Cloud Migration

Cloud migration is usually viewed as the next big step for organisations that already have unified communication (UC) and contact centre (CC). When planning the migration for one or both of these services, enterprises have to understand the financial and operational costs, but also the improved capabilities that it will provide such as AI, analytics and machine learning.

Moving to the cloud gives organisations a great opportunity to evaluate their current network and workforce. It might require staff reduction or responsibility relocation as staff will be needed for cloud service monitoring and cost management. 

With staffing opportunities also come challenges such as: 

• Training

• Security 

• Automation 

• Compliance 

• Modified networks 

Like every change in business, cloud migration is not a quick or easy project, it comes with its challenges and obstacles and for an organisation to reach the finish line it will have to focus on the future benefits rather than the work along the way. 

Don’t set yourself for failure before you even start by rushing into the cloud. First and most important is to audit your current infrastructure. You can start the process by contacting your service provider and getting as much information as possible. Your cloud service provider should visit your site several times during the preparation period and give a few presentations on the best ways to assess your current architecture. That will provide a better understanding of the current system and allow you to prepare better for any challenges that it may cause during the migration. 

Each organisation is unique so the migration process will also be unique to each. You can choose to use different vendors for UC and CC, transfer all your communications to cloud or go hybrid, but there are four main options you can choose from: 

• Re-host everything you own and shift it to the cloud

• Reinstall to create and deploy workload and freshly install UC and CC

• Refactor involves cost of performance optimization 

• Redevelop the existing code

It is crucial to ensure disaster recovery, data back up and network security plans since you’re moving data as well as applications. 

 After the migration is done it still requires constant upkeeping from the cloud service provider as well as the organisation. These may include:

• Routine maintenance 

• Incident management

• Data backup

• Ability for remote monitoring 

• Virus and spam protection 

• SLA compliance 

Also, automation capabilities for management tasks should be evaluated in phase one, but used consistently in phase three. Take advantage of outsourcing the services and use the reporting capabilities to ensure your operational goals are being met. Keep collecting information from the cloud service to prevent incidents before they even happen.

Contact Welltel to find out more about cloud migration options and how it can benefit your business