objective, most valued feedback into this single document that’s guaranteed to help you better select, manage, and track IT projects for superior service delivery.
3Expand your enterprise cloud migration vocabulary
Get familiar with these terms related to enterprise cloud migration.
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Definition
cloud computing
Cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosted services over the internet. Read Now
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Definition
cloud provider
A cloud service provider, or CSP, is a company that offers some component of cloud computing -- typically infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software as a service (SaaS) or platform as a service (PaaS) -- to other businesses or individuals. Read Now
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Definition
cloud-to-cloud migration
Cloud-to-cloud migration (C2C) is the movement of physical or virtual machines -- along with their associated configurations, operating systems, applications and storage -- from one cloud computing provider to another. Read Now
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Definition
application migration
Application migration is the process of moving an application program from one environment to another. Examples include migration from an on-premises enterprise server to a cloud provider’s environment or from one cloud environment to another. Read Now
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Definition
service-level agreement (SLA)
A service-level agreement (SLA) is a contract that specifies what the service provider is responsible for. Read Now
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Definition
hybrid cloud
Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms. Read Now