Migration and implementation: what providers are silent about

This text is for those who are afraid of touching something, that seems to work so as not to break it. And also, for those who do not believe spoken words (especially if they are uttered by a seller) if they are not recorded on paper. And even for those who came here accidentally and found these materials interesting.

And it is also for all those who want to understand what is hidden behind the mysterious phrase "migration to the cloud" and how it all happens.

Where to start?

When a fresh person tries to study a question independently, they often face a problem that is formulated in two words: "Everything is unclear." This can be learning of a new language (human or software), introduction to a non-standard device or technology, or anything where a vicious circle arises: to get an answer to a question, first, you need to ask a question, but it is not clear what exactly to ask.

Cloud technologies are one of such new things, all the nuances of which are very difficult to understand on their own, so people go to specialists who solve their problems. We are not just specialists, but responsible specialists, so in addition to solving problems, we tell in detail (in a blog or personally) what we are doing and why. Today we will talk about migration to the cloud, what it is, how it happens, how it ends, and what happens after. We will be glad if you have any questions because this will mean that the world of cloud technologies will become a little clearer for someone. Let us go!

What is migration?

From a network administrator's point of view, migration is the transfer of data and settings from a physical server that is located somewhere in the company and provides the operation of the office network to a virtual one that is running in the data center of a cloud provider.

From the user's point of view, migration is: "An admin came in the morning, said that now the server is not in their closet, but in Europe. But everything is as usual. Except that it has become significantly faster."

From the customer's point of view, migration is: "Everything has to work because I pay money for it!".

We fully agree with all these definitions. In addition, the customer does not pay specifically for migration. We (unlike the vast majority of providers) provide this service for free because our task is to make everything work perfectly in our cloud for the client! Moreover, we always recommend that we perform the migration ourselves, even if the customer has their own IT specialists (and this does not always happen) because clouds are a separate area of knowledge and an outstanding specialist from a different area, who is not constantly engaged in clouds may make mistakes during migration that will affect the final impression.

Accordingly, based on our own experience, we have formed algorithms so as to make a partial or full migration.

Full migration includes the following. At the initial stages, when the client has decided which elements of their infrastructure will be transferred to the cloud, we communicate closely with future users to understand what they work with and what is the most critical for them. After communicating with the customer, we determine the order of transferring data, the connections between it, and management tools. Then we coordinate the work plan with the customer, and they can make their adjustments to the algorithm. And then we act according to this plan. As a rule, both partial and full migration occurs very quickly. You can start using our resources immediately, if necessary - on the day of the request. An office of 20 people could be completely transferred to the cloud on average in 5 working days.

Partial (gradual) migration — the path that larger companies follow. It implies a more complex migration of a fairly extensive IT infrastructure, which cannot be transferred in 1-2 days. And in this case, we are making not just a plan, but a roadmap for migration. We have ready-made standard migration templates, and, if necessary, we can develop atypical solutions for a specific customer in close cooperation.

Migration to the server

When concluding a contract, we always specify what the result should be (continuity of work processes, connecting peripherals or flash keys, a certain speed, mobility ensuring, information security, quick access to resources, economic benefits, etc.). This is important because, after identifying these goals, we can offer the solutions that are proven (the best). In addition, there are companies in our partner network that specialize in a variety of tasks: for example, the implementation of solutions based on 1C, the development and implementation of e-document management systems, etc. And in cases when we understand the task well, we can not only create a configuration but also recommend the best practices for optimizing migration to the cloud and use of resources. And our and our partners' experience can become very useful in this case. Knowing the task, we understand how the migration will proceed to get the maximum effect from it for the company.

So, the next stage is the choice of a solution. We offer the customer several options to choose from, honestly talking about the pros and cons of each solution, choosing the optimal one in terms of capabilities and resources. And when the client has chosen the solution, we formalize the relationship by signing a contract and allocating resources. After that, the system is debugged and tested. This means that the customer company deploys the software that will work there on the resources allocated by us and debug its work. System debugging is an important process before starting the migration. It is crucial to start the migration only when the customer company is sure that everything is completely ready, and the system can be used.

At the stage of testing and system debugging, the client is testing the cloud system and engaging us to clarify all the questions that arise. We do not let the process run its course by giving away resources and access details, as we are well aware that working in the cloud infrastructure is something new for many, and the client will ask questions during debugging. And in this case, we are always ready to assist in setting up the system.

And then the most interesting thing begins — the migration of an IT environment. First, the data is transferred to the cloud environment, and the data is always available during this process because neither the customer's users nor their clients should experience any inconveniences in their work. If the migration is not carried out overnight, which happens quite often, then for some time, the infrastructure will work partly in the cloud and partly in its current form. Therefore, we must make sure that this data is simultaneously available both from the cloud and from the client's previous infrastructure. Moreover, hybrid configurations are common. In this case, part of the data remains on the customer's territory, and another part goes to the cloud.

Therefore, it is necessary not only to transfer the data but also to save all the bindings, since the data must be available without reconfiguring workstations. This process requires accuracy and special knowledge, so it is also often performed by us, using our experience and skills in redirecting traffic flows, proxying, etc. This is interesting and we like it, but we will not talk about it in detail here, firstly, because the text will immediately become technical, and secondly, because users do not see it, they already get the final result — an environment running in the cloud.

The fate of a migrant

What happens next? And then there is a "life after life": you have successfully migrated, got into the cloud, and then you need to control all this. And here, you can control yourself (we have many convenient tools that require basic IT knowledge) or entrust the necessary infrastructure work to our technical support, and then, we will make the needed changes on our own.

If the customer does not have a system administrator and they need that we not only ensure operation of their infrastructure "outside" (virtual servers, data backup, network operation, etc.) but also perform "internal" maintenance of virtual machines (application software, libraries, etc.), then we will perfectly cope with this task in terms of the package of services TuchaExpert. In case of using this service, we are also responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure software level. If the company already has a system administrator, this is also fine, since the "local" administrator knows the inner workings of the company well and can be engaged in further IT development of the company. And we are always ready to help and support in this.

Do you have any questions or interesting tasks for us? Do not put them on the back burner. Contact us and get competent support right now!