Why you should have a cloud exit strategy BEFORE you migrate

Simon Edward • 26 July 2024

Before you migrate your data to the cloud, you need a solid cloud exit strategy. Find out why in our article.

Migrating workloads to the cloud is a bit like going on holiday. It will do you good – but it's going to cost you. And to get there, you'll need to do a fair bit of planning.

Ask a cloud newbie what you need to plan and they'll probably prioritise the destination. What cloud environment you're heading to is indeed an important question to ask. But an equally important one is this: what do you do if it all goes wrong?

Yes, not every cloud migration ends well. Regardless of how efficient the migration is, life happens. Your provider might go down. Prices might go up. Essentially, you could find yourself running your software and apps on a dud system. And without a cloud exit strategy, you're not going to know where to turn.

This is the number one reason why it's so important to have a cloud exit strategy in place before you migrate your workloads. It's a form of insurance, future-proofing your business against the slings and arrows of outrageous systems failure.

In this article, we take a look at the dos and don'ts of cloud exit strategies – and how we can help. But first, what is a cloud exit strategy, exactly?

What is a cloud exit strategy?

A cloud exit strategy – also known as a "reverse migration" – is a plan to ensure that you can move from one cloud provider to another without undue disruption.

No matter how well-executed your migration, things can go wrong. If they do, you need the flexibility to switch providers. A solid cloud exit strategy helps you avoid the very real risks of vendor lock-in, business discontinuity and wasted money.

Why is it important?

These days, the tech landscape can seem fairly fixed (leaving AI to one side). Businesses tend to work with the same big companies. For some, this leads to a sense of complacency that services will stay the same.

Picture of a businessperson kicking back and looking relaxed.

But all sorts of things can change – to the point where your current provider might no longer be the best option. There are two sides to this: changes to your company and changes to the provider.

It may be that your traffic increases dramatically and you need more storage and compute. In this eventuality, your current provider may no longer be cost-effective. Similarly, you might need to change to ensure you're in line with compliance, legal requirements and data sovereignty. Or it could be as simple as needing a new provider to give your system's performance a shot in the arm.

In all these cases, you need to know what your options are. The alternative is for your teams to languish in disruption while you frantically concoct an exit strategy.

It could also be that your provider experiences an outage or goes out of business altogether. This is most likely if you work with a smaller provider – but it's not impossible in the case of the household names, either.

What should you consider?

So now you know why you should get your cloud exit strategy baked in before you migrate. But what should you keep in mind when writing it? Here are three questions to ask.

1. Is your current environment accounted for?

Systems are more complex than ever. Even small businesses handle huge swathes of data and the age of hybrid working has introduced as many security threats as it has possibilities for workplace agility.

Because of this, you may not have full visibility of your current cloud environment. Without full visibility, you can't say with confidence what should happen when you switch.

2. What alternative solutions are out there?

Before you migrate to the cloud, you need to have alternatives in mind should you need to switch. And that means alternatives, plural.

You might have a range of alternative cloud providers in mind or a return to your on-premise data centre. Whatever the alternative solutions are, they need to be in line with your existing workloads – and your budget forecast.

3. What is the exit time frame?

This is an important factor which can get overlooked in the race to migrate. If you do have to switch providers, how long will it take? Are there terms in your current contract that could play a part? How about the terms and conditions of your new vendor? What risks need managing?

All these questions need answering to ensure that your cloud exit strategy goes smoothly if you do need to press the button marked "switch".

When should you sort out your exit strategy?

If you take away just one thing from this article, make sure it's this: your exit strategy is an integral part of your migration – not an add-on.

Whether you create it yourself or get outside help from a third-party cloud consultant, it should be in place before your workloads are moved to the cloud.

On top of this, all your company's stakeholders should be involved. This isn't a job for IT alone. It should also get input from legal, finance, management and others.

How we can help

At Ascend Cloud Solutions, we offer a tried and tested five-step migration process. A crucial element of this is planning. If you want a cloud migration process that meets your business needs as well as your technical requirements, thorough planning is essential – and we have the experience and expertise to make it work for you.

So if you want to develop a cloud computing exit strategy with help from VMware experts, we've got you covered. If things go wrong for you down the line, it could be the difference between a manageable crisis and a whole lot of stress, money and disruption.

Don't hesitate to get in touch to book a no-obligation consultation.

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