5 Smart Tips To Know Before Moving Your Data To A Cloud-Based Application

Cloud computing is all the rage these days, and while some companies are moving their whole IT infrastructure to the cloud, many others are choosing to streamline their businesses by moving individual business applications.

If you are thinking about moving any of your company’s software applications ‘to the cloud,’ make sure to think through these 5 tips before you take action:

1. Back It Up! Migrating data to any new location can be challenging, and anything can (and often does) go wrong.  So, make sure you have good (i.e. recoverable), recent backups of everything before moving data to the cloud.
2. Maintain an On-Site Copy – At first, moving to the cloud can be a little unnerving. To help minimize the risk, and frankly the fear, keep a local on-site copy of your data and an image of critical servers.
3. Have a ‘Plan B’ to Access the Internet – One of the biggest risks and most frequent questions about moving to the cloud is ‘What if the Internet goes down?’ Let’s face it – even if we keep everything on the premises, we all need internet access to run our businesses.  We’ve recommended and implemented having two different Internet Providers coming through the firewall so if one goes down, the other can take over.  If you move critical data to the cloud, this is a ‘must have.’
4. Use it as an Opportunity to do Some Housekeeping – You could just copy your files from the local machines/servers into the cloud, but why not use this opportunity to re-evaluate the structure and organization of your data? Just like your paper files, electronic files need cleanup, archiving, and sometimes, re-organization.  Archive old items to a hard drive and label it; delete duplicates; cleanup picture and music files; clean up your email folders (did you know you have to delete the items in your Delete and Junk folders?).
5. Move in Phases – Don’t try to migrate everything all at once. Create a transition plan and implement it. This gives you a chance to learn what it’s like to work in the Cloud.  For most of our clients that have made this change, they consistently tell us that it was not what they expected and took longer for their staff to acclimate to the change than they had expected.  Then, when things are back to an even keel, go to the next phase of your plan and make sure it will meet your company needs and provide the benefits you’re expecting.

Not sure if you’re ready for this?  That’s OK – we love this stuff!  We’d be happy to talk to you about how you use your computers and make some recommendations about moving to the cloud.  We look forward to hearing from you!