{"id":26455,"date":"2019-04-09T13:04:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T18:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=26455"},"modified":"2022-06-13T09:49:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T13:49:35","slug":"cloud-migration-planning-start-with-the-5-ws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/cloud-migration-planning-start-with-the-5-ws\/","title":{"rendered":"Start with the 5 \u201cW\u2019s\u201d\u00a0When Cloud Migration Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

When cloud migration\u00a0planning, ask these questions in the following order: Why, What, Who, Where, and When. That gets you to the “how.”<\/h2>\n

By now, some if not most you\u00a0<\/span>should<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>be familiar with the six \u201cR\u2019s\u201d<\/span>\u00a0when discussing cloud migration<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span><\/b>emove,\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span><\/b>etain,\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span><\/b>eplatform,\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span><\/b>ehost,\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span><\/b>epurchase, and\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span><\/b>efactor<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These designations ultimately help\u00a0<\/span>you<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>determine<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and plan a\u00a0<\/span>cloud migration strategy\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>s well as<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the disposition of your on-premise assets and applications.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But, to<\/span><\/b>\u00a0get the job done<\/span><\/b>, you must be able to<\/span><\/b>\u00a0answer the five \u201cW\u2019s<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Let me explain.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure\u00a0<\/span>at some point\u00a0<\/span>in grade school\u00a0<\/span>you\u00a0<\/span>were<\/span>\u00a0taught the five W\u2019s and one \u201cH\u201d format for interrogatories:\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span><\/b>h<\/span>o<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span><\/b>hat,\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span><\/b>hen,\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span><\/b>here,\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span><\/b>h<\/span>y<\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>H<\/span><\/b>ow. The\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>How<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0falls into the six R\u2019s so we will get to that last.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All introductory meetings should begin with answering these five W\u2019s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cloud Migration Planning Questions<\/h2>\n

In cloud migration\u00a0<\/span>planning<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>here are the things\u00a0<\/span>you need to\u00a0<\/span>know and what you should be asking yourself\u00a0<\/span>before you hit the submit button on the sign-up page<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>To better explain<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0we<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re going to move those W\u2019s around a little into the following order: Why, What, Who, Where, and When.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

#1 – Why?<\/h4>\n

Why are we moving into the cloud? And more\u00a0<\/span>specifically<\/span>, why are we moving this application or server into the cloud? Maybe its been decided for you<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and your CEOCIO has adopted a cloud first strategy<\/span>. O<\/span>r\u00a0<\/span>they want to reduce\u00a0<\/span>their hardware expenditures and\u00a0<\/span>on premise<\/span>\u00a0foot<\/span>print. <\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of the reasoning<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>you need to have a clear and concise\u00a0<\/span>understanding of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u201c<\/span><\/b>w<\/span><\/b>hy<\/span><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0you are moving to the cloud. This is very important<\/span>\u00a0because<\/span>\u00a0it drives design and lets everyone know what\u2019s really important.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

#2 – What?<\/h4>\n

What are we moving into the cloud? All applications? Some applications? Are we just expanding capacity? <\/span><\/p>\n

Are we looking to take advantage of cloud services? Understanding the\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>w<\/span><\/b>hat\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0will help you define the path you take, and the tools and effort required to get there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

#3 – Who?<\/h4>\n

Who<\/strong> owns the application? Who<\/strong> is involved? Who needs to be notified? Let<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s get them involved in the conversation. <\/span><\/p>\n

They may have plans and\u00a0<\/span>projects in place that constitute \u201cunknowns\u201d that can derail the project, or conversely, they can help the project. Maybe they\u2019re planning a software upgrade<\/span>\u00a0that<\/span>\u00a0would facilitate a brand-new installation in the cloud? <\/span><\/p>\n

Making sure everyone is onboard is a critical step.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

#4 – Where?\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

This is a more complex question tha<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>it<\/span>\u00a0implies.\u00a0<\/span>To the cloud!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Easy right? Nope. There are a lot of different factors that go into deciding where an application should be placed, and here I\u2019m speaking geographically as well as logically. For small to mid-sized companies,\u00a0<\/span>this is probably\u00a0<\/span>not a difficult choice<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>t this scale<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0decisions are based more logically, as in how you design your virtual networks and subnets and which services you might need to include. For larger, more geographically disperse companies, maybe even globally dispersed, even something as simple as designing a file share can be complex. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dealing with regulations and security become exponentially more difficult. So\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>w<\/span><\/b>here<\/span><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0becomes a vital\u00a0<\/span>question to consider.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

#5 – When?<\/h4>\n

And lastly<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0when can you move it? How long will it take? Is it end of the fiscal year and you have financials to generate and it can\u2019t be touched? Is it a AAA<\/span>–<\/span>rated app that can never go down? Will it require extra effort because of you<\/span>r<\/span>\u00a0need to redo DB connection strings, security, or firewall access. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fully understanding\u00a0<\/span>\u201cwhen\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0will make a huge difference in planning your migration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n

So now to the\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>h<\/span><\/b>ow<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>How comes armed with the answers to the five W\u2019s and goes directly into the six R\u2019s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once \u201c<\/span>h<\/span>ow\u201d has laid waste to your spreadsheet and has littered it with checked boxes\u00a0<\/span>in your \u201cR\u201d analysis, picking the appropriate migration methodology should be evident. Leave this one where it is. Retire this one. Migrate this one, etc.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowing the five W\u2019s gets you to the six R\u2019s and into the cloud.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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When cloud migration\u00a0planning, make sure to ask these questions in the following order: Why, What, Who, Where, and When. That gets you to the “how.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":235,"featured_media":26598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18527],"coauthors":[15599],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-07-21 22:17:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26455"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/235"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26455"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}