Because cloud migration can be a turbulent time for organizations, we often see teams invest most of their resources into the immediate launch and fewer resources in a long-term plan. As such, there’s often room for organizations to develop a strategy for ongoing success and to get the greatest return on their IT investment.
At IO Integration, we help marketing and creative organizations migrate their operations onto the cloud. Compared to terrestrial, on-site servers, cloud infrastructure offers better means for teams to operate more efficiently, economically, and with greater scale. It's easy to get wrapped up in the success of your cloud launch, but the work doesn’t stop here – there’s still much to be done. Here are our top post-cloud migration tips for companies.
Tip #1: Monitoring Cloud Costs
Now that you’re officially post-cloud migration, take a peek at your receipts and expenses. Very often, there’s a distinct, noticeable difference between cloud and traditional servers: lower upfront costs.
Cloud-related costs tend to be more fluid, because they expand and contract over time with business operations. While this may be helpful for operations – cloud infrastructure grows and shrinks as necessary – fluid costs can be challenging to manage and can complicate efforts to accurately gauge future spending. As such, we strongly suggest organizations set up tools to monitor cloud-related spending.
Short of using a pen and paper, there are a host of solutions to monitor cloud-related spending. By and large, most cloud cost monitoring software offer companies greater visibility into their cloud-related operations by way of “tagging,” or attaching metadata to cloud infrastructure, enabling automation, resource tracking, and – more importantly – cost management. Note that tagging often requires strategy, rules, and practices, and can quickly become complicated. So depending on your team’s expertise and bandwidth, you may want to hire a third party to assist you. (More on that later.)
Tip #2: Integrate Cloud-based Solutions
As one might expect, there’s never been a better time to migrate to the cloud. There are simply tons, and tons of solutions, services, and benefits available in a market that’s growing every year. Just to name a few solutions, there are project management systems, media asset management, content management systems, customer relationship management, and data analytics tools. Whatever your need, there’s a solution for you.
So often, cloud-based software are marketed as “one-stop-shops” or “do anything” solutions. But at this present moment, no one solution can do everything. Because of that, organizations tend to utilize a number of software, creating what are called “tech stacks,” to support their operations. But simply cobbling together even the most sophisticated solutions does not guarantee streamlined, efficient outcomes.
That’s why our second post cloud migration tip is to integrate your software. Integrating cloud-based solutions is easier said than done. As noted elsewhere, there are a number of obstacles, namely operating on multiple public clouds, each of which operates with its own rules and practices – which can be headache-making for teams.
Here’s an example. Say a creative workflow requires an asset to travel across several different solutions, each of which manages user permissions differently. (One platform’s “admin” is another platform’s “content manager,” for example.) Some team members may find they can not easily access the asset, grinding the workflow to a halt. And in that way, integrating cloud-based solutions may necessitate setting up each software with consistent user permissions, allowing team members to freely access files no matter where they are.
Additionally, when making an initial move to the cloud, it's not uncommon for organizations to take a “lift and shift” to moving their applications in order to minimize both risk and cost. While this approach can be helpful during an initial cloud transition, it can mean that there is more work to be done post-migration in the form of re-architecting applications for horizontal scalability through the use of APIs.
Tip #3: Bring in Third-Party Support
As we alluded to earlier, putting these post-cloud migration tips into effect may require a high bar of specialized knowledge. Depending on your organization, there may not be the right expertise on staff to set up and manage a cloud cost monitoring software, for example. But instead of hiring a full-time specialist – which may stress an organization's budget – consider working with a third party to temporarily supplement your team.
Returning to the example from tip number two, just as each cloud-based solution may treat user permissions differently, the same can be said of data. Each software may generate, manage and report data differently, complicating an organization’s ability to confidently gauge KPIs and other metrics, which are the foundation of long-term success. Unlike user permissions, which are comparatively easy to modify and program, streamlining data from different solutions tends to be outside of a layperson’s skillset. But that’s where third parties shine.
Very often third-party specialists are a short-term investment that yields long-term benefits. With the right, expert contractor, organizations can tap a wealth of specialized expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. So, whether you’re setting up cloud cost monitoring, user permissions, uniform data, or tackling any other post-cloud migration optimization, there’s a third-party specialist for you.
Having a support team in place can also help address several other concerns within a cloud environment. In the case of urgent security events or sudden outages, having a dedicated specialist already in place can help save your team valuable time and money. Oftentimes, a cloud support professional will have already helped your team work through plans for security response, backup planning, and asset recovery.
Partner with IO Integration
IO Integration partners with marketing and creative organizations to set them up for long-term, post-cloud migration success. Whether you completed your migration last week or last year, reach out to IO Integration. We can join your cloud migration process at any stage, including consultation, implementation, and support. Schedule a call with one of our experts to see how our team can support your cloud journey.
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