How to avoid Azure migration hiccups

It’s not about taking discrete steps, it’s more like a journey. Organizations that don’t view the process this way risk making mistakes, such as spending more than they had budgeted, or having their applications under-perform. The following are some of the biggest Azure migration issues we see and how you can avoid them.

Don’t look at Azure as just another infrastructure. Some organizations think they can move their workloads from a data center to Azure and instantly reap benefits. When companies take this “lift-and-shift” approach, their costs can rise significantly. IT managers who run workloads in Azure the same way they ran those workloads in an on-premises environment are going to over-provision and pay more than they should.

For example, an on-premises workload is typically provisioned so it can run properly at the most demanding times. As a result, the infrastructure is over-architected most of the time. A retailer, for instance, will set up their infrastructure with an always-on approach so their workloads can run during the peak November/December holiday shopping period. In the Azure though, you don’t want, or need, to over-provision. It can get expensive. Instead, you should look at potentially scheduling workloads for different times.

Recognize that not all data belongs in Azure, or any other cloud solution for that matter. Many CEOs love the idea of a cloud-first strategy because it allows them to turn capital expenses into operating expenses. But the reality is some data can’t be moved into Azure. For example, data with strict latency requirements, where it might be best to have the data as close as possible to where the users are located. Make sure you understand your data and all its requirements before you decide to migrate it to Azure.

Not all applications should be moved to Azure ‘as-is’. Some large, monolithic applications won’t operate optimally there. In many cases, it’s preferable to re-architect such applications using micro services and containers. Then you can run each portion in a smaller footprint and scale horizontally if you need to. This way, if you start to run low on resources, you can spin up new resources automatically and pay only for what you use at any particular time. This ability to scale on demand is one of Azure’s greatest strengths, but it only works if your applications are architected to suit it.

Migrating to Azure takes technical knowledge, planning and preparation, but it can ultimately be very beneficial for businesses. If you’re not sure you have the skills available in-house to complete your Azure journey, a trusted Managed Service Provider can be a great resource to fill in any knowledge gaps and provide additional support.

Find out more about our flexible Managed Azure services.