Cloud Migration 101: Four Ways to Get it Right

"By 2019, more than 30 percent of the 100 largest vendors' new software investments will have shifted from cloud-first to cloud-only." Gartner

The cloud offers organizations of every shape and size a wide range of benefits and flexibility in capabilities and budget, so it’s no surprise that organizations continue making plans to move to the cloud. Moving your data and IT infrastructure to a new environment is a huge endeavor, no matter how you look at it. However, if you ask the right questions, use the right solution, and plan your method of attack, you can make your move to the cloud as seamless and pain-free as you want it to be. If you’re ready to make the transition, here are few things that you should first consider.

Related Reading: What is Cloud Integration

1. Classify Your Data

Data classification is critical when evaluating a cloud infrastructure.

Take a deep dive into the different data types your organization handles and identify what it’s used for, who needs access, how much control is required, and the amount of latency manageable for all important aspects. Through this methodology of evaluation and classification of data, it will be a lot easier to identify potential issues or opportunities before moving your data to the cloud.

You may even find that you are more comfortable keeping your most sensitive data managed on-premises. At the same time, many cloud solutions have an array of security tools that are sufficient to safeguard the data you are considering storing, accessing, and sharing via the cloud.

After your auditing and classifying your data, it will become more apparent if you should move some or all of your data and IT infrastructure to the cloud.

2. Evaluate Business Needs in Conjunction with IT Infrastructure Requirements

While your business needs will require you to move payroll or financial data within a specific timeframe, your IT infrastructure needs will require that you protect that data within specific guidelines and compliance regulations. You must find a solution that can support both requirements.

For example, if your organization is a major corporation moving financial data between a parent company, its retail stores, and financial institution, then it’s likely your company will face extremely strict compliance mandates. That may impact the kind of cloud environments you establish, as well as the safeguards, permissions and security put in place.

When you’re evaluating a cloud solution or a cloud provider, you want to make sure that your security and compliance policies and procedures are aligned. The right solution will meet your budgetary, security, or compliance needs. Identify those needs, and be sure that the solution(s) you’re evaluating support your goals and priorities.

Does the solution simplify the process of meeting and maintaining your security and compliance requirements? There are easy ways of determining if a solution can accomplish these goals for you.

3. Manage Data with a Managed File Transfer (MFT) Solution

Whether you are moving all or some of your data and IT infrastructure to the cloud, a MFT solution keeps you in control. Your data and IT infrastructure is safe through the preventative data security capabilities provided through a MFT solution. At the same time, the overall efficiency of your IT infrastructure can operate at an ideal level. These are all crucial aspects when it comes down to managing your data before, during, and after a migration to the cloud.

A solution that many know by three letters, packs a powerful solution, helping organizations manage their data proactively with security, efficiency, and compliance top of mind.

A MFT solution can offer automation tools to keep business-critical workflows moving, segment users into groups to prevent shadow IT and control data access, auditing and reporting features, a centralized platform to manage the consolidation or migration of your data and IT infrastructure—on-premises, in the cloud, or both.

4. Plan for Integration

60% of CFOs cite data integration as the primary technology hurdle standing in the way of gaining actionable information for reports, necessitating manual data integration that eats up time and leads to inaccuracies. (CPA Practice Advisor)

With the right solution, previously disparate applications can work together and communicate more effectively, and with operational visibility when moving to the cloud. In the very nature of disparate applications, administrators lack a unified platform to monitor for any potential security or productivity vulnerabilities. When you have technologies that don’t mesh, you can often spend more time and money just trying to resolve preventable problems.

With an effective data integration strategy not only will you see your systems operate more efficiently, but you will also find that you gain full visibility—which puts you in the driver’s seat with more control over your data. Make sure to review the opportunities for integration when evaluating any cloud-based service. 

Globalscape helps organizations protect their sensitive data and IT infrastructure in the most transparent and preventative way.

Get it Right with Globalscape

Enhanced File Transfer™ (EFT™) is Globalscape’s award-winning MFT platform that was designed to manage data transparently, efficiently, and within the parameters of control and accessibility that you require—in the cloud, on-premises, or both.

EFT provides enterprise-level security for collaboration with business partners, customers, and employees, while automating the integration of back-end systems.

Built-in regulatory compliance, governance, and visibility controls help keep your data safe, while outstanding performance and scalability help boost operational efficiency and maintain business continuity. Administration is easy, yet granular enough for complete control of your file transfer system.

With EFT, you can

• Use industry-standard secure protocols to secure your file transfers
• Monitor file movement and user activities on your network
• Create a multi-layered security solution for data storage and retrieval, authentication, and firewall traversal with Globalscape DMZ Gateway®
• Use malware and IDP tools to prevent malware from entering the network and prevent sensitive data from leaving the network
• Use data wiping to thoroughly delete data
• Encrypt stored data
• Securely access your data on any device without the cloud
• Merge or replace legacy and disparate file transfer systems
• Automate workflows and integrate systems

Data is a hot commodity. Take every precaution possible to protect it before you make the commitment to entrust your data to a new solution.

If you’re ready to move your data to the cloud and beyond, call one of our solutions specialists today!

Cloud Resources

Legacy IT infrastructures often lead to higher costs from security vulnerabilities, process interruptions, or system unreliability and unavailability. Making a move to the cloud can empower organizations to accomplish much more with less. How can you ensure that this shift goes smoothly?

In this webinar, learn more about:

• 3 signs that it's time to consider moving IT infrastructure to the cloud
• 3 critical steps to a smooth migration 
• 3 ways to protect your sensitive data in the cloud