Resistance to change is a natural human tendency. The fear of the unknown and the concentration, effort and resources needed to tackle change successfully often deter people and organizations from implementing real change.

Change requires buy in from all levels of an organization, a lot of planning and strong execution. Only one factor, the predictability of success, makes transformation easier to undertake. 

Thankfully, IT infrastructure “lift and shift” to the cloud is one case where a positive impact is virtually guaranteed and where the risk associated with the change is minimal.

The following are 4 uses cases where an IT infrastructure lift & shift to the cloud can bear immediate fruit.

4 uses cases for IT infrastructure lift & shift to the cloud

LIFT & SHIFT DISASTER RECOVERY TO THE CLOUD

Businesses large and small should have an IT disaster recovery plan to protect their significant IT investment. This often requires an actual physical data center where critical back-ups of IT systems exist.

The cloud offers a viable alternative for hosting standby databases for customers who do not have a disaster recovery site or who prefer not to deal with the cost or complexity of managing a remote data center.

BACKUP TO THE CLOUD

Storing database backups to the cloud serves a dual purpose. Firstly, making stored data available 24x7 on the cloud significantly reduces application downtime. Secondly having a cloud based back up of all your data is critical in the event of a disaster.

LIFT & SHIFT DEVELOPMENT & TESTING ENVIRONMENTS TO THE CLOUD

The cloud is always on giving your developers & testers 24-hour access to resources. A dev/test environment allows your teams to test, configure and reconfigure with much more flexibility. Another huge advantage of moving your dev/test environment to the cloud is the collaboration that can occur within your team through communication tools such as instant messaging.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS CODE

IT Infrastructure today needs to be elastic and scalable.

Infrastructure as a code allows you to describe a complete blueprint of a data center using a high-level configuration syntax, that can be versioned and script-automated.

There are clear benefits to capturing your infrastructure as code. Among others it brings huge improvements in the efficiency and reliability of provisioning and retiring environments.

Conclusion

The four examples above serve as proofs of concept for migrating to the cloud. Lift & shifting disaster recovery to the cloud, backing up to the cloud, migrating dev/test environments and coding your infrastructure all offer lower cost, lower risk and faster deployment.

RENAPS can help undertake your cloud migration projects, large or small. We look forward to learning more about your objectives and developing a strategy to ensure success on your journey to the cloud.