A digital journey: migrating from on-premises to the cloud

We've all been there: You place an online order but something goes wrong. The item never arrives. Perhaps you’re waiting for delivery and get notified that it’s out of stock. Maybe there’s no order at all because your payment just won’t go through. 

These kinds of hiccups may seem to be relatively minor, isolated incidents, but not to today’s empowered consumer who expects a seamless omnichannel experience. They evaluate retailers based on every interaction. A single negative experience may cause your organization to lose the sale or, worse yet, send that customer to a competitor — never to return. 

As retailers face new demands, no phrase is more appropriate than “evolve or die.” Over the past few years, companies that were more agile and embraced new technologies vastly outperformed the “digital dawdlers” who did not. In fact, McKinsey reported that companies with more advanced digital transformation strategies had 3.3 times greater shareholder returns. It makes sense that migrating enterprise-class workloads to the cloud has become a top priority for many companies. It’s become a vital part of company-wide digital transformation.

According to a Gartner study, more than 85% of organizations will embrace a cloud-first policy by 2025. One global survey reported nearly 65% of respondents saw cost savings by moving to the cloud. Here are some of the top considerations for making the move to the cloud:

• Lower total cost of ownership 
• Ability to be more agile and innovative
• Increased scalability to handle greater resource demands
• Simplified IT infrastructure and management 
• Improved IT performance
• Short- and long-term business results
• Better response to consumer demands

Hybrid cloud

Before we explore the different cloud migration options, let’s briefly discuss the term “hybrid cloud.” This is where two or more computing environments share information and applications — which can be common among distributed enterprises such as retail organizations. When those environments are combined, a hybrid cloud strategy provides a single platform to ensure that applications work consistently at every location.

Those environments may involve two types of cloud setups:

Public: client shares/leases cloud services from the cloud provider’s virtual resources.              Private: dedicated cloud environments that operate within the client’s firewall.

Private clouds were traditionally operated with on-premises equipment. However, many organizations now run their private clouds from off-premises data centers.

No matter the setup, organizations still need a secure, high-performing fiber connection to connect to their cloud service provider. This connection can use the public internet, a private secure VPN over the internet or a private direct Ethernet connection to a cloud provider. The Ethernet connection may deliver the highest level of performance and security. That connection is essential for easy access to cloud-based storage and applications from any location on a given network. 

For organization that prefer a managed services approach, the right fiber providers can also install the necessary on-premise equipment (such as SD-WAN hardware) and work with organizations to deliver ongoing management and network security in partnership with internal IT staff. The cloud model should provide automatic system updates and allow for rapid scaling of bandwidth to meet shifting business demand.

Strategies for successful cloud migration 

Regarding cloud migration, enterprises looking to migrate to the cloud should consider which strategy best suits their own individual business requirements. There is no one-size-fits-all migration approach — each organization’s journey to the cloud is as unique as its business. The following is a brief description of each, broadly known as the ‘6 Rs’ of migration strategy:

Rehosting is shifting applications and data, as well as physical and virtual servers, from their original locations into another location.

Replatforming means moving applications to better support the cloud environment.

Repurchasing involves discontinuing existing legacy systems in favor of using a cloud-based service. This process might involve repurposing services on new platforms.

Refactoring is modifying applications to better support the cloud environment.

Retaining is a decision centered on keeping digital assets, rather than retiring them. In this case, if the asset is not compatible with the main target cloud environment, the enterprise might decide to implement a hybrid cloud strategy.

Retiring is a decision to discontinue the use of certain datasets and applications, typically when the assets no longer justify their cost. When enterprises plan a migration implementation, they assess existing assets, as well as the scope of the project. 

Choosing the right migration approach depends on the particular needs and desired outcomes of a given business. Many companies that opt for a speedy migration and short-term savings discover that their new cloud-based architecture lacks key features and is costly to manage. Having a dependable technology partner can make all the difference. Spectrum Enterprise helps clients evaluate an organization’s current architecture and IT investments as compared to future needs. Like most things in life, it’s all about finding the right balance.

How Spectrum Enterprise can help

Layered, cloud-based security services coupled with SD-WAN can protect the entirety of an IT footprint across clouds and locations. This framework can be difficult for organizations to adopt using multiple vendors and legacy networks. Because moving resources to the cloud is generally just one step in a digital transformation, a trusted solutions partner like Spectrum Enterprise can tailor a wide range of complementary services that span security, networking and connectivity to meet your exact requirements.

As an extension of your team, we have the expertise to manage (or co-manage) your network so your team can focus on strategic priorities. Spectrum Enterprise provides Cloud Security, and this solution provides CASB, zero trust network access, firewall-as-a-service functionality, and more to effectively extend corporate security practices to the cloud.

Over 80% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Spectrum Enterprise for technology solutions. See how we can help you with your cloud security concerns.  Find out more about how an organization’s cloud migration goals can be best met with the proper connectivity solution.