7 Steps to a Successful Azure Cloud Migration Checklist

Essential Steps to Migrate Applications To Azure Cloud

Assess Your Infrastructure.

Before you begin a migration to the Azure cloud, it’s important to thoroughly assess your current infrastructure. Take stock of your applications, hardware, and data, including any more complex elements that may require special attention. This assessment will help you better understand what needs to be migrated and determine any issues or gaps that need to be addressed before the migration can take place.

Create a Lean Roadmap.

After you have assessed your current infrastructure, it’s time to create an effective roadmap for the migration. A lean approach will help you build out the steps needed for success quickly and efficiently. To save time, it can be useful to review lessons learned from other cloud migrations within your organization or industry. Additionally, Azure cloud migration experts can provide guidance on the best strategies to achieve high-quality results.

Research Tools and Platforms for Migration.

Before you get started with your actual cloud migration, it’s vital to research the tools and platforms that can help automate, speed up, and simplify the process. There are a variety of solutions available for different types of cloud migrations, so it's essential that you do your research to find the best fit for your organization. Azure has a number of resources available you can use to get acquainted with the platform and determine which tools are suitable for your needs.

Deploy Applications By Using Automation and Orchestration Tools

To ensure a successful migration of your applications to the cloud, it is important to use both automation and orchestration tools. Automation tools can help reduce the manual effort of deploying scripts, such as those for transferring data or configuring servers. Orchestration tools like Azure Resource Manager give you control over how resources are created, modified, and managed in the cloud. These tools enable you to deploy applications into an environment with predefined parameters, allowing greater accuracy in deployments and reducing human error.

Create A Detailed Documented Architecture Diagram

As you prepare to migrate your applications to the Azure cloud, one of the first steps is to document everything. Create an architecture diagram that outlines all the components of your current system and how they are connected. By documenting your existing architecture, you can identify any areas where improvements or changes may be necessary as part of the migration process. Additionally, it will provide a road map for other stakeholders as well as make it easier to troubleshoot any issues that may arise during the migration process.

Design the Operating Model for the Cloud Environment.

Because cloud computing brings significant change to IT environments, the operating model for your new cloud environment must be designed effectively. Your design should include a plan of how the cloud will be managed and supported, as well as outlining roles and responsibilities, processes, and service-level agreements between stakeholders. Designing the operating model will ensure that your team is able to get the most value from your migration.

Make Sure Accounting and Regulatory Needs are Aligned.

Compliance requirements will vary depending on the industry and the regulations that apply to your customer’s business. Make sure you have a clear understanding of what accounting rules and regulations must be adhered to and that your cloud migration plan provides the necessary features, such as data encryption, secure passage, and secure data storage. By making sure all requirements are met upfront, you lessen the chance of problems further down the line.