Thanks to the rise of the cloud, there are many ideas going around about whether or not companies should transfer their data center to the cloud? Before we start to talk about this, however, for those who do not know, a data center is a facility used to house computer systems and other components used to organize, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data. So essentially, it is the brain of your company.
The cloud technology, on the other hand, is virtual servers or virtual laptops which allows your enterprise to upload all your data into this one virtual system.
Many companies today have been arguing about whether they need to transfer into the cloud or whether they should stick to the traditional data center. Companies are now utilizing server utilization in order to move their data to the cloud, this also makes it easier to transfer workloads, which would explain why many companies are shifting to this method.
VMware and Amazon Web Services have even launched a collaborative cloud service called VMware on AWS, encouraging companies to move to the cloud.
Most enterprises also choose this method to reduce their data center footprint and save cost. This method, however, does not necessarily mean that it is made for any company. If you are looking to really transfer your data to the cloud, it is key to take the right steps in doing so.
Planning
This is the part where you need to start thinking of questions regarding your existing data and application workload. Think of questions about what you are planning for the future, like do you need both cloud and resources? How do you want to segment your resources? Who do you want to access the cloud?
It is important to understand why you are transferring to the cloud and why this is more productive for your company. If roughly you have the same results with staying in the data center and moving the cloud, then why bother?
Choose your provider
Deciding from what provider you would like to build your cloud is also an important decision to make. Many technology companies today are providing cloud storage services.
Other companies like IBM, Google and Amazon are also embracing the data center cloud storage, so choose wisely.
Interconnectivity
What interconnectivity means here is to build your interconnectivity strategy, this means figuring out how to leverage existing systems in order to produce the most cost-effective method for your company.
Figure out how you want interconnections between clouds, data and application ensure the best performance.
Technicalities
In this part, you should build your cloud account, set up the network and test the security. Security is very important if you are looking to transfer your data to the cloud – as this method will still leave your data accessible towards hackers.
Ensure your environment is accessible and the people who are meant to access it will be able to do so. Also make sure it is approachable, in a sense that everything is categorized by certain functions. This will make the whole process much easier for everybody in the company.
You will also need to figure out the size of your storage and data. What is your workload like and does it require extra storage space.
Migration
This part is, unfortunately, a bit more complicated than just moving to the cloud. You will need to figure out whether you would like to rebuild your servers or clone them. If we are talking about migrating to the cloud, you would need to prepare your whole company on how the process will work, give them training and ensure there is an effective adaptation stage, as migrating will pretty much mean working with a clean slate.
In conclusion, you and your company will need to think of all these things before actually moving to the cloud. So the question of whether you should move your data center remains unanswered, as only you can answer this. Most importantly though, ensure you understand why you are moving to the cloud and what are the benefits for your company.