Delphine Clavel, Product Marketing Manager
8 min read
The IT world is at a turning point and reformation has become critical for technology-powered business success. Companies need to accelerate their cloud transformation journey—and to make the most of the effort, you need a cloud migration checklist. Cloud transformation is a key concern for Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) who want to prepare their organization for digital success.
The global market for cloud applications was valued at $153.6 billion in 2023, and it is projected to reach $168.6 billion by 2025. The increased spending with every passing year shows that many organizations are realizing the value of cloud computing solutions and are making plans to migrate their IT infrastructure to the cloud.
A cloud migration checklist ensures companies can reduce overall IT costs, improve flexibility and scalability, and simplify IT operations. It outlines a list of steps that help move a company’s assets from legacy servers and hardware to a public, private, or hybrid cloud network.
As many as 56% of the organizations surveyed in HashiCorp’s State of Cloud 2023 survey reported increased spending on cloud computing last year. If you are looking to bring the cloud computing revolution to your company’s technology stack, this article is a practical guide to cloud transformation. Let’s dive in.
Set IT Free with Cloud Transformation
Cloud transformation isn’t simply about adopting new technology because it has novelty value. Migrating to the cloud has real business value for companies as well. Legacy applications like on-premise servers and third-party hardware require a lot of hands-on management by IT teams. Cloud solutions are managed by the service providers, freeing IT workers to focus on other, more essential performance areas.
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Cloud computing can replace on-premises IT infrastructure entirely or work with them as part of a hybrid solution. Depending on the approach you adopt, your cloud transformation strategy will involve one of the following three approaches:
- Re-Host: Also known as a “lift and shift” operation, re-hosting involves shifting an application or data from an on-premise server to a cloud service.
- Re-Platform: In this approach, you will migrate all your applications to a new, cloud-based operating system (OS), which leads to a reduction in operational costs.
- Re-Factor: This method is used when a company is reconfiguring components of its applications to meet updated standards and security needs.
Apart from migrating legacy systems to cloud infrastructure, your company could also attempt a cloud-to-cloud transfer or move data from the cloud back to a private server in a reverse-cloud migration.
A Practical Guide to Cloud Migration
Migrating your IT infrastructure to the cloud is a sound business decision, but it comes with its own set of challenges. Preparing for these challenges and having solutions ready is essential before you begin your digital transformation journey. Here are some obstacles you might encounter and how to plan for them in your cloud transformation strategy.
- Initial Costs: Cloud migration promises better returns over time, but switching to cloud-based networks costs money in the short term. When planning a cloud migration, it’s essential to chart out cost estimates and budget accordingly.
- Security and Compliance Considerations: The security features in cloud services are programmed by the developers themselves. Every cloud service offers different security features, and it is up to the CTO to select one where the features are compliant with industry-specific regulations.
- Employee Training and Readiness: As with any new tech solution, cloud computing requires skilled workers to be effective. However, 42% of organizations surveyed by Accenture stated there was a lack of cloud skills within their workforce. Employee skill-building and training exercises are needed to ensure your organization is ready to migrate to the cloud.
- Business Downtime: The greater the scale of the cloud transformation you are planning, the longer your business downtime will be. If you are planning a large-scale cloud migration, consider completing the exercise in stages to minimize the time your business is offline.
Why Migrate Your Applications to the Cloud?
Cloud migration makes good business sense, especially for companies that deal with massive volumes of data or have a global customer base. There’s a specialized cloud migration for every business use case, and you will need to research the options available to find the right one for your organization.
Cloud-based IT infrastructure modernizes your business. A successful cloud transformation will have the following benefits:
- Lower Costs: After initial expenses of migrating to the cloud, companies start to see savings in maintenance costs compared to the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of legacy tech.
- Enhanced Security: Cloud solutions also have built-in security tools that ensure the protection of your organization’s digital assets. Also, cloud providers regularly update their security protocols through patches, keeping the protections up to date.
- Easier Data Recovery: Accidents or hardware failure could lead to the loss of valuable data if you still rely on physical servers. Cloud platforms ensure that your data can be accessed from multiple locations, and many providers offer backup and recovery features to protect your data.
- Flexible, Scalable IT Solutions: Most cloud providers offer a subscription based on your usage patterns. This means you only pay for what you use, and if you require more computing resources, then you can upgrade to a more befitting plan.
- Simplified IT Management: The ultimate benefit of cloud transformation is how it enables IT teams to save time and streamline IT management processes.
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What Does Cloud Transformation Mean?
Cloud transformation involves streamlining your business by moving your data and applications to the cloud. It is a powerful tool to grow your business and make it resilient to the evolving digital landscape.
Cloud computing gives companies access to scalable data storage services and simplifies IT management. This, in turn, allows teams to focus more on innovation and effecting positive transformation rather than spending their energies on management and upkeep of on-site resources.
Elevate Your Cloud Transformation Strategy with Print
Out of all the responsibilities an IT team handles, print management is one of the most time-consuming. From solving user problems, patching security issues, or updating print drivers, IT teams are saddled with many repetitive tasks—just to keep a company’s print operations up and running. Cloud printing software as a service (SaaS) solutions are just the tools a busy IT team needs to free up their time for more critical tasks.
📖 Read on → How SaaS Printing Helps IT to Become Business Enablers
Cloud printing frees you from the task of print management, which is a good enough reason to embrace this solution. But cloud printing can also benefit your business in many other ways. Some of those include an enhanced user experience, lower costs, better security measures, and increased business agility.
While cloud printing makes a strong case for itself, you will need to evaluate the different cloud printing SaaS solutions available to choose the right one for your business. The key considerations to keep in mind when shifting to cloud printing are:
- How the migration will impact your existing IT infrastructure
- What kind of cloud governance framework will you use
- Ways to ensure business continuity during the transition
- Deciding between private, public, or hybrid cloud hosting
- Ensuring compliance with industry standards and security measures
If you take the time to plan a cloud transformation journey for your printing systems, your IT team will be able to contribute more meaningfully to your organization’s growth.
The 2024 Cloud Migration Checklist for Your Printers
The best part about migrating your printers to the cloud in 2024 is that you can access the most cutting-edge software. YSoft SAFEQ is a cloud printing SaaS platform that automates print management, offers vendor-agnostic capabilities, and comes with robust security measures. Choosing the right platform is integral to any application to cloud migration checklist, and SAFEQ ticks all the requisite boxes.
For companies ready to transition, here's a practical guide to cloud migration.
1. Simple and Quick Migration
The timeframe is a major concern in any cloud migration. How long the migration will take should be one of the first questions you ask when deciding which platform to adopt for your printing needs. YSoft SAFEQ is a convenient solution that allows you to efficiently transport your entire print infrastructure to the cloud as soon as you’re ready.
2. Pre-Defined Migration Goals and Teams
Before migrating to the cloud, you need to clearly define the reasons for the shift. This means communicating your IT goals to all key stakeholders throughout the organization before starting cloud transformation. Having some guiding principles about your approach to cloud infrastructure is also essential. Will it be cloud-first, multi-cloud, cloud-native, or some other approach?
3. Application Suitability
Trading your legacy applications for cloud-based ones will be a major shift for the whole organization. As the CTO or CIO, your goal should be to ensure that the solution you choose works well for the business through functional performance testing.
The following points are indicators that a given solution is ready to serve as your cloud environment.
4. Zero Reliance on Local Infrastructure
Serverless printing is just one of the many benefits of cloud technology. Serverless computing is cost-efficient, and scalable, and frees you from the burden of managing server infrastructure. Without physical servers, SAFEQ Cloud lets you print from anywhere, perfect for remote or hybrid working arrangements.
5. Service Offering and Pricing
As with any other SaaS solution, cloud printing requires you to only pay a subscription fee based solely on your usage. Ensure you compare the prices of a few SaaS providers before making a final decision. With YSoft SAFEQ, you only pay for the cloud resources that you consume, making it a cost-effective option.
6. Device Agnostic (Devices and Printers)
The modern office is a multi-vendor environment. Any cloud printing solution you choose must be device agnostic. That means it needs to be able to execute print commands from multiple devices regardless of their vendor (brand) and make.
7. Easily Cloud-Powered or Cloud-Connected
During your cloud adoption planning, you must determine if you are looking for a native our enabled approach. Whatever you choose, simplicity should be paramount. Perform a compatibility check to see if your SaaS solution can seamlessly connect to your existing print management system. Also, ensure your upgraded IT infrastructure supports the new cloud application, whether it’s cloud centric or cloud enabled.
8. Tenancy Options and Deployment Models
Have a clear vision of the kind of cloud network you are going to use. Choosing between public, private, and hybrid cloud networks will influence how your new print solution functions. With the SAFEQ platform, customers can choose the type of cloud deployment that best suits their needs—and upgrade their solution as their needs evolve.
9. Preventative Security Protocols
No print solution will work if it leaves your data and documents unprotected. The best solution to stay protected in a cloud infrastructure is to leverage solutions built on zero-trust environments.
These are regularly enhanced to maximize the security mechanisms in place, keeping your users and data safe. Additionally, you should consider opting for a solution provider who conducts regular penetration tests and vulnerability scanning, to ensure the security of your systems is maintained proactively.
10. Authentication and Identity Control
A comprehensive cloud printing solution must work securely across the entire IT environment and ensure data doesn’t get into the wrong hands. That means every user needs access to secure release printing solutions, where they can pick up their jobs from any device or printer in their environment, but only after authenticating themselves.
11. Suitable for Hybrid Workforces
Do you conduct business across multiple locations? Is your workforce remote? If yes, you need a cloud print solution that supports working on the go. The ability to send print commands from one location and execute them in another is one of the biggest perks of switching to cloud printing—especially if the solution is location-aware and doesn’t give you a list of unavailable printers.
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12. Easy Traffic and Workloads Switchover
When choosing a cloud printing solution, pick one that lets you easily switch your print operations and traffic from your old on-premises product to your new cloud service. The more streamlined this aspect is, the less downtime your business will experience.
FAQs on Cloud Transformation
Q1) What are the key considerations for cloud transformation?
When starting a cloud migration process, you need to consider how the transformation will affect your existing IT infrastructure. Other considerations include the governance framework you will require to create, hosting solutions, complying with regulations, and ensuring business continuity.
Q2) What are the key success factors in cloud transformation?
When migrating to the cloud, success leads to tangible benefits for a business. The key factors for success in cloud transformation are:
- Clearly defined goals and metrics
- A thorough assessment of existing capabilities
- The right choice of cloud platform and service provider
- Communicating the cloud strategy to all stakeholders
- Continuous iterations to achieve better results
Q3) What are the three main phases of cloud migration?
Cloud migration can be complex, so it is best to plan it out in phases. The three main phases of every cloud migration are:
- Planning: A cloud migration assessment checklist will help you define your goals for shifting to the cloud. Here, you select and outline the data and applications you want to transfer.
- Mid-Shift: While your cloud migration is underway, you will need to troubleshoot any problems that crop up with your earliest batches of test users.
- Go-Live: This is the point where all employees are now using the cloud platform. IT teams need to be vigilant to manage any user issues and track the platform’s performance through previously decided metrics.
Final Points
By following this application migration to cloud checklist above, you can simplify your company’s cloud transformation endeavors.
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If you want to move your print to the cloud and take advantage of future-proof cloud capabilities, then book a demo of SAFEQ Cloud. The free demo shows you how cloud transformation can benefit your company.
