The key to a successful Microsoft® Azure Cloud Transformation

The allure of public cloud has drawn organizations to Microsoft® Azure, where they can move workloads to an environment with instant scalability and have access to advanced tools and controls. However, like any cloud transformation, the move to Azure can introduce new challenges to organizations that have traditionally run their workloads on-premise.

One of the biggest challenges of migrating to Azure is cost savings. If an organization doesn’t begin their cloud transformation correctly, it can end up being in a losing battle where they spend more money or slow themselves down.

Now, applications can be easily migrated from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’, but every organization needs to know that hardware in a data center is installed with the idea that it will be there for at least five years. As such, it is not sized for the application.

During those five years, an organization’s application will get larger and will require regular updates and maintenance. Similarly, the data it accumulates will also expand. Organizations that fail to prepare for this can expect to see up to a 10% - 20% increase in cost to run the application.

The key thing to keep in mind is: when it comes to the cloud, financial practices are equally important to both IT and business practices. When an organization utilizes all three practices, they can realize a successful cloud transformation to Azure, because they will not only migrate, they will also modernize.

No matter the size of the application, it can touch data sources at every inch of an organization, which is why the modernization effort must be thorough. An organization needs to look at data structures and servers, application layers, web front-ends, and all of the strings that tie an application’s pieces together. So they can best determine the most cost-effective way to reorganize every piece in the new Azure environment.

A strategic cloud roadmap can ensure cost-effectiveness

Conversely, costs can add up for organizations that begin their cloud transformation journey without first having a thorough plan.

For example, let’s say ‘Organization A’ migrates an application to Azure from their on-premise environment without taking into account all of the ties that are attached to the application. If they are not thorough in the process, there’s a high chance that the application that they move would still be linked to a data source that is on-premise. What will happen from there is that every time that application on Azure calls out to the data source that is on-premise, it incurs additional costs for Organization A.

If left unchecked, Organization A could end up paying thousands of dollars more, as they will be charged for every megabyte and gigabyte of RAM that is being used.

So the challenge here is getting Organization A, as well as other companies that are looking to migrate to the cloud, is that it requires an effective enterprise cloud strategy to ensure a seamless move.

At NTT, we guide organizations through the cloud transformation process so they can avoid challenges and create a cloud environment that works best for them.

With Azure, these organizations gain resources that are easy to deploy, as well as the flexibility to scale up and down as the business requires. Contact us today to discuss your cloud journey to Microsoft® Azure.